Barron's Spanish For Gringos Level Two

Are you interested in having fun while learning serious, intermediate level, Spanish? Do you enjoy doing crossword puzzles and word find games? Would you prefer to learn common Spanish verbs by working a crossword puzzle instead of just reading and memorizing some list? Then check out Spanish For Gringos.

This course is designed for someone who already speaks and understands a little Spanish. Here's what to expect if you decide to get it. Each chapter often has multiple practice sections where you can test what you know - the answers are printed upside down at the bottom of the page. All the solutions to the crosswords and word finds are at the end of the book.

This course gives you access to a lot of specialty phrases for topics that other courses don't include - here's and example of some of the unique phrases and vocabulary you'll learn: legal terms, tongue twisters, geography, astronomy terms, etc.

The 2 audio CDs are a simplified version of the book. They'll help you learn correct pronunciation of Spanish - to get the most out of the course, use both the book and the CDs. The book and CD do not have to be used at the same time. A tone on the audio disks tells you when it's time for you to respond and repeat the Spanish word or phrase.

This course is full of great, common sense tips for learning Spanish. Chapter 8 has a section of suggestions for improving your Spanish skills - here they explain the importance of reading and writing Spanish, and its place in your learning strategy. And they give you some paragraphs in Spanish to get you started on reading comprehension.

Many of the tips are at the beginning of the book - where they tell you about taking advantage of Spanish TV and radio, movies, taking advantage of the Spanish you already know by getting familiar with cognates, learning about Spanish speaking culture and, perhaps most important, remembering to have fun while you learn, and enjoy the learning process.

As you'd expect, the disks are recorded with native Spanish speakers pronouncing all the Spanish words and phrases. English speakers teach, explain key concepts, and provide the English definitions of the Spanish words. The first disk has 35 tracks and the second one has 30 tracks. Nice short tracks on the CD make it easy to find the part where you left off learning without having to re-do material you don't need to (or want to) hear again. The final track on disk 2 has an extended Spanish conversation - When it's over they ask you questions about it all in Spanish - you can think of it as your final exam on all the material you learned in the course

In Summary

• This Spanish course consists of 2 audio CDs and a book of 303 pages.
• Retail price is $24.99