The Best Spanish Books for Learning
When it comes to language learning books, there are a multitude of them out there. Since I first became interested in languages about 30 years ago, I have completely devoured numerous language learning books and phrase books in many languages throughout my life. And I have tried many different brands out there from Barron's, Berlitz, Pimsleur, and a host of others that I can't even begin to remember right now, all ranging from a waste of paper to excellent.
I understand that everybody is different, and I also understand that some books are going to better help you according to your own personality and learning style. So when it comes down to it, really all I can do is to tell you what has worked for me.
I am somewhat hesitant to mention most language learning books, because I just don't like most of them. Granted, some of these books aren't horrible, and if you want to buy them, then I would totally do it. But I think you need more than just books when it comes to learning a language. To get started learning a language, you really need to hear how those words are pronounced. And sure you could buy Rosetta Stone, or even Pimsleur CDs or the digital audio, which I have tried before, albeit not for Spanish. It's a decent teaching tool, however with some cons in my perspective. So, starting out, you are much better beginning with language learning apps and websites like Duolingo, Memrise, Mondly, Lingoda, Lingopie, iTalki, HelloTalk, Tandem, and hell, even YouTube. These books are to provide you assistance to your language learning, not as a main source.
In this list I am going to list two different categories of language teaching books apart from the dictionaries, because you may feel like you need them. In one category there are the books on verbs and grammar, and then you have the language course books.
When it comes to language course books, I have used both of these, and I can highly recommend both Easy Spanish Step-By-Step and Spanish Now! However, if you have some knowledge of language learning, or you have previously studied some Spanish, you probably could do all right without most of the books on this list. Seriously! Most of your best language learning information is going to be apps like Duolingo, Memrise, Mondly for learning. Others like Lingoda, Lingopie, and iTalki for tutoring. And then apps like Tandem and HelloTalk for conversing with natives and allowing you to practice your Spanish, which is important.
You don't need to buy the paper back or hardback dictionaries listed here. Honestly, SpanishDict is just as good if not better. But if I am going to advise you to buy two books in this list, I would recommend, without a doubt, you should buy Barron's Spanish Grammar and Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish. Everything else, there's an app for that.
I have used 501 Spanish Verbs, and I love this book. Christopher Kendris has written 501 verbs in many languages, and I have used several. All of them are extremely well written.
In my first post I mentioned the app SpanishDict, which also conjugates Spanish verbs just as beautifully as this book. This book only covers the 501 most used Spanish Verbs, and I cannot brag about this book enough. It has helped my language learning immensely. However, after discovering SpanishDict, I use the app for everything, because instead of 501 verbs, SpanishDict has nearly every Spanish verb conceivable.
Grammar may not be the most important thing to learn if you're just starting out in Spanish, but eventually you will have to start learning it. And when you do, I recommend this grammar book. Coincidentally, it is written by the same guy who wrote 501 Spanish Verbs above, Christopher Kendris. Most of the books on this list, in my opinion, you can forego buying them, because you can find plenty of great language learning resources for free online or with apps. However, please, please, please, do not think that you can skip this book and find a shortcut to learning Spanish grammar. Don't do it! This is one of the most important books on this list that you should definitely buy. You can thank me later!
This book is exactly what its title says. It's absolutely magic. This book will open up doors for you in Spanish. Honestly, you probably have no idea how many Spanish words you probably already know. These are called cognates. And trust me, there are thousands of English to Spanish cognates. After reading this book, I promise you that you are going to increase your Spanish vocabulary by thousands of words with very little effort. Don't believe me?
Take for instance all words that end in "-tion" in English. Do you know that almost every single word with that ending also exists in Spanish but with an "-ción" ending? And many times, you can almost pronounce it like you would in English except that the "-ción" is pronounced like "see-OWN." Congratulations! You just learned hundreds if not close to a thousand Spanish words just now, and when you read this book, you are going to learn thousands more. How awesome is that? Once you learn these magical keys, you will have instant access to all these words in Spanish without having to learn each one individually as you would need to do if you were studying a language with very little commonality with English like Arabic or Chinese.
There are two books on this list that I heavily recommend that you should not skip buying. This is one of them. Yes, you can find the same information in this book online, but chances are, the information will be so spread out, you will have to comb through a multitude of websites to learn all the information that is contained in this book. So trust me! Just do yourself a favor and buy this book. The information in this book is priceless.
This book series has several books for the Spanish learner, Easy Spanish Step-By-Step, Complete Spanish Step-By-Step, and Advanced Spanish Step-By-Step. Easy Spanish Step-By-Step is a good beginner book for those starting out. It covers a lot of important areas that you are going to have problems with in your learning process. Because of this, I think this book is a great asset when used with these other books. Now, if you are a complete beginner in Spanish, or you have never really studied another language in depth, then I'm going to tell you to buy this book and don't worry about the following book on the list. If you are an over-zealous person with lots of time on your hands, I suppose you could buy both books and study them together, but I wouldn't recommend this. Instead, I suggest that you use one book like this, and then you can couple it with a language learning app like Duolingo and watching some Spanish language learning YouTube channels. This would be a good combination of learning material that is going to help you immensely.
5. Spanish Now!
Honestly, I can't say enough good things about the material that Barron's publishes. So, I'm going to spare you, from acting like a teenage boy talking about his crush, and what I'm going to tell you is that Barron's is a pretty thorough language learning book. I really like the book I mentioned above, but if I had to choose one of the two, it would be a tough call. If you are someone, who has studied Spanish before, or you are someone who has had experience learning other languages, then I would recommend this book to you. If not, then I would recommend the previously mentioned book. Because I have been dabbling with languages for 30 years, I like this book better, but I can see how this book wouldn't be the best for someone who has little to no language learning experience, especially if you are someone who struggles with language learning.
Because it's important that you start learning to read as much as possible, I would recommend a book such as this one. It is very easy to read. And when you come across words that you don't understand, then I would recommend highlighting it, looking the word up, and then writing the definition near the word or at the bottom of the page. I think learning to speak and listen are a much higher priority for most people, but I will tell you that reading in another language is going to increase your vocabulary exponentially. So, it might not be high on your list, but don't neglect reading in your learning process.
I'm going to mention two different Spanish-English dictionaries for you to use. Both are excellent dictionaries, but the last one, is by far the superior one that I recommend if you are only going to buy one.
As you can see, I'm a big fan of Barron's language books. I think at this price level, a lot of other names cannot compete with Barron's. I do like Merriam-Webster as an alternative, and they do make dictionaries of comparable quality. And honestly, either one would be a good choice, but I would stay away from the other ones. However, my preference here is Barron's. It's just a tad bit better quality if you ask me.
Oxford dictionaries are in my opinion the granddaddy of all language dictionaries. They cost more, but they are worth it. If you were going to buy only one dictionary, then this one is it. I wouldn't waste my money on buying a different brand if you are only going to buy one. But if you are like me, and you like to compare dictionaries, then buy all means, buy as many as you want.
If you are interested in buying a good dictionary, then my advice is this: Since most people have smart phones now, I would recommend buying this dictionary to keep at home, and when you are not at home, use the app SpanishDict.
