Recommended Spanish grammar text books

[Marianopolita]

Recommended Spanish grammar text books for beginner, intermediate and advanced level students, adults, independent learners and educators.


There are a wealth of Spanish textbooks, grammar exercise books, independent study kits, dictionaries and other helpful references on the market for those who are studying Spanish (formally), independent learners, those looking to perfect their knowledge, educators of the language or simply for those who have an interest in having more than just basic Spanish knowledge.

However, everyone has different needs in language, challenges, interests therefore, choosing the right reference(s) is paramount since it (they) definitely will have an impact on what a student learns, their overall approach to leaning the language and motivation to study over time. Therefore, here is a short list of recommended text books that I consider to be very good resources for grammar acquisition and vocabulary.



1) Hola amigos level= beginner/ low intermediate
2) Arriba level= beginner/ low intermediate
3) ?C?mo se dice? level= beginner/ low intermediate

-The three text books above basically offer the same grammatical concepts just in a different sequence. I recommend either of them for the level I categorized. It would depend on what format the leaner prefers but all are easy to read with good grammatical explanations of the fundamental aspects of Spanish grammar.



4) Con mucho gusto- level= beginner/ low intermediate

- I have recommended this text book in previous posts. This is a very thorough grammar book with excellent explanations of the common challenging grammar points. It is easy to follow chapter by chapter and the explanations are in English. It's out of print but a used copy is attainable.


5) Conexiones and/ or Identidades- level= high intermediate

-Both of these books have very good fundamental grammatical concepts explained in a clear and concise manner in English with good examples, practice exercises and excerpts of articles for reading comprehension.

-Either text book is recommended for those who have a solid understanding of beginner level grammar concepts and are looking to continue to grasp Spanish grammar and the more difficult grammar points at the next level.


6) Avanzando- level= advanced

-This is a very good advanced grammar text book. It's completely in Spanish with excellent and even some specialized grammar points.



I confirm that all text books are used in university courses except "Con mucho gusto" (to my knowledge).


----MP.

 

[Ezequiel]

Would you recommend the "Avanzando" grammar book to somebody who speak Spanish as s/he native language?

 

[Chip]

Great info, thanks. I was getting ready too look it up on Amazon when I realized (jeje) that since I live here in the DR I could go and buy a grade school grammar book that is used in the private schools here. I just looked at my daughter's who is in the 4th grade and it seemed a little simple. I think I will check out the 7th or 8th grade grammer books. This is a also good idea for those who live in the country and who already have a basic understanding of Spanish.

 

[Marianopolita]

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Would you recommend the "Avanzando" grammar book to somebody who speak Spanish as s/he native language?

Absolutely, I recommend it for native and bilingual speakers who grew up speaking Spanish at home and in a Spanish environment. Speaking a language does not mean one is exempt from studying grammar (I am just making a point and not implying that you think that way). The book is a gem. I have it and will hold onto it. I have the third edition and would like to get the most recent one at some point which is the sample one in my first post. The grammar concepts of the book are solid. One's command of Spanish has to be good and the reader will surely discover a lot that is heard or what s/he may even say in Spanish is grammatically incorrect. I have a few other very advanced grammar text books but Avanzando still ranks in my top ten.

Identidades, the high intermediate one I recommended is also very good.


----MP.

 

[Ezequiel]

What would be the difference between "Avanzando" and "Nueva Gram?tica de la Lengua Espa?ola"?

 

[Marianopolita]

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They both are Spanish grammar books. Avanzando is your typical advanced Spanish grammar book for scholastic study. I don't have Nueva Gram?tica de la Lengua Espa?ola so I can't comment in depth but from what I can see from the contents of the book in the link I provided below, it's a much more specialized and focused study of Spanish grammar. For example, there's a chapter on morphology and on syntax and that's not in your everyday Spanish text book.

It's certainly not a grammar book for casual study. One has to have the knowledge to understand and master what's being detailed in the book.


http://www.asale.org/ASALE/pdf/folletonvagramatica.pdf



----MP.

 

[Chip]

They both are Spanish grammar books. Avanzando is your typical advanced Spanish grammar book for scholastic study. I don't have Nueva Gram?tica de la Lengua Espa?ola so I can't comment in depth but from what I can see from the contents of the book in the link I provided below, it's a much more specialized and focused study of Spanish grammar. For example, there's a chapter on morphology and on syntax and that's not in your everyday Spanish text book.

It's certainly not a grammar book for casual study. One has to have the knowledge to understand and master what's being detailed in the book.


http://www.asale.org/ASALE/pdf/folletonvagramatica.pdf



----MP.

What do you think of the local grammar books, are they worth using? /from what I've seen of my daughters in 4th grade they are quite technical. For example, a recent lesson involved recognizing conjunctions and using antonyms and synonyms.

 

[Marianopolita]

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It's been a while since I have seen the local text books in the DR but I do have one I bought a few years ago while visiting to actually compare to other Latin countries and to see what students in other countries are using. The reader I bought was Sociedad 5 (Santillana). When judging a text book the first aspect I look at is the publishing house. If it's one of the renowned ones like Santillana, Grupo Editorial Norma, Grupo Editorial Santana, Plaza & Jan?s etc, then I am not worried. I know the quality of their material is excellent and students in the DR using their books should be on par with their Latin American counterparts. Also, what you mentioned being taught is normal for a student that is educated in his/ her language of origin. If it's the grammar or language section of the book each chapter will focus on a different aspect of grammar. However, if the book is truly local meaning not one of the above mentioned publishing houses or a local subsidiary then I can't comment without actually seeing the book and going through the contents chapter by chapter.

I have some books I bought on recent trips to Latin American countries and some of the material seems a bit tough for the grade level especially the reading but the language itself is not a foreign language to the reader. However, even taking that into consideration, I found the reading was quite complicated for the grade level. In comparison, if I were to give those books to a bilingual English/ Spanish student in the same grade raised outside of a Latin American country, I think s/he would have reading and comprehension difficulty. This is also another way to gage the level of the scholastic material at hand vs. the student's level of Spanish based on their different backgrounds.

To add:

For foreigners learning Spanish some of the best scholastic learning material is published by ELE- Espa?ol Lengua Extranjera in addition to some of publishing houses of the text books mentioned in my first post (all US based)- Prentice Hall, McGraw-Hill, NTC Publishing just to name a few.


----MP.

 

[Chip]

Thanks MP. The book in question my daughter uses is Santillana. There are others as well such as Actualidad and Susaeta.