The Street-Wise Spanish Survival Guide: A Dictiona
$10.47
Price: $10.47
(as of Mar 15, 2025 09:33:27 UTC – Details)
If you were dropped into the middle of Managua, Mexico City, or Miami, would you know how to speak not only the language, but also the lingo? In The Street-Wise Spanish Survival Guide, the reader who is already familiar with Spanish will discover the banter and metaphor (both polite and rude) that enrich the spoken language as it is really used, hints on avoiding embarrassing mistakes in grammar, and a list of dreaded false cognates. Full of advice on pronunciation and tips on customs and manners, and keyed with time-saving symbols, this is the best guide available to understanding and appreciating Spanish as it is spoken in Latin America and the United States.
Publisher : Skyhorse; Bilingual edition (August 1, 2008)
Language : English
Paperback : 496 pages
ISBN-10 : 1602392501
ISBN-13 : 978-1602392502
Item Weight : 1.46 pounds
Dimensions : 7 x 7.1 x 9.25 inches
Stella F. –
The solution to talking with real people
EXCELLENT book, and I say this from 30+ years of conversations with Spanish speakers both educated and barely literate (many of my patients are undocumented and speak Mexican or Central American Spanish). Many of these are expressions like “hit the ceiling” and “down in the dumps”, but there are some true idioms that you would never figure out unless you knew them. There’s a section on false cognates and some grammatical help, and as a bonus a section on construction vocabulary for those of us who work with bricklayers, painters and landscapers. I plan to re-buy this book when it’s worn out. Warning: this is for people already able to carry on a reasonable conversation, so beginners please choose something else.
William C. Becker –
Cool Book!
You can learn lots of words of a new language. You can learn the sentence structure and earn an A in grammar but you won’t be an effective communicator until you learn “what they say” and how they say it. The common phrases, metaphors and other expressions and figures of speech are what give the language life and this is what will make you a part of their culture. This book gives you a huge boost toward achieving that..
R. Grace –
Worth way more than the $0.99 I paid for it
I wasn’t expecting much. Maybe something short and stupid. $0.99 language books tend to be disappointing.But this one is quite good! I have barely scratched the surface with browsing the slang so far, however I’m quite pleased with the dictionary of “false friends” towards the end. That is, words that sound (to an English speaker) like they ought to mean one thing when they really mean something totally different. In my experience, it’s very, very hard to find these. Especially all in one place like this. For that alone, it’s worth at least five bucks.Even if you only plan on using Spanish in formal settings and don’t think you’ll ever get the hang of slang in another language, get this book if you want to have a handy list of false friends to study.
Mehall –
Entertaining and informative
This book is full of interesting facts about different spanish speaking cultures mixed with grammar and vocabulary lessons. There are lots of example sentences with the translation which is good for beginners. I liked that it brought up things that are kind of a big deal in life but I never thought about learning the difference between spanish and English. Like for example there is a whole section on death and the euphemisms for death, I never thought about it before but of course there will be different sayings in spanish than English, now I know what they are and will recognise what people mean if they say that! Seems like it could come in handy one day.
CA –
funnnnnnnnnnn
funnnnnnnnnnnn,,,difficult to find words, phrases y figure out, especially with a kindle. A real book would be easier for referencing. I live In Mexico, all my neighbors are Mexicanos, many, many Mexican friends….no better way to learn the language. Formal high school or college Spanish helps alot, but,local pronunciation, idioms make it FUNNNN¡ a part of………….this is the experience of becoming a part of a culture. and,,,,if you dont use it,,,never really learn it, no matter how correct or incorrect one may be….desfruta bien¡¡¡
Amazon Customer –
superb and enjoyable
I’ve studied Spanish for many years (my level is now Advanced) and I own dozens of study resources, but this is far and away my favorite (as of early 2012) for useful Mexican expressions. There are a couple of reasons: 1) the book has a subtle emphasis on Mexican Spanish, which is a tremendous asset if Mexican Spanish is your particular interest, and (2) the authors have chosen common and thus highly useful phrases. I own the Kindle version for the speed/convenience of the electronic Search feature, and I also own the hard copy purely for enjoyment reading. Both are highly recommended.
james steel –
Software glitch, otherwise good.
I love the book! However, the default dictionary is English, so I can’t look up the Spanish words without a lot of ceremony on the Kindle;i. e., loading the Spanish dictionary, typing it the word I don’t know (and hopefully remember the spelling), reading the definition and returning to the book. I don’t need an English dictionary nearly as often.
SHernandez –
Neat book
Using this book for a supplement for taking my test to be a certified interpreter.
Gregoire Dodier –
I print and memorize.
Brian B –
A bit hard to follow as they say the word over and over in Spanish only so it leaves you guessing what the English is.