Mexican Spanish: Lonely Planet Phrasebook
by Lonely Planet Phrasebooks, Rafael & Cecilia Carmona
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Book Reviews of Mexican Spanish: Lonely Planet Phrasebook
Book Review: Great Help in Learning Spanish
Summary: 4 Stars
Mexican Spanish is a book I bought because I live in an area where there are many Mexican people. I have been trying to learn enough of their language to "get by". This book could be a tremendous help.
However, it is printed in very small print, as the book itself is pocket sized, a nice size to carry with me. The small print is understandable but the pastel colors of the text is more than difficult to read, especially since the print is so tiny. I think whoever put this book together was going for "attractive" but what I need most is black text!
Otherwise, I would reccommend this book to anyone who has some Spanish, surely not to someone who has not done at least a little studying of the language.
The book is well designed, just, harping on it again, the text needs to be black or at least dark red, navy blue, dark brown, dark green - to differentiate subjects. It is almost impossible to see the tildes and accent marks. One needs a magnifying glass! The italics that are supposed to tell one which syllable of the words must be accented for correct pronounciation, again, are almost impossible to detect.
Book Review: Good, compact basic guide with handy phrases
Summary: 4 Stars
Overall, this book is great and fairly up-to-date with phrases and useful notes throughout. I have a very limited background in Spanish, but I think this is perfect for even a novice. It gets 4 stars instead of 5 for a bit of a disconnect in actual vocabulary. For instance, instead of using the word Gas or Gasoline for the Engilsh word it uses the word "Petrol," which is a word I have NEVER used as an American in reference to the fuel for my car. Other than that, it is excellently organized and uses thoughtful phrases such as how to tell people you have an allergy to an item or that you have a flat tire. I recommend this book to anyone planning to travel to Mexico (I am taking it to Cancun with me!)Book Review: Reasonably good Mexican Spanish, TERRIBLE pronunciation guide
Summary: 3 Stars
This handy new phrasebook is MUCH closer to the Mexican Spanish being spoken today than any other I have found. It's actually pretty good, BUT the pronunciation guide is very, very bad for anyone from the central/western US or western Canada. If you're from those areas and don't already have some idea of correct Spanish pronunciation, avoid this phrasebook.
I think the authors must have had some idea about this in advance, since they tell you, "Don't worry too much about pronunciation." That of course is totally wrong. Spanish is one of the world's almost perfectly phonetic languages and pronunciation is the MOST important thing about being understood.
Book Review: LAM
Summary: 5 Stars
I think these books are perfect for any traveler. With the Spanish language being so unique to each country, the phrasebooks allow you to familiarize yourself with a specific Latin American region. I used the Costa Rican book last year when I visited and found it so useful that I left it with my friend who had just moved there. She found it so helpful that she still carries it with her everyday in her purse. I got my father the Mexican phrasebook for Christmas so he could communicate better with some of his employees at work. I think he has found it very useful as well.Book Review: Good Refresher
Summary: 4 Stars
I used to speak pretty fluent Spanish when I was in high school, but with years of neglect and non-use, I've become a bit rusty. This book is a great refresher on key phrases and structure, and will fit in your pocket quite easily.
Don't expect to have a long, involved conversation using this book (only reason I gave this a 4), but if you're going on a trip, there are plenty of phrases to help you out in MANY types of situations. The scenarios in this book are QUITE comprehensive. I also have the Lonely Planet Japanese handbook which is also quite good.