TY- Teach Yourself Series for Spanish

[Lesley D]

For those of you who like to consult reference material as part of your Spanish learning experience, the Teach Yourself series can be of great help depending on your level and your ability to learn on your own. Strong knowledge of grammar in your own language whether it's English, French, Italian etc. always is an advantage when studying and learning the grammar of another. Spanish is not an exception. Spanish is a grammar rich language and IMO no matter how much you grasp by daily interaction with family, friends, television, reading etc. there are always gaps which require studying certain grammar points. It is always evident when a person speaks and writes if they have taken good formal studies. As well, people who you interact with daily can tell you how to say a phrase or word in Spanish but can't explain the grammatical aspect which is absolutely essential to one's learning and growth in Spanish. One other very important aspect to not overlook is that everyone makes mistakes when they speak so if you choose to pattern your speech after the people you interact with daily, well… buena suerte. If they speak Spanish well then that's a different story altogether or if you can clearly distinguish between what's correct and incorrect grammatically then it's to your advantage. However, if I use the Dominican vernacular as an example, I highly recommend using good references and supplementary references such as the TY series to speak on par (or close to par) with the world's good Spanish speakers.

The 'Teach Yourself' series are not exhaustive books but they tie many loose ends together in Spanish. If you are looking for inexpensive complementary references in addition to grammar textbooks please consider the TY series. I can’t speak for the audio part of the lessons and what they offer but if you buy the books just for the grammar, vocabulary, idiomatic expressions etc. you are bound to learn something new or have a grammatical query clarified. I always enjoy browsing through the ones I see in the stores out of curiosity in hopes of finding one that can be used in a professional capacity for teaching or tutoring. Some are definitely good for teachers as well.

The first TY series book I received was a gift many years ago. The title is Further Spanish (advanced level for educators, tutors, advanced students etc). I enjoyed reading the book and examining the grammar presented along with some interesting short articles. This book motivated me to pursue other TY series books and thus far the few that I have are interesting just to read through and there's plenty to learn. Some people may make attempts to differentiate between Peninsular Spanish and Latin American Spanish but IMO there is no difference (except some phonetic aspects) especially when you are learning. If you want to become a regional specialist that's only when you have mastered the language along with grammatical and lexical diversity.

The three TY series books I have are:

Further Spanish- this book focuses on advanced Spanish. Good grammar tips, idiomatic expressions, some colloquialisms etc. My only complaint is it's too small.

Barnes*&*Noble.com - Books: Teach Yourself Further Spanish, by Passport Books, Paperback

Teach Yourself Business Spanish- this a great resource with universal business expressions, vocabulary, forms of address and tips regarding politeness in business situations in Spanish around the world.

Barnes*&*Noble.com - Books: Business Spanish, by Juan Kattan-Ibarra, Paperback

Teach Yourself Latin America Spanish- the focus of this book is vocabulary and grammar constructions popular in Latin America vs. Spain. Certain countries are used as examples and their idiomatic expressions. A fun book to read and examine however, too short.

Barnes*&*Noble.com - Books: Teach Yourself Latin American Spanish Complete Course, by Juan Kattan-Ibarra, Paperback


Remember: these are not grammar books but helpful supplementary references. I recommend specifically the Teach Yourself books for Spanish whose author is Juan Kattan-Ibarra.


-LDG.

[2LeftFeet]

Looks interesting. I'll have to check them out. Thanks.

[rio2003]

Thanks Lesley D
I borrowed the Teach Yourself Latin American Spanish from the library a while ago and it was excellent. You have just jogged my memory - I need to refresh and have just ordered the complete course from Amazon.
Learning head on again!

Rio

[Lesley D]

You are both welcome. Rio2003, I am glad to hear that you enjoyed the book. I have always been curious to hear the perspective of a student. IMO, the TY series tend to be helpful although if you read some reviews online some customers are dissatisfied. However, in my experience their own language skills and ability to learn a foreign language are usually weak. As well, they think language can learned overnight or in a course of xxx number of hours. That's just nonsense. Language learning is a process over a period of years. I am sure you will enjoy the course once you receive it.


