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Demystifying Spanish Grammar: An Advanced Spanish Grammar Guide, Clarifying the Written Accents, Ser/Estar (Verbs), Para/Por (Prepositions), Imperfect/Preterit (Past Tenses), & the Spanish Subjunctive | 
 enlarge | Author: Brandon Simpson
Publisher: Small Town Press
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy New: $12.55
You Save: $1.40 (10%)
New (9) Used (2) from $8.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 222040
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 112
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.5
ISBN: 0981646603
EAN: 9780981646602
ASIN: 0981646603
Publication Date: March 17, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
Why does this word have an accent? When do I use ser and estar? Why por and not para? I don't understand the difference between the imperfect and the preterit. The subjunctive? I give up! Do these questions sound familiar to you? If they do, you have the right book. I had the same exact questions when I was studying Spanish. Now, I know them well enough to explain in this book. I have to admit that I don't always know the reason why I use one form instead of another; I learned a lot just from reading and listening to spoken Spanish.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 Great book for common spanish problems August 27, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Demystifying Spanish Grammar by Brandon Simpson is a small but useful book covering points of grammar that confuse many students of Spanish. I will use the acronyms and other helpful hints I learned in this book whenever I need to review ser/estar, por/para, imperfect/preterit and the subjunctive, all of which give me problems. I'm glad to have found a book with these particular grammar points emphasized.
 Finally August 11, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Spanish grammar is not easy. Specifically, the parts of spanish grammar that don't translate directly from English. The author of this book tackles them all in brief reliable instructions. Specifically, he's the only person who accurately and succinctly deciphers the difference between por and para.
 Extremely amateur and you'd do better with a standard reference instead August 10, 2008
Some months back, author Brandon Simpson provided me with a gratis copy of his book DEMYSTIFING SPANISH GRAMMAR so that I could give my two cents. I'm going to give the book the evaluation it really deserves, because learning a foreign language is a serious business, and people deserve the best tools. Simpson received a B.A. in Spanish and has worked as a Spanish tutor. He noticed that his pupils had especial trouble with a handful of Spanish grammatical concepts: 1) the use of accents, 2) the difference between "ser" and "estar", 3) the difference between "para" and "por", 3) the distinction between the imperfect and the preterite, and 4) the use of the subjunctive. He decided to compile helps on precisely these issues.
The result is all but unusable. When dealing with foggy areas, like the difference between the preterite and imperfect of "estar", Simpson asked random Spanish speakers instead of citing trustworthy studies prepared by trained linguists. There's little coverage of the considerable differences between Latin American and Spanish usages, nor literary Spanish (which form the small town American student will probably encounter more than the spoken language). The book appears to have had no professional editing and is amateur in all respects. On the back cover we find "This Book Will Demystify... the Dreaded Spanish Subjunctive!!!" Using exclamation points so abundantly doesn't inspire confidence. Inside, misspellings and lack of punctuation abound. Typesetting was done in a word processor instead of a suitable typesetting engine and the result is hard on the eyes.
I'll give the book two stars because the grammatical paradigms within aren't wrong. However, the student of Spanish would do better to get the Collins Gem Spanish Grammar, a nice little pocket-sized reference of all aspects of the language, including a number of completely conjugated verbs, still widely available in used marketplaces.
BRIEF AND USEFUL August 9, 2008
I recommend this book for beginning and intermediate Spanish students. The book weighs in at about 100 pages, so you won't be overwhelmed with material. Components of the book that I particularly liked: 1) Useful acronyms to help you remember when to use particular words, such as ser/estar. 2) Results of interviews with native Spanish speakers as to what grammar they would use in a particular situation (e.g., whether they use preterite or imperfect in a given sentence). 3) Exercises that help you master grammar.
Excellent Tool Created by Author Brandon Simpson. August 8, 2008
I am a Spanish major. I am in the process of finishing my last four classes for my B.A. in Spanish. I own too many Spanish reference books to even count. And, I know which areas of grammar usually give non native speakers of the language problems when they write or speak.
A few days ago I recieved this thin, green book in the mail. The title made me curious. I asked myself "Is it possible that this author can demystify Spanish grammar?" Well, the answer is yes. The author, Brandon Simpson, has managed to present and clarify written accents, ser/estar, para/por, the imperfect/preterit, and yes, the dreaded Spanish subjunctive in a very fresh and very user friendly way.
I especially like the way the author uses acronyms like HIDE/STARS to help inforce the usage of the imperfect and the preterit. These types of acronyms along with practice exercises are used throughout the book. And, they do what they were designed to do, they help the learner to remember and understand these often troublesome grammar areas. Mr. Simpson presents all of the above grammar topics in a very precise fashion. His book is a gem for all intermediate to advanced Spanish learners. His creativity and his ability to actually help learners is commendable.
Please note that this book does not cover every aspect of Spanish grammar. The areas mentioned above are the topics of focus. And, if you are studying Spanish, you already know why a focus on these areas and an easy to carry book like this one is necessary.
Brandon Simpson, you did a fine job. I recommend your book to all Spanish learners who want to fine tune their fluency and comprehension of the Spanish language.
Thanks for a wonderful tool!
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