Customer Reviews

One of the most rewarding additions I have made to my Spanish-learning collection - By: Philip Mayo, 15 Aug 2008
Having putin many hours trying to grasp the basics of Spanish through the use of fairly boring teach-yourself books, tapes, cd's etc, I bought this bookin the hope that, as a learning tool, it might be interesting, entertaining or useful. It's all of those things, & more!

The format is simple. Each idiom gets one page & is introduced by an amusing cartoon depicting a typical circumstance of the expression's usage, using a visually literal interpretation of the actual words.

For instance, the English "to walk on thin ice" becomesin Spanish "to walk stepping on eggs" >> "andar pisando huevos". "To put all your eggsin one basket" becomes "to put all the meat on the spit" >> "poner toda la carne en el asador". The `walking on eggs' & the `meat on the spit' are the subjects of the cartoons. And so on.

Each page is rounded off by a brief (about 10 lines) essay or anecdote,in everyday Spanish, showing the expressionin typical use. An English translation of each sketch is given at the back of the book.

Where does it score?

Well, the expressions are amusing & useful; the treatment is light & inviting, & the illustrations entertainingly explanatory of the metaphors involved. But for me the real bonus is that the little essays or sketches are writtenin wonderfully relevant, conversational-style Spanish, full of different examples of the languagein normal use. That, for me, has been the most helpful aspect of the book. By reading & coming to an understanding of the languagein actionin these written pieces the door to conversational Spanish was opened a little bit more to me. In this regardin particular I cannot recommend this book highly enough to the early intermediate level student (of all ages).

It is one of the most rewarding additions I have made to my Spanish-learning collection.