General comment:

One of the biggest challenges when studying a language can be finding good resources. There are many available but you still need to know how to buy the right reference whether it's a textbook, dictionary, supplementary study aids etc. Depending on where you live you may have access to a wide variety of Spanish reference material or a limited number. However, internet shopping has resolved the problem of finding specific reference material once you know exactly what type of Spanish resources you need thanks to websites like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Reputable textbooks for language are those distributed by some of the well-established textbook companies. My favorites are Barron's, McGraw Hill and NTC Publishing Group. All have excellent reference material on language which are used in schools, universities and are also found in libraries. These textbook publishing companies have quality modern textbooks (various levels) and specialized Spanish reference materials for students, educators, casual learners, bilingual speakers etc. As well, don't forget to shop at the campus bookstore of large universities. The course material for Spanish at various levels is an option for you also.



-LDG.

[Chip]

I myself learned spanish by myself 8 years ago by buying a Spanish grammer book, a dictionary and a verb conjugation book from Barnes and Nobles. Although I had never studied Spanish formally, I did have a great advantage that I had studied French all through high school and a semester in college, so the basics of the sentence structure and verb conjugation were very easy to learn.

I have continually strived to speak grammatically correct and while most normal Dominicans don't appreciate it, I usually get many comments from my professional friends who are impressed with my simple, yet grammatically correct usage of the language.

I have, however, picked up colloquial terms, but there usage is being constantly refined especially when I have the chance to hang out with my professional friends.

The other maybe not so correct characteristic I have developed is the somewhat Dominican habit of dropping the s's and the Cibaeño habit of using the "i". Honestly, I tried to use the "s" just like the grammar books say and how the pure Spanish do it, but I have found that by imitating exactly what I hear being said in Cibao has been a great help in making my Spanish fluent, as it has been a constant reinforcer and way to continually "calibrate" my Spanish. Believe it or not, when I go back to Florida on my frequent business trips, I have the pleasure of speaking with latinos from all over, including Spain, and they never have a problem understanding me nor I, they for the most part. Being a pragmatist more than a theorist, I feel this justifies this personal methodology. I won't hesitate to say that this has worked very well based on the fact that most hispanics in Central Florida no longer would guess that I'm not hispanic - pretty good for an already old guy of 34 learning a new language from basically zero. I recommend other people try this methodology.

[DrChrisHE]

I'm curious as to how many of you have used the Rosetta Stone Latin American Spanish. To be fair, I took Spanish from 7th grade on but it was Castillian (which helps with conjugations and basic structure but leaves one frustrated here.) I must say that the Rosetta stone may have saved our lives on more than one occasion. For example, while taking the supposedly completed new route from on the Samana penn, we were hoping to cut through La Vega. It was dusk and we were driving along at a pretty decent pace when a bunch of children started jumping up and down wildly waving their arms. Dh rolls down the window and they were yelling animatedly "¡La puente se cayó!" to which Dh gives me a desperate look. From somewhere in the depths of the 2 months of Rosetta Stone I put together the vocab of La Puente=the bridge, and get this...se cayó (has fallen) from an exercise on the clown has fallen. We've laughed about it many times because as we were doing the Rosetta Stone exercises I kept thinking, "When am I ever going to need the phrase 'The clown has fallen off the burrow'?" You just never know.

We also found the Spanish for Gringos I and II to be helpful--especially for our kids who didn't have the years of grammatically correct Spanish courses that my Dh and I had.

[Lesley D]

I first heard of the Rosetta Stone program on DR1 in the Spanish forum. According to responses from some posters it proves to be successful. Coincidentally, today I will be tutoring a student (adult) who has been using it for months but is at the point where she needs to seek help. I can't comment on what's lacking but I also gathered from our conversations that languages in general is not her forte. Some people just don't learn languages as easily as others. As well, if a person has to start from scratch, meaning grammar based learning combined with oral practice, reading and writing the language, it just turns out to be overwhelming.

