Advanced Spanish Grammar : A Self-Teaching Guide

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books on the topic of Spanish Grammar
Review: I am a native of Peru and part-time Spanish instructor as well as an expert in martial arts. I am always looking for new study aids or resource materials for my students. I believe that Spanish Practical Grammar and Advanced Spanish Grammar are two of the best books on the subject of grammar. Marcial Prado has done an excellent job with both books.

The first book (Spanish Practical Grammar) consists of 15 chapters. Each chapter begins with a long list of vocabulary words with nouns, verbs, prepositions, etc. After the vocabulary, a dialog consisting of the vocabulary is introduced. Then a verb conjugation chart follows before several exercises covering the vocabulary and the chapter's topic of verb conjugation. Prado begins covering the subjunctive towards the end of the first book, which I think was a good idea because many Spanish grammar books for beginners don't cover at all.

The second book in the series which consists of 25 chapters covers more advanced topics such as "subjuntivo de duda y de causa-efecto" and "El imperfecto de subjunctivo" Most of the second book is written in Spanish which helps my students with their reading and writing of Spanish. Both books also have 3 or 4 major exams to test how much the student has learned.

I have invested in copies of both books for topics to teach to my students although I still recommend that my students purchase copies of their own. Another study aid that I recommend that they buy is the Learning Spanish Like Crazy lessons. I have listened to a few major brand Spanish courses. I am really not too impressed with any of them but I feel that if I have to recommend one it'll be Learning Spanish Like Crazy because it comes the closest to actual Latin American Spanish. But if you have the time and money, don't buy any of the Spanish courses. Live abroad for six months to a year. But you will still need copies of both Prado books. The two books are indispensable whether you study Spanish here or abroad.



Rating:
Summary: Great for advanced review!!
Review: I'm very glad to have acquired this book for a solid review of intermediate Spanish. This book is not for novices, which many of the other self-study books are (i.e., the other books are too basic). Along with a strong grammatical review, the book also provides decent vocabulary review as well. If you have a good understanding of Spanish, this book and the "501 Spanish Verbs" book are all you need.

Rating:
Summary: Great for advanced review!!
Review: I'm very glad to have acquired this book for a solid review of intermediate Spanish. This book is not for novices, which many of the other self-study books are (i.e., the other books are too basic). Along with a strong grammatical review, the book also provides decent vocabulary review as well. If you have a good understanding of Spanish, this book and the "501 Spanish Verbs" book are all you need.

Rating:
Summary: Advanced Spanish Grammar
Review: If you are serious about gaining control of the Spanish language and have to do it by yourself, this book is it. It is unlike any other self-study book I've encountered. Entirely in Spanish, it really gets you thinking and learning in that language. Uniquely simple and easy to follow, this book moved me far ahead into understanding the grammatical structure and its applications.

Rating:
Summary: One of the essential books if you're learning Spanish!
Review: Once you've gotten past basic Spanish, you will need an intermediate/advanced Spanish grammar book. This book fits the bill perfectly. And, it's the perfect companion to another great book for really learning Spanish, "501 Spanish Verbs." Since Spanish grammar gets harder as you get more advanced, you will quickly find that you need a book like this. I know it helped me greatly with things like the subjunctive, for instance, and I'm sure it will help you too! This is one of the essential books you need if you're learning Spanish, and have gotten past the basics...

Rating:
Summary: One of the essential books if you're learning Spanish!
Review: Once you've gotten past basic Spanish, you will need an intermediate/advanced Spanish grammar book. This book fits the bill perfectly. And, it's the perfect companion to another great book for really learning Spanish, "501 Spanish Verbs." Since Spanish grammar gets harder as you get more advanced, you will quickly find that you need a book like this. I know it helped me greatly with things like the subjunctive, for instance, and I'm sure it will help you too! This is one of the essential books you need if you're learning Spanish, and have gotten past the basics...

Rating:
Summary: One of the few good references for intermediate and advanced
Review: One of the problems that an intermediate or advanced learner of Spanish faces is that there are few choices of good reference books or textbooks. This book tries to fill that gap and it seems to have succeeded in it, with some reservation. Please be forewarned that this book is not for novices: all the explanations are given in Spanish though they are not too difficult to understand. Various grammatical topics are displayed in 26 lessons with explanations, exercises and answers. They are thorough, detailed and mostly very well digested to make comprehension easy. There are also 4 review tests for every several lessons. A title is attached to each lesson, such as sport, food, travel, family, work and so on. The problem is that the topic of each lesson is only related to the vocabulary shown there. In that sense, there is little reason to assign a title to each lesson. If the author included a short story or conversation to illustrate the title, I am sure that the book should be more lively and interesting. In that case, audiocassettes or CDs that record natural-speed reading or conversation will be welcome. Another thing that I think needs change is that they put more emphasis on grammatical eusef than grammatical eknowledgef itself. For example, there are sometimes tests on grammatical terminology, which I think are not necessary. I still highly rate this because it is one of the few books full of contents that an intermediate or advanced student needs.

Rating:
Summary: Very good...
Review: This book is great in that it has plenty of exercises after the concepts are explained--and if you want to learn AND REMEMBER a new language, repetition (and use) is really the only way.
It explains all of the important grammar concepts (and hang-ups for english speakers) with clarity. Of course, it's presented almost entirely in spanish, so you need to understand a good amount of Spanish to get anything out of it. This is my favorite Spanish Language book (and most of them that I own are very good).

Rating:
Summary: A worthwhile reference
Review: What I like about this book is that, with the exception of limited and seemingly necessary translations, the lessons are taught completely in Spanish. It covers the advanced areas in breadth but lacks in depth with regard to offering examples and practice. I find myself frequently referring to Dorothy D Richmond's books to fill in the gaps. It is nonetheless better than most Spanish books on the market.