Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish

The reason is simple - whenever you learn a language you end up speaking in an unnatural, stitled kind of way. That's certainly how I was taught at school, and that's how most language books do it too. I remember the first time I was in Germany, someone would ask me if I liked a meal, I'd say something like "I am of the opinion that meal was delicious". Who talks like that? But that was the only way I knew how to talk, because that was how I'd learned.

I returned from 6 months in South America speaking Spanish wanting to take my Spanish to the next step - to get a snappy kind of colloquial speaking that normally only comes with practice. (just to echo what's been said before, this book is for intermediates, not beginners, though they might find it fun too).

This book will teach you how to avoid common mistakes, snappy phrases, comebacks, and most importantly of all HOW WORDS ARE ACTUALLY USED. If you look up a word in a dictionary, even a very big dictionary, the context they give you seems to be guaranteed to be wrong in some way. Here, the context will be explained to you in plain English.

I found the book helped me to think in Spanish better, because you need phrases like "errrr", and a few choice insults probably when you're thinking in English. I have read this book cover to cover about ten times. I even bought another copy myself, just to give to a friend because I think everyone should have this book.


Indispensable Reading, fills a big gap in learning Spanish   October 2, 2004
91 out of 91 found this review helpful

I have been learning Spanish for many years on my own and now that I have finally moved to Spain I find I'm really still a beginner with a decent grasp of grammar. When it comes to understanding Spanish as its really spoken and used you need something extra that the normal textbooks and dictionaries don't tell you. This is where Joseph Keenan's book comes in. I already have excellent books including Margarita Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish, Shaum's Outlines Spanish Grammar and Juan Kattán-Ibarra's Teach Yourself Spanish which cover standard grammar and Spanish very well.
Keenan's book clears up a lot of confusion that other books and dictionaries wont explain. He explains light-heartedly the most important areas of Spanish that cause confusion to beginners e.g. Ser and Estar, commonly confused words (tricksters), common verbs with multiple meanings, often badly defined or missing from dictionaries and he even tackles the dreaded subjunctive well. My favourite chapters include the 64 very common verbs and their most typical day-to-day usage, a chapter on crutch words, snappy answers and expressions for filling those gaps (Pues, Bueno, o sea etc) and a chapter on invective and obscenity!
There is no particular order to the chapters and it lacks an index. This would have been really useful for reference. Inevitably, it is also a bit biased towards Latin American Spanish where expressions, idioms and invective is concerned. I drop a star for this.
This aside, you will find yourself dipping into it at random and learning things that you always wanted to know. It doesn't read like a textbook but more like a collection of the tips, the most common misunderstandings and roadblocks experienced during years of learning and speaking Spanish.


Excellent Book   October 17, 2003
83 out of 83 found this review helpful

I cannot recommend this book enough. I have just returned from doing a year's voluntary work with street children in Mexico and this book virtually became my bible.

It has so much practical information about grammar, vocabulary and nuances of using your spanish in real and practical situations.

I do agree with some of the other reviewer's that this book is not ideal for the complete beginner. If you have a good basic level - say GCSE Spanish then you can and pick and choose what you need from this book as your language skills develop.

It does focus a lot on Latin American spanish however there is substantial coverage of spanish from Spain.

It is a book that will become more useful to you as you develop your spoken or written Spanish. Even now I still consult this book to remind myself the best way of saying something in Spanish.

Highly recommended and one of the only books of its kind that I could find. A great way to buid on a basic level of spanish.