Although the Rosetta Stone and similar programs may be good, I remain old fashioned and believe in classroom studies, daily interaction, reading and writing. Not to repeat myself as I have so many times in this forum, no matter how well a person says they speak Spanish and has done all via self study I can always find several grammatical errors in their speech and writing. The Spanish forum on DR1 is a perfect example. Classroom study is good and required instruction that ties loose ends together. My theory is if you consider yourself advanced start at intermediate and go forward. If it were me doing the assessing I would put the person in beginners because there's always gaps.

Please keep in mind as much as Rosetta Stone, Barron's and like supplementary language aids are reputable and helpful, they do not replace course work. I think they can be wonderful additional learning tools because they touch on interesting cultural topics and attempt to segregate regional vocabulary and grammatical structural differences in the Spanish-speaking world. However, bottom line is these language study aids don't replace classroom instruction. For adults, beginner level university courses to start and advancing forward accordingly is highly recommended without skipping a level. For example, Spanish for Beginners 1, 2, 3, Intermediate 1, 2, 3, Advanced 1, 2, 3 and after if one wishes to pursue superior studies or a specialization one can opt to enroll in a degree program.

BTW- Did you really say "¡La puente se cayó!"? because it's EL puente.

This means the bridge fell down and NOT the bridge has fallen. The difference in meaning is driven by caer vs. caerse (there's the power of the pronoun SE again)


cayó = it fell
se cayó= it fell down

There are other language series that I recommend and are used as university texts books in degree programs. If you are one who can study on your own all Spanish language material published by ELE- Español Lengua Extranjera is excellent and will definitely guide anyone on the road to proper language learning in Spanish. When you learn Spanish there should not be any segregation regionally. Those specifics can be acquired via interaction later on. It definitely should not be the focus or an issue from the start.


-LDG.

[Chip]

Thanks Lesley, I think this post is very informative and truthful. I think this reiterates a very important fact; without studying the basics of grammar, the immersion course can only take one so far.

[Lesley D]

This week I just finished an intense three and half month commitment to tutoring an adult student in Spanish. The objective was to help with grammatical issues, build sentence structure and improve listening comprehension for a required oral exam in order for her to complete her Master's Program. A language requirement was one mandatory course and my student chose Spanish. Initially she started studying with the Rosetta Stone course and after a few months with little progress she decided to seek help.

The tutoring was intense and it also brought to light so many issues about language that after each lesson it made me think about not only is Spanish a difficult language to learn from scratch but it is really difficult if you are unilingual with no exposure over the years to any language (by choice or not). As well, understanding English grammar is so important which I always knew but do people realize this? IMO, when many people study a foreign language formally, they are really learning about grammar in general for the first time so the problem is two fold- learning grammar in general and the foreign language.

The advantage some adult learners have when it comes to language learning IMO is exposure to the language at an early age, some may be already bilingual (two languages other than Spanish) therefore learning Spanish is not as difficult, a strong command of grammar in the languages they already speak (this so important) which most people overlook or dismiss as not vital, a natural ability to learn language, I really believe this exists and perseverance. When learning Spanish other than proper formal studies over a period of years other factors that do help tremendously is broad exposure to the language on a regular basis such as living in a community, region or country where is Spanish spoken so one can hear the language daily and interact, practice to acquire fluency and vocabulary, READING, and watching TV shows in Spanish.

I capitalized reading because it is one of the most important ways to acquire vocabulary, spell correctly, acquire proper sentence structure and observe the usage of the language in all its facets. What's missed when listening to speakers you will grasp via reading. Start at a junior level regardless how great you think your Spanish is and advance to the next level accordingly at your own pace.

Some challenging aspects about Spanish are:

* the grammar- what concepts do you find most challenging?

The student I had really struggled with the gender- el/ la/ los/ las, concordance and placement of the adjective- for example, la casa roja many times was said as la casa rojo or la rojo casa

* pronunciation- although this should be easy because the language is extremely phonetic some struggle with pronunciation.

* listening- most people struggle with hearing the language, deciphering the words and understanding what is said. Exposure to language and building one's own vocabulary is the key.

- I still recommend self-study but not as a beginner unless you are an exceptional student. You need to ensure that you understand the basics first such as pronunciation, phonetics, accentuation in order not to practice mistakes. The student I had at least realized that studying on her own was not working and decided not to continue tangling the web.



-LDG.