Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses

Rating:
Summary: A superior value
Review: I studied Spanish for two years in college, put down my books for four years, then decided to study again on my own. Vocabulary came back to me rather quickly, but verbs have been a challenge (as they were in college as well).

"Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses" has been an unbelievably helpful resource in learning Spanish verb tenses. This book could almost stand alone as a textbook on Spanish verbs, and the exercises are fabulous.

In spite of the few small mistakes I've noticed in this book, it is an amazing value and I highly recommend it to anyone learning this fascinating language.

Rating:
Summary: So far, so good!
Review: Of all the Spanish books I had bought, this book stands out as the most useful workbook. I like the idea that I get to have a short lesson/review at the start and when I answer the exercises, I don't just conjugate the verbs but I get to construct whole sentences which to me is very important. And I get to translate paragraphs which makes a good base for writing in Spanish. In the portions of "verdadero or falso" - instead of simply answering V or F, I add more input especially if I answer "falso" and I either write it down or just talk loudly, as if someone is asking those questions in front of me. You won't regret buying this one. (I can't wait to buy her other books!)

Rating:
Summary: An insanely good book
Review: When learning Spanish, it's easy to get overwhelmed by the verb system. There are three moods, 14 separate conjungation sets for each verb, maddening irregularities. Confronting this obstacle stymies many students, and they end up forever talking in the present tense.

In the context of that background, you realize what a triumph Dorothy Devney's book is. She systematically works her way across the entire verb complex, explaining each concept in clear, consise text with crisp examples and appropriately constructed exercises. Each chapter builds on the next one. Before you know it, you've covered everything. Not that you're going to be fluent coming out of this book. That's going to take practice, practice, practice.

But if you're like me, the revelation that this book offers is that the verb system is indeed finite...you get to see that there is an end to it...you can understand the way the entire system works...you can read stories and identify the tense and mood of each verb and know why it was written that way. In short, it's the best way out there to boost your confidence and speed your path towards mastery of the langauage.

Rating:
Summary: No comparison, THE BEST verb workbook on the Market!!
Review: This review is going to be really simple. I completed the Spanish course at the State Department's Foreign Service Institute. But I couldn't have done it without this book. It is hands-down the best one on the market for Spanish Verb Drills. And WHAT A VALUE!!!

What's best? The authors leave enough space to write in the book. And at this price, you will want to write all over it. I have had less luck with workbooks that ask for a paragraph, but make you enter it in your own notebook, or worse, give you only one free line.

An added plus, there is a good glossary at the end of the book so you can easily look up unknown words without having to lug your dictionary around.

I can't say enough good. Buy it.

Rating:
Summary: This is the BEST Spanish Resource Book EVER
Review: Dorothy Devney Richmond has produced a wonderful exercise book to help students master the Spanish language. Her explanations and examples are clear and concise and the opportunities for practice, practice, practice are invaluable in applying the rules of grammar. Every exercise has the correct answers in the back of the book, unlike most other Spanish workbooks. I teach Spanish at our local community college and I recommend this book to all my students as an excellent resource book to be used in addition to the classroom text. I only wish Ms. Richmond would publish more! How about a 2nd Edition of Spanish Verb Tenses?

Rating:
Summary: This book is so great!
Review: This book and the other Practice-Makes-Perfect workbook by Dorothy Richmond ("Spanish Pronouns and Prepositions") are the best Spanish books I've ever used. I just got back from 2 years in the Peace Corps in Honduras and I studied these books every day. They REALLY helped me learn more Spanish! In addition to the concise, easy-to-understand instruction sections, there's tons of exercises to do (with the correct answers in the back of the book) and as I did the exercises, I picked up all kinds of things that I'd been wondering how to say. I also liked the verb workbook a lot because it went way beyond the present tense, all the way to the subjunctive uses of "haber" and other more advanced things I really wanted to know. (This book is especially great if you already know some Spanish because you need some vocabulary to do the exercises, unless you don't mind looking up lots of words in the dictionary.) I highly recommend this book!

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous
Review: This book offers both instruction on verb conjugation and lots of practice exercises (as the name would indicate).

This is the best Spanish Verb book I've ever seen, and can be used for Spanish students at all levels.

By the way, Ms. Richmond's sense of humor is mixed throughout the book - as you will see from the practice exercises.

Rating:
Summary: practice makes perfect
Review: I have used this book a great deal, I am currently taking classes to become an interpreter in a hospital where I work. I use this book a great deal to practice and to learn the different uses of verbs. Practice has indeed helped me because it keeps it short and understandable, I would highly recommend this book for an easier experience with verbs.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding book!
Review: I just started learning Spanish and found this book to be excellent. Covers all verb conjugations thoroughly and is very well organized.

Rating:
Summary: A must-have
Review: I bought this workbook to supplement a regular teach-yourself-Spanish textbook, and quickly found that it's so good, I wasn't even using the textbook. The explanations are clear and insightful, and the exercises build on each other in a logical way. I exchanged the textbook for Dorothy Devney's other workbook on pronouns and prepositions. Those two, plus a grammar reference and a dictionary, are all I've needed.