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Madrigal’s Magic Key to Spanish: A Creative and Proven Approach
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Original price was: $22.00.$14.31Current price is: $14.31.
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Learn the basics of the Spanish language with this easy-to-use guide featuring original illustrations by Andy Warhol—from one of America’s most prominent language teachers.
Read, write, and speak Spanish in only a few short weeks! Even the most reluctant learner will be astonished at the ease and effeciveness of Margarita Madrigal’s unique method of teaching a foreign language. Completely eliminating rote memorization and painfully boring drills, Madrigal’s Magic Key to Spanish is guaranteed to help you:
• Learn to speak, read, and write Spanish quickly and easily
• Convert English into Spanish in an instant
• Start forming sentences after the very first lesson
• Identify thousands of Spanish words within a few weeks of study
• Travel to Spanish-speaking countries with confidence and comfort
• Develop perfect pronunciation, thanks to a handy pronunciation key
With original black and white illustration by Andy Warhol, Madrigal’s Magic Key to Spanish will provide readers with a solid foundation upon with to build their language skills.
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Categories: Arts & Photography
Product name:
Madrigal’s Magic Key to Spanish: A Creative and Proven Approach
Price:
Original price was: $22.00.$14.31Current price is: $14.31.
Amazon Customer –
I love the whole new take on teaching in this book. Right from the start, you realise you know more Spanish than you realise.
Simple but logical techniques makes learning Spanish so much easier, and I have learned as much in a week as I did in 18 months using an app.
I would highly recommend this.
Amazon Customer –
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daniel –
“Clever approach, empowering method for the true beginner learning Latin American Spanish. Tired layout, and somewhat frustrating as a ‘resource’ for the intermediate student.”
This book is aimed at the absolute beginner. For this particular audience, it has a very clever approach that runs counter to many teachers and language schools. For instance, it gets off to a good start by using verbs in the PAST tense, using only first person singular (me) and third person singular (anyone else). Then it introduces the infinitive and shows the reader how to create the infinitive from the verb in its past tense (rather than vice versa)! Then it jumps to simple future tense because it is easy to build from the infinitive. This is clever because it gets the student up and running, creating full sentences in the past, without having to introduce all of the verb stem-changing issues involved in using the present tense. Meanwhile it introduces many cognates and points out useful ways to think of nouns, and further along it introduces vocabulary in a practical way. Only after several chapters does it introduce “estar” and only later does get to a full conjugation of that verb, and when it does it puts it along side TENIR (to have), rather than SER, because there is an interesting symmetry in the past tense form of these two verbs. Only still much later does it finally get into the thicket of explaining the two very important verbs “to be” (estar/ser). Finally after 400 pages, she gets to the prsent tense. All of this is refreshingly practical and un-academic. By contrast, in my experience, most books and teachers and schools start with present tense, assuming that it is somehow more fundamental than the past tense, and they harp incessantly on ser/estar dilemma, unwilling to move beyond this un-intuitive concept (for an English speaker) and taking the wind out of the beginner’s sails.
However…there are no chapter titles and bullet objectives at the top of the page, and the layout (graphic design) is rather tired and bland. So the intermediate student may be frustrated because he cannot easily find his aproximate “place” in this thick book, or use it as a reference to glean its pearls, i.e., basic principles cleverly explained. He must peruse the Table of Contents, which gives an incomplete blurb on some topic(s) found in the chapter, then jump to a chapter and scan through sub-titles of sections which are not very revealing of the topics. The index helps somewhat, but it is limited. In short, the brilliant approach could be improved by a new printing with more descriptive titles/headings and more complete index.
Carolyn S –
This book is full of shortcuts and tricks to help with learning Spanish. The explanations are great and the exercises are helpful. I am writing out each exercise as I go through the book to help me retain what I am learning. This book would be a great companion to anyone learning Spanish.
Renee F. –
This book does really well with strengthening the foundational portion of learning Spanish. I like that you are in control of how you use it. I took Spanish courses in middle school and high school but none of that experience resulted in me being confidently conversational. For me, this book is super helpful with reinforcing concepts that I’m struggling with. It’s helping me understand when and why certain sentence structures / words/ conjugations are used.
