Spanish Now: Level 1

Rating:
Summary: Level 1???
Review: Luckily I've taken 4 years of high school Spanish and I needed a way to get back into things. This book seems great and right at my ability. I can understand most of it, and the directions are pretty clear. However, for a beginner, with no previous knowledge of the Spanish language, I can't recommend this. Too many words, phrases are used within the first 20 pages that if you didn't know, you'd already be lost. Nothing is worse then trying to learn a new language and feeling frustrated. I'd say this is a great 'review' book for those who've had experience or for those like myself that might have 4 years of high school Spanish but are basically back at Level I. This book works for me only because I have not lost all the knowledge I had. Otherwise, I'd be completely lost already. Some of the instructions are in Spanish for words that have never been used.

Rating:
Summary: I found the Teacher's Manual !
Review: My College Beginning Conversational Spanish Class used this as the textbook. As another reviewer mentioned, the About.com site uses it also. Overall, the book is laid out nicely with clear explanations and content. There are a couple typos on verb spellings, which the instructor corrected for us. A beginner using it on their own, of course, wouldn't have that advantage. I found the Teacher's Manual with answers on another major on line bookstore in the College Textbook section. I also see Amazon has it now also, albeit with limited availability. Either get the answer book or take a class with an instructor. It's good but using it own your own would be hard.

Rating:
Summary: The tapes and book don't jive well
Review: The book was helpful but I have seen books with a bit clearer HELP BOXES. It's definitely designed for a person with a LARGER command of the Spanish language. Perhaps it's a good book to BRUSH up an INTERMEDIATE Spanish student but it's not for beginners.

Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: This is an excellent workbook to practice your reading and writing between classes. I would not recommend it, however, as the sole book for your studying the language because it does not provide enough explanation for grammer rules.

I use it to review between semesters just so I don't forget what I've learned. The reason this book does not receive five stars is because there are no answers to the exercises in the index so you cannot check your answers.

Aside from that, I highly recommend it!