Learning Spanish

[Francis Asis]

Hope I'm in the right section. Can anyone recommend a book for learning Spanish? My dad needs a book that will show how words are pronounced, actually breaks the word down and says things like "when you see a Z pronounce it J or something like that. He has cassettes but can't get on with them. Any ideas?

[NoGood Boyo]

The best Spanish grammar book ever is An Essential Course in Modern Spanish, by H. Ramsden, but it is admittedly a bit 'academic'. Because in Spanish what you see is what you say, ie there are consistent rukes for pronunciation, I suggest that your father reads the pronunciation rules and then listens to tapes again, very carefully and very slowly to see how they work in practice. The best way to learn how to pronounce a language (other than having a foreign national taech you face to face) is to read the rules, and then learn every phrase and sentence on the tape one by one. It's laborious, but start slow and gradually build up speed. Buena suerte.

[Scarlett]

Your Dad could always go to an evening class! that way he could ask those tricky questions that books don't tell you.

[Philtaz]

My wife has just started evening classes in Spanish and has bought a pack from Waterstones entitled PASOS, book and cassettes. Also available at WH Smith.

[glorusty]

There is a language series called �teach yourself�. The series offers many different languages and levels. One of the levels is called �instant spanish�. It includes two 75-minute CDs and a compact course book. I believe this to be the ideal language course. It is well structured and provides step by step lessons, to take it on at your very own pace and still learn. Their description is that you can be where you want to be with teach yourself. I highly recommend it. It is not expensive. the ISBN is 0-07-147429-3
Best Wishes for all