Better Reading Spanish : A Reader and Guide to Improving Your Understanding of Written Spanish - Softcover

Yates, Jean

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0071391371 ISBN 13: 9780071391375

Publisher: McGraw-Hill, 2002

Synopsis

New reading series brings foreign language acquisition into the 21st century

While the world produces more and more reading material each year, from magazines to newspapers to websites, why are most language learners still relying on contrived texts and classic literature for language acquisition? Providing entertaining contemporary texts in the original language, the Better Reading Language series is for those who want to brush up on a foreign language.

With the authentic materials provided in this series, readers will be able to peruse a Latin Grammys write-up in Spanish, a feature on Alain Ducasse's favorite recipes in French, or a review of a Milan fashion show in Italian. Readings on everything from music and sports to cinema and contemporary family life are arranged in increasing difficulty within chapters. Along the way, learners will find instruction and exercises to help develop improved reading speed, comprehension, and vocabulary.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

A unique method of learning and sharpening your Spanish language skills

For the advanced beginner or intermediate-level learner, reading offers you the most convenient way to practice and sharpen your Spanish and monitor your progress: the more you read, the greater your knowledge of the language. However, you probably don't have the time, patience, or interest to tackle original literary works or course textbooks.

Better Reading Spanish brings you short passages that reflect real-life, contemporary issues and situations, taken from magazines, the Internet, books, and newspapers.

Each chapter features articles that cover a specific topic--cuisine, music, sports, cinema and theater, art, the family, today's lifestyle, or politics and history--with each piece becoming more challenging as the section progresses. Here you will find an article about the Seattle Mariners' Edgar Martínez, a tourist pamphlet from Honduras, a recipe for gazpacho, and more than fifty other selections to help you improve your reading speed and understanding.

Following each article is a set of exercises that help your comprehension of that piece, as well as develop invaluable reading skills including:

• Skimming material for general meaning
• Scanning for details
• Using word formation, cognates, and context to determine meaning
• Understanding idioms and artistic expressions

An appendix provides suggestions for websites and publications for further reading.

Better Reading Spanish will not only help you improve or revive your language skills, it will open up the enjoyable and exciting world of reading in Spanish.

About the Author:

Jean Yates is a lecturer of Spanish at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

About this edition

• Publisher: McGraw-Hill
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0071391371
• ISBN 13: 9780071391375
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256