50 Ways to Improve your Spanish: Teach Yourself

Summary:

Do you have a working knowledge of Spanish, but want to improve? Allow this book to come to your rescue and eliminate basic errors and slips of the pen. Each one of 50 top tips for improving your spoken and written Spanish is presented and analysed across a whole double page, with explanations as to where and why people sometimes go wrong. The tips are grouped into grammar, spelling, false friends, pronunciation and cultural faux pas sections. There's even free downloadable audio content available to help you with your pronunciation.

Polish your Spanish with this brand new series from Teach Yourself - the No. 1 brand in language learning. 50 ways to improve your Spanish touches all essential bases and is divided into the following easily digestible sections:

Only got a minute?
A 60-second introduction to Spanish to get you started.

Only got five minutes?
Get to grips with Spanish and its common pitfalls even if you're short of time.

Only got ten minutes?
Use your free time wisely to learn something about the Spanish language.

Insights
Instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on Keith Chambers' many years of experience.

Test yourself
Tests online to keep track of your progress.

Articles
Extra information to keep you motivated.

Summaries
Quick refreshers to help you remember the key facts.

Grammar
Easy-to-follow building blocks to give you a clear understanding.

Pronunciation
Don't sound like a tourist - polish your pronunciation before you go.

Audio
Downloadable audio support online to help with key areas - iPod/MP3 compatible.

• Short, snappy sections focusing on simple tips to perfect your Spanish

• Simple, accessible explanations

• Free audio download to help with pronunciation

• Expert authors teach at the University of Surrey

Table of Contents:
Meet the author
Only got a minute?
Only got 5 minutes?
Only got 10 minutes?
How to use this book
Looking and sounding right
Speling errers – Avoiding mistakes in spelling
It’s acute! – Using accents to mark stress
It’s acute! – Problems with accents
Capital offence – When to use capital letters
Say it after me – Keeping vowels clear and simple
Say it after me – Concentrating on consonants
Getting the structure right
The right word in the right place
Now how cow brown – Problems with word order
Nouns, adjectives and adverbs
The cat sat on the mat – When to use the definite article
The cat sat on the mat – Further uses of the definite article
What’s the form? – Forms of the articles
‘A’ or ‘an’ – Mistakes with the indefinite article
A boy named Sue – Tricky genders
A boy named Sue – More tips on gender
Don’t agree to disagree! – Agreements
Blurred picture – Common mistakes with adjectives
A bit of this and that – Problems with demonstratives
More or less or just the same – Comparisons
It’s very hard – muy and mucho
Softly softly – Easy does it with adverbs
Conjunctions, questions and negatives
Yeah, but… no, but… – Using conjunctions
What was that? – Question words
How long is a piece of string? – Tricky questions
No means no! – Negative expressions
Verbs and verb constructions
Hey, you! – Which word for ‘you’?
Clear and present danger – Pitfalls in present-tense usage
Clear and present danger – Pitfalls in present-tense formation
All in the past – Preterite and imperfect
Passive resistance – Replacing the passive with the reflexive
Passive resistance – Replacing the passive with impersonal se
Coming and going – Use and misuse of the gerund
I’ll tell you what I want – Basic uses of the subjunctive
I’ll tell you what I want – Use and misuse of the subjunctive
Gimme, gimme, gimme – Simple commands and requests
Gimme, gimme, gimme – The ‘true’ imperative
All together now – Basic errors in joining verbs
All together now – Joining verbs with de and other prepositions
Liking and loving – gustar, encantar, querer
When I’m 64 – Looking into the future
It all depends – Verbs with differing constructions
What if? – Tenses with si
I’m not so sure! – Problems with expressions of doubt
Pronouns and possessives
Only me! – Subject and prepositional pronouns
Indirect or direct? – Object pronouns
You’re out of order! – Personal pronouns: which comes first?
You’re out of order! – Personal pronouns: before or after the verb?
‘My’ and ‘mine’ – Problems with possessives
Numbers, dates and times
Figure it out! – Problems with numbers
When was that? – Days, dates and times
Choosing the right words
What will it be? – When to use ser
What will it be? – When to use estar
Being and having – Alternatives to ser/estar
Verbal gymnastics – jugar versus tocar
Verbal gymnastics – pensar versus creer
To have and to hold – tener versus haber
To have and to hold – hay, hay que and tener que
Leave it out or I’ll quit! – Problems with leaving
Getting the know-how – saber, conocer and poder
Propositions about prepositions – en, a, de
What’s it all for? – por and para
The missing link – Unexpected uses of prepositions
Up the ante – Mistakes with ‘before’ and ‘under’
It’s behind you! – detrás, tras and después
Things aren’t always what they seem! – False friends
Glossary of grammatical terms
Index

About the Author(s):
Keith Chambers has wide experience teaching Spanish in secondary schools, higher education and adult education.

Readership:
Self-teaching adults