101 Conversations in Simple Spanish

This book is part of collection by the author Olly Richards. They deal with German, French, Italian and of course this one in Spanish. This book is intended for those beginning to speak and listen to Spanish. None of the books are intended for those just beginning to study the target language. The author has another series called German Uncovered as well as other languages. Those books are also in story form but they do introduce grammar and considerable vocabulary in a very effective way. This book does not deal with grammar or word order directly. There are a few words of vocabulary at the end of each chapter but they are intended to help with understanding the story line not as a basis for understanding the language. I do not have much vocabulary in Spanish and am not able to get much benefit from it. But I do recognize the structure from the alternative books in the series in German and French that I purchased. That leads me to believe that this is another great work from a renowned, polyglot, language instructor. The other books I have in the series helped me immensely with those languages which is why I bought this one knowing it wasn't designed for people at my level in Spanish. The audio track that is now available for the French book when combined with the test is allowing me to advance beyond belief. You just naturally pick up vocab and sounds of the language in conversation. The story line is that of mystery which while simple, is compelling enough to draw one into reading more to see what happens. Naturally, there is a tendency to want to go back over previous material to make sure you got details right about the unfolding story. As I said, I don't have enough Spanish to really get much out of the book yet. But I have enough Spanish in me to identify the structure, story line and conversational style to know that this book will move you up to a much higher level of reading and listening to Spanish. I bought it sight unseen because the other two books in their respective languages that I have, did exactly that.

I really had fun reading this! As I kept reading, I realized I was recognizing words i didn't know before. You aren't supposed to study every word, you're supposed to read through each chapter about 3 times and go on. You will find that you actually do understand the basics of what you're reading, and next thing you know you're understanding more. Keep up with it, don't quit like I did. Now I need to go back and read it again.

My level of Spanish learning (advanced intermediate) is a little higher than the level of this story written in "101 Conversations", so it was not very challenging, although I did add a few words to my vocabulary. I think it would be an excellent opportunity for advanced beginners to work with spoken language. I purchased the nook because my listening skills (particularly Castillian) aren't as good as my reading skills. I am looking forward to being able to listen to the mystery-story-in-conversations when the audio book is available. As someone pointed out, the mystery story is a little far-fetched, but it was still entertaining enough that I read the story in 2 sittings. Enjoy it, and be sure to get the audio.

I have been taking a conversational Spanish class, and trying many different resources to practice my reading, speaking and listening skills. This is the first book I've found, that isn't a children's book, that is simple enough for me to understand. I can read it for comprehension, and then read it out loud to practice speaking the words. I really like Olly's approach to learning, to read in a natural manner, without looking up any words you don't know, and to follow the story. The book gives you an introduction to the story, character descriptions, and some vocabulary definitions, but the conversations are easy enough for you to get a basic understanding of the story, without having to know all the words and grammar. I am looking forward to the audio book.

I'm new to spanish, I finished the whole Duolingo tree and still had trouble keeping vocabulary more than a few days. Olly's approach of using reading really resonated with me, I read a ton as a kid and it really helped me to learn english, so it made sense. This book is a great mix of useful vocabulary and builds throughout the stories. I have found it tough to try to read "children's stories" because they tend to include a ton of words I've never encountered, and they may only show up once, so I'm either confused, or constantly looking up words, some of which don't even show up in google translate. This is a great option for packing in useful vocabulary, I'm really looking forward to the audiobook so I can work on listening and speaking.

I began learning Spanish one week ago and am delighted to have such a high quality resource in hand to help with the process of acquiring the language. This is not the first off Ollie's offerings that I've added among my language learning tools, and by no means will it be the last! The overarching conceit of the text is interesting and the stories are concise enough that one doesn't become overwhelmed with material, even when reading intensively, yet they are long enough that one feels a sense of accomplishment upon reading each one. I chose to read extensively since I am a beginner, but imagine that I'll read the book multiple times in order to glean some of the important phrases for use when speaking.

I enjoyed this book. It was entertaining and I believe my understanding of Spanish improved. It was definitely a good use of time.

This book struck a nice balance between using vocabulary that I had to look up, and using Spanish that ai could already understand as an intermediate student. I appreciated the brief vocabulary lists, but had to look up some additional words.

Excelente livro

As soon as Olly announced his new book, I knew it would be perfect to pass the time during my tube trips to work and back. The plot is entertaining, and I was so absorbed in it that finished the book within 3 days of extensive reading. Now I'm going to study it a bit more thoroughly so as to be able to use phrases from the book in real-time conversations. I'd recommend it for pre-intermediate learners, but I'm sure that readers of other levels of language learning will find something useful for themselves, too. I also hope to read more similar stories from this author in the future, as I really enjoyed the conversational style and believe it to be very efficient for learning new phrases and activating the ones I already know but rarely use.

This book was a fun read! Enough basic words that I already knew, to keep me moving forward and enough new vocabulary and conjugations to make it a learning experience. The storyline was interesting and kept me turning the pages, drawing me into the mystery. Very refreshing to read a Spanish book and feel good about my level of learning.

Bien adapté au niveau de langue spécifié. Histoire intéressante.

Muy recomendable.