Memorizing the tips and tricks has been more efficient than trying to memorize a lot of words. I use this as a supplemental resource in conjunction with following content creators who teach Spanish, joining language learning communities online, Quizlet, and engaging with Spanish media. Also, most of the popular streaming services allow you to watch shows and movies in Spanish with English subtitles, and vice versa. In addition to improving my conversational skills, the concepts in this book have also improved my listening abilities.
I definitely recommend this book for learners for beginner and intermediate level learners. Even as you progress in your language journey, it’s nice to have handy to use as a quick reference.
Drew R. –
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In the preface to this book, the author, Margarita Madrigal, promises that if you complete this book, you will then be able to go to a Spanish speaking country and understand them. I will now go that far and agree with the author because I believe that in order to speak and understand Spanish with confidence, you will need a learning-Spanish audio program to supplement this book. But as the author promises, I honestly believe that this book will help you to do the following:
1. Speak Spanish
2. Read Spanish
3. Write in Spanish
4. Think in Spanish
There are so many things that I like about this book. For starters, the author of this book uses a very interesting method to help you quickly learn Spanish. What she does is teach the reader how to add hundreds and hundreds of Spanish words to his or her vocabulary by simply using the English words that you already know. For example, did you already know that the following words are both Spanish and English words:
Actor
Popular
Animal
Capital
hotel
Radio
Conductor
Probable
Cable
Ideal
Flexible
The only difference is the pronunciation is different in Spanish. But the words are spelled the same way and have the same meaning in both Spanish and English.
In addition to showing the reader that he or she already knows many Spanish words because there are so many English words that are spelled the same and that have the same meaning, the author also shows how the reader can take many English words that he or she already knows and convert them into Spanish words just by making small changes in the words. For example, the author shows how we can convert many English words that end in “ist” into Spanish words by adding the letter “a” to them:
Pianist – el pianista
Violinist – el violinista
Dentist – el dentista
Oculist – el oculista
Capital – el capitalista
Communist – el comunista
Novelist – el novelista
Optimist – el optimista
I also found it beneficial that there is a helpful pronunciation key at the beginning of the book. Another thing that I really like about this book is that after every 9 or 10 lessons, there are a series of tests that help you test your progress and see how far you have come.
Near the end of the book, there is also a section called “Common Spanish Expressions” where you’ll find five pages packed with helpful Spanish expressions, such as:
Acabar de (plus infinitive) – to have just
A pesar de – in spite of
Buena suerte – good luck
Claro – of course
Dar la mano – to shake hands
Echar la culpa – to blame
Esta vez – this time
Me alegro de verlo – I am happy to see you
No lo haga – don’t do it
No es justo – it isn’t fair
Otra vez – again
Poco a poco – little by little
Ya lo creo – now I believe it
At the very end of this book, there is a handy 35-page “Vocabulary” section that is organized like a dictionary. You will find Spanish words from “a” (to, at) all the way to “zoologia” (zoology).
Out of the 45 chapters covered in this book, my favorites were Chapter 41 and Chapter 42. In chapter 41, the author teaches The Present Subjunctive and breaks down how to express hope, fear, doubt and desire in Spanish. In chapter 42, the author teaches The Past Subjunctive and breaks down how to express past hopes, fears, doubts and desires in Spanish. She even explains how to use the conditional and past subjunctive together. In other words, you will learn how to express the following in Spanish:
I would write a letter if I had the time.
She would buy an airplane if it were possible.
They would watch the movie if were interesting.
In chapter 42, Madrigal also covers the Past Perfect Subjunctive which enable you to express the following in Spanish:
I would have known the lesson if I had studied.
We would have spoken Spanish if we had studied.
If they had had time, they would have traveled to Spain.
The reason why Chapters 41 and 42 are my favorite chapters is because these are the chapters that teach the Spanish subjunctive. I, like many native English speakers, find that the Spanish subjunctive is one of the most difficult areas of Spanish. In Chapters 41 and 42, Madrigal does a fantastic job breaking-down the complex topic of the Spanish subjunctive.
