Product Description

Using a book/CD combination, this communicative course in Latin American Spanish assumes no previous knowledge of the language. It is designed for beginners as well as those who have done a general Spanish course and now wish to learn the forms spoken in Latin America.

The 13 units will give you ample opportunity to learn and practise the language in practical, everyday situations, such as introducing yourself and others, giving personal information, making travel arrangements, ordering food and shopping - in fact everything you need for travelling in Latin America, be it on business or on holiday.

The new edition retains the tried-and-tested structure of the lessons but has been updated throughout. New features include an English-Latin American Spanish vocabulary to go alongside the existing Latin American Spanish-English vocabulary and a 'taking it further' section which gives additional sources of real Latin American Spanish - websites, books, etc.

The page design has been improved and the section headings given in English to make the course even easier to use without a teacher.

The accompanying double CD (034091243X) has been recorded by native speakers from different parts of Latin America to familiarise you with different accents. It is available separately, as is the book (034086849X).

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #243708 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-30
• Format: Audiobook
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback

About the Author
Juan Kattan-Ibarra was born in Chile and has travelled extensively in Latin America and Spain. He has degrees from the University of Chile, Michigan State University, Manchester University, and the Institute of Education, London University. He has taught Spanish in colleges and to businesses and has been an examiner for various examining boards. He is now a full-time author.

Customer Reviews

Muy Bien!
When i started this book i was a semi-novice, having previously studied spanish within my spare time (not at school) but now being sufficiently rusty to warrant a beginner's course. This Book/Cd combination has been an incredibly useful tool for me whilst trying to learn latin american spanish. It covers all the necessary tenses and provides a good grounding in essential vocabulary. The dialogues are effectively presented, helping to encourage the reader to learn each tense within an applicable situation, such as "when is the next train to... ?". It progresses at an appropriate speed, and by the end you feel adequetely prepared for a basic conversation. I thoroughly recommend buying the full audio book as it helps you to familiarise yourself with the various different accents in Latin America, particularly how more expressive they are than us British folk, and how accentuated each stress should be. Mexico, Columbia, Peru, Chile & Argentina are represented a lot more than other countries, with the remainders making fleeting appearances. Different places in Latin America will obviously have different words for certain things which is appreciated throughout the book, and more emphatically in the back of the book where a few pages dedicated to these words aswell as varying pronounciations of letter/letter combinations are included.

I would say that although this is a complete look at Latin American Spanish, it is 50-100 pages shorter than the other Teach Yourself books i have, and that in order to feel truely confident it may be necessary to compliment this book with another more comprehensive guide if you wish to take it a step further. This is particularly notable with respects to vocabulary. I purchased a practice makes perfect book in conjunction and found the two make a good partnership.

In essence; a great place to start aquainting yourself with, or rediscovering, this beautiful language.

Nearly there
This is a good course. I am using it and I am happy with the lessons. It is good that we now have proper courses for latin america rather than having to use peninsular spanish and then you are not understood, which has happened to me. This is a step forward, but in my view is not enough. Within latin america there are many differences. There are important pronunciation differences, in the vowels, in final s, in h for x, and many others. There are also important structural differences, like the verbs that go with vos and the tuteo. In my view, we should have at least two separate courses, one mainly for Mexico and one mainly for Argentina. If we are serious about courses that really teach the language for the country where you go, we cannot iron out the differences.

Good introduction to the language and overview
I found this pack to give you a good introduction to the written and spoken language.

I'm off to Peru next month so feel a lot more confident about travelling.