Learning Spanish using books

[Sean Renard]

Hello everyone! I want to learn Spanish this summer, and I do not know what books to use. I have these books:

https://www.amazon.de/Vocabulario-eleme ... 8467841265
https://www.amazon.com/Gramatica-Nivel- ... 8466764313
https://www.amazon.com/Gram%C3%A1tica-u ... YVE8MZPW07

Do I need sth else or these will do just fine? I thought of getting a coursebook, but I find this kind of books really dull and hard to get through its content. I am looking forward to receiving suggestions, opinions and some pieces of advice, if possible.

Thanks a bunch in advance!

[Cavesa]

Welcome!

These books are very good, I profited from them a lot.
However, I'd recommend to switch the big red book for the yellow one (and then the blue one), so that you get more content. From what I've seen, the red book is a compilation of the two with a lot of stuff left out.

[Jaleel10]

Hello everyone! I want to learn Spanish this summer, and I do not know what books to use.

Hi, these are the books I would recommend if you are a beginner:

- Easy Spanish Step by Step (if you can, buy complete Spanish step by step)
- Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Conversation
- Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Sentence Builder
- Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses
- Gramática de Uso del español (A1 - B2) (I suggest using this book at the end of your beginner grammar studies as it's entirely in Spanish]

Also check out a fantastic audio course for beginners called Language Transfer: Complete Spanish. It's entirely free and one of the best resources for Spanish on the internet

[kulaputra]

These books are nearly useless without extensive amounts of audio. For a lesser studied language you might not have better options, but this is Spanish. Use a course like Platiquemos or FSI with lots of audio. The books you listed, alongside a good audio heavy course, may be very helpful, but alone they leave a lot to be desired.

[Cavesa]

I agree sources with more audio and more context based learning are hyperimportant. But I have very good experience with the books like this. And the ones published by Anaya even have a CD these days.

But this is Spanish. We don't have to use hyperold FSI to get lots of audio (unless someone loves the style of course, then they can profit from it immensely, sure). There are many sources like notes in spanish, spanishpod101, coffee break spanish, and many others. Look around the forum a bit or ask in the Spanish group.

[kulaputra]

Yea, it doesn't have to be FSI. Personally I love FSI but I suspect I'm a bit of a masochist in that regard. Whatever other resources are out there are great too, I'm sure, given they have lots of audio.

[Jaleel10]

If I can recommend another resource, get yourself a Lingq or Yabla subscription, or both if you can afford it.

It should satiate your audio needs. Both are great platforms for listening training and or growing your vocabulary.

If you can't, have a look at a list resources I compiled with transcripts. Take a look at the VideoEle page. It should be great for you. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... 8356881408

[Sean Renard]

Ummm, but what if i do the following: use a vocabulary theme-based book, a grammar book and listen to podcasts? That'd be kinda sufficient, wouldn't it?

[kulaputra]

Ummm, but what if i do the following: use a vocabulary theme-based book, a grammar book and listen to podcasts? That'd be kinda sufficient, wouldn't it?

At least one of your primary learning sources, especially at the beginning, should be heavily audio based.

[Cavesa]

I don't think "heavily audio based" is necessary. However, I'd say that you might be actually served the best by a normal course, book+audio. Which ones have you seen and found so dull and hard? There are enormous differences in between them.

Truth be told, as long as you learn the pronunciation right (which is easier with a normal course than podcasts and such stuff), it is not that much of an issue whether you have tons of audio or just a more moderate amount at the beginning. You'll catch up later. You just definitely shouldn't start without any audio. Btw, those books by Anaya also have Fonetica series.

The books like you've mentioned are great and could work well with other kinds of input. But I am not sure that you are such an experienced learner, no offense meant, to avoid the best structured resource: a coursebook with audio.

Or you might be the first around here to use the whole gramatica, vocabulario, fonetica series, and just with complementary stuff on top of that, perhaps those nice graded readers with CDs. That could defnitely be an alternative.