The only thing that I did not like about this book is that the vocabulary does not cover modern technology. The first edition of this book was written in 1951. This book seriously needs to be updated. You will learn how to say the Spanish words for telephone, newspaper and telegram. But don’t expect to learn how to say cellphone, website or email in Spanish.
Although this book does not teach you any Spanish words related to modern technology, I still recommend that buy this book because it will allow you to quickly learn hundreds of Spanish words quite easily – just by using the English words that you already know. By the way, this same author, Margarita Madrigal, has another helpful book that you will find available here at Amazon:
In closing, I’ll leave you with a list of my current favorite learning-Spanish resources. (My list of favorites changes from time to time so you may want to check my list periodically. Updated 07-13-2023):
1.
501 Spanish Verbs
If you think you can accomplish fluency in Spanish as an adult without mastering conjugating Spanish verbs, you are only fooling yourself. This book is an absolute essential resource for learning how to conjugate Spanish verbs. It will show you how to conjugate every Spanish verb tense imaginable. This is my NUMERO UNO resource for learning Spanish.
2.
How To Speak Spanish Like a MF
This is Patrick Jackson’s newest learning-Spanish program. Despite the unusual name of this audiobook, it’s the best program I have found for learning how to do both, speak and comprehend Spanish just like a native. From my experience, it’s much better than any free or paid mobile app for learning Spanish. You will not hear any of that old, obsolete Spanish that sounds like something from 19th Century Spain. Instead, you’ll learn to not only understand but actually partake in Spanish conversations discussing technology, veganism, ride-sharing apps, life as a digital nomad, using social media apps, etc. There are also two bonus lessons covering what many would consider “woke” Spanish – which involve a woman and two gay content creators who work on an adults-only online platform. Another plus about this program is that all the voice actors are native Spanish speakers to make sure you develop a true Latin American Spanish accent and proper pronunciation. Make sure you download the free Audible mobile app to get the most out of this audio program.
3.
Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses
This is another resource that you truly need if you are serious about mastering conjugating Spanish verbs. Conjugating Spanish verbs is by far the most challenging area of learning-Spanish for native English speakers. After studying with “Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses” you will find that you can confidently conjugate Spanish verbs in any verb tense, from easier tenses such as the present tense (“I run”) and the preterit (“I ran) all the way to the most challenging Spanish tenses, such as the pluperfect subjunctive – which is known in Spanish as “pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo” (I would have run).
4.
Learning Spanish Like Crazy Level 1 – NEW & Improved Version
or
Learning Spanish Like Crazy Level 1 – ORIGINAL Version
At one time, these two were my favorite learning-Spanish audio programs. There’s a “NEW & Improved Version” and an “Original Version”. Although I found the “NEW” version a bit more interactive and engaging, I have a slight preference for the “Original” version because the narrator’s voice was more interesting and entertaining. Both the narrators are native Spanish speakers as well as the voice actors – which really helped me to develop an authentic Latin American accent. But what appeals to me most is that there is a major emphasis on everyday, conversational Spanish unlike the Spanish taught in most audio programs which teach more academic or formal Spanish. Besides the two beginner programs (NEW & Improved Version vs. Original Version), there is also an Intermediate version and an Advanced version available. Regardless of which program you invest in, you’ll need to download the free Audible mobile app to get the most out of it.
5.
Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Pronouns and Prepositions
This little-known book is the go-to guide for mastering Spanish Pronouns and Prepositions. Most Spanish-language learners have no idea that mastery of Spanish pronouns and prepositions is an area of Spanish grammar that is essential for effective communication with Spanish-speakers. Another major advantage of this book is that it is accompanied by flashcards and audio recordings (available online and via app) which will further help master the Spanish language.
Ganesh –
The best book to learn Spanish from beginning. Well laid out text and easy to follow.
Kent Routen –
Muy recomendable.
Doc –
If you can read…you will learn this language using this text.