Barbara Bregstein - Complete Spanish Step-by-Step, Premium Second Edition

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Complete Spanish Step-by-Step is a progressive program that will help you learn Spanish—talking, reading, and writing—as quickly and as thoroughly as possible, and then lead you to mastery and fluency in the language.

Written for beginner and advanced-beginner learners, it teaches grammar and conversation in the most logical order to enable you to develop your language skills naturally to the level of intermediate and advanced learners. To take full advantage of the unique grammatical progression of the book, you should study each chapter, or step, one after another. Do not skip around. Each step you take will lead you to the next. Each chapter contains clear grammar explanations; be sure to understand every concept before moving on to the next. Notice that there are few exceptions to rules, so once you have learned a concept, it is yours.

Try to learn the vocabulary and verbs provided; they have been carefully selected on the basis of usefulness and frequency. The vocabulary lists will help enhance your communication, while complete verb conjugations are given so that you can practice pronunciation as you learn verbs. Over 300 of the most common verbs in Spanish are presented. Varied written and oral exercises are included to check your understanding and progress. (The book has a complete answer key in the back.) It is also a good idea to write your own questions and sentences and practice them aloud. Sometimes, your own creations are more interesting and aid in learning.

Original readings are included in every chapter; they become progressively more challenging in form and content throughout the book, leading to poems and stories by acclaimed authors. Use these Reading Comprehension sections to learn new vocabulary and to practice reading aloud. Complete Spanish Step-by-Step is divided into six parts. The first gives you all the fundamentals of the language in the present tense. You will notice that the word order of English and Spanish in this part is essentially the same. This makes learning in the early stages very quick.

The second part explains indirect objects, direct objects, direct object pronouns, reflexive verbs, and the present subjunctive. The third part presents the two most used tenses in the past, the preterit and the imperfect. The fourth part reviews the present tense and uses of ser and estar, the preterit and imperfect tenses, the progressive tenses, the present subjunctive, and commands. The fifth part is an in-depth explanation of nouns, articles, adjectives, pronouns, and the present and past perfect tenses. The sixth part covers the future and conditional tenses, the past subjunctive, and idioms. A student once asked me if Spanish is truly easy.

It is, in comparison to any of the other languages of the world. To start with, the pronunciation is easy. Spanish is a phonetically perfect language, which means that once you learn to pronounce each vowel and consonant, you will be able to pronounce all words correctly. Before you begin, practice all the sounds outlined in the Guide to Pronunciation in the following pages. If possible, try to practice with a native speaker. Then, remember to read and answer questions aloud as much as you can to develop your pronunciation.

This book is written with a logical approach that makes it accessible, even when some concepts are difficult, whether you are a self-study learner or a student in an organized teaching program. With Complete Spanish Step-by-Step, you will see that everything falls quickly into place. In a few weeks, you will be able to read and write Spanish quite easily, and as you progress, you will learn to speak fluently, using all elements of Spanish. And once you learn the Spanish in this book, you will be able to get along in any Spanish-speaking country. The grammar is standard in all parts of the Spanish-speaking world, and although accents change from place to place, you will get accustomed to the sounds very quickly. Have fun and enjoy using Spanish everywhere you need it.