An Essential Course in Modern Spanish

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View books by H. Ramsden.

Very good book - Rated
This book is fantastic for anyone who is serious about learning Spanish. It takes you right from the very beginnings up to a good level, teaching a solid base of grammar and vocab etc... Highly recommended.
The ONLY shortfall is the fact that it does not provide answers to all of the exercises. In fact if anyone had found an answer book, PLEASE let me know... [...]

All-time best - Rated
I wasn't sure this was still in print, but as it is, I wanted to back up what the other reviewers have said: this is simply the best book there is for anyone who seriously wants to learn Spanish.

If that's you, buy it! Don't let it go out of print!

However, it won't be to all people's taste. It is not for whimps! It isn't split into sections on ordering drinks in a cafe, or booking a room at a hotel. It's about grasping the grammar and learing the essential vocabulary as a basis for in-depth, probably long-term study of the language.

This is an old fashioned primer of the kind you may have come across thirty or forty years ago if studying Latin at an English grammar school (I think it was first published in the fifties).

That said, I for one do not find it boring. The clarity of explanation and the excellent exercises leave little room for confusion and boredom (OK, there is a touch of 'His German aunt sings beautiful Spanish songs', but later on, many of the translations are from authentic Spanish literature).

In theory, it takes you from complete beginner to a moderately advanced level. In practice, it would take a very dedicated and language-literate learner to come to Spanish solely through this book (it is aimed at first year university language students who are taking up Spanish as a second option.)

However, it does begin at the beginning, as it were.

It is also an excellent reference for advanced learners. It's only rival in that respect, to my mind, is Butt & Benjamin's New Reference Grammar. Where this scores over B&B is its scale: B&B covers such a diversity of Spanish usage and variety, the central points can become obscured. Ramsden is clear and concise, yet covers practically everything you could need in order to form a sound understanding of Spanish grammar.

The one big ommission: solutions to the Part III exercises. Even now (10 years study and an Institute of Linguists' Diploma later), I hesitate to say I can give definitive answers here. If anyone has heard of a published set of solutions, I'd really like to know about them!

Thorough and concise grammar-based course on Spanish - Rated
A strong, no-nonsense course to learn/revise Spanish grammar, best used as a supplement to Spanish classes. It takes you from the very beginning up to a high intermediate level. The presentation is very traditional and concise and a bit heavy going - first a grammatical point is stated and then examples and exceptions are listed below.

Many exercises are given but for most of these, answers are not given. However, there are many examples given in the text, so this is not a big shortcoming. My only other complaint is that sometimes some regional uses of Spanish creep in and are not explained as such. For example, "lo" and "los" are the more standard forms for the masculine direct object pronoun, i.e. for "he" and "them", but the book uses "le" and "les" (which are used but less commonly so). Also the book uses "el restoran" for restaurant but this is more commonly seen in Latin American countries than in Spain (where "el restaurante" is used).

Overall, "An Essential Course" is recommended for serious students, who can learn a great deal from this book in a short space of time.

Brilliant Book! - Rated
I used this book during the first year of my university course, having started Spanish from scratch. 6 years, a GCSE, an A-level and a degree in Spanish later, I can honestly say that I have never come across a better book for learning a language. Grammar points are explained methodically and thoroughly, and then backed up with exercises to test your knowledge. For anyone considering improving his / her Spanish grammar, this should be the first book you look at.

An exceedingly well written book for anyone new to Spanish - Rated
As long as you're dedicated to learning a new language, this book is perfect.