• Understanding Spanish Conversation

  • Learn the Words, Phrases and Grammar Spanish Speakers Use Everyday and Quickly Become One Yourself!
  • By: Joe Kozlowski
  • Narrated by: Anna Castiglioni
  • Length: 2 hrs and 26 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (90 ratings)

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Understanding Spanish Conversation  By  cover art

Understanding Spanish Conversation

By: Joe Kozlowski
Narrated by: Anna Castiglioni
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Publisher's summary

Have you spent a great deal of time learning Spanish only to find that you can't converse in it? Have you been looking for something to help you break out of basic or tourist Spanish? Then look no further! In this book, you will learn how to take the concepts that we use in everyday English conversation and convey them in Spanish. You will learn the words, phrases, and grammar necessary to start speaking Spanish more naturally, the way the natives speak. By learning to speak more naturally, you will more easily be able to engage Spanish speakers in conversation, leading to immersion, which is the absolute best way to learn a language hands down.

Everything in this book is written to help you learn difficult Spanish concepts, in a way that makes the most sense to an English speaker. As a native English speaker myself, I have experienced the same frustrations that many of you may now be going through. This book is written to end those frustrations right now. This book doesn't teach academic Spanish and will not overwhelm you with complicated rules of grammar. I just make everything as simple as possible so that you can take what you learn from this book and use it right away. Buy it now and start improving your Spanish immediately!

©2016 Joe J. Kozlowski (P)2016 Joe J. Kozlowski

What listeners say about Understanding Spanish Conversation

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Clearly Not for Instruction and Practice

A word of warning for the student of Spanish, this was clearly a physical book adapted to audio form. If you want a book that gives you verbal guidance and time to practice speaking, move on. This is not that kind of book. This is also a book that is probably best when you already have a handle on some Spanish already.

That said, it's a great book to use when you want to continue your Spanish instruction in public without people hearing you muttering to yourself. It goes much into depth with some of the nuances of Spanish that is often left behind when just learning grammar and vocabulary. The progression is in alphabetical order which is a little strange, but handy if you need to quickly reference something.

The narrator unfortunately leaves much to be desired. She speaks English in a dull montotone while mumbling the Spanish almost incoherently to anyone not at the intermediate level.

Again, save this book for when you have a solid grasp of Spanish under your belt.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • AG
  • 06-16-17

good content, poor accent

I thought the content was very good and the delivery is concise. The material is good for general Spanish learning, not limited to just conversation skills. However, the speaker is extremely difficult to listen to and understand (especially the phrases) due to her very poor Spanish accent. This could have been a really great resource if a real Spanish speaker had been used to pronounce the Spanish words and phrases.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Conversational Spanish

I loved it! I thoroughly enjoyed this program. I found it to be very instructive and practical.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Great content but way too quick

I was hoping for more conversation rather than just a bunch of idioms. Not bad for vocabulary and when to use certain words but this does little to improve conversational Spanish.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

powerfully compact!

quick and pleasant to listen to. no space is waisted and the words pronouced clearly, helpful for the beginner.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A good reference for intermediate speakers

This book has helped clarify many things for me. I have 4 years of HS/college study, lots of self study, and 2 years of full-time conversation experience with my Spanish-speaking husband (in the US, so I use Spanish/English about 40/60). This is just the reference I needed at this time to clarify a number of words and phrases I haven't been able to pin down. The book would be useless to a beginner who has no grammar understanding - it doesn't teach generalities, but illuminates specifics that are somewhat irregular. The (english) words and concepts are roughly in alpha order so I will be able to find most of them again easily.

Some of the highlights include the words to drop, to become, to take, and several adverbs and similar words that dont translate cleanly, the subtleties of tener que and its equivalents, para/por, ser/estar, and quick review of when to use present subjunctive which (since I have been actively trying to work into conversation) should prove to be very useful. it also includes some of the stylistic issues (like starting a sentence or various ways to agree) that make me feel like an incompetent when I fail to work them in.

I took off one star because the audio narration was pretty bad. I think most Spanish students will not suffer from this (because they know enough to know better) but the narrator is not a native speaker and her pronunciation is not good, and occasionally just wrong - especially accenting the wrong syllable or pronouncing an American "uh" rather than a Spanish "ah" (among other things). She even read an "ll" as "l" once. it didn't stop me from listening all the way through in just a couple of sittings. I just think a Spanish teaching reference should have ensured everything was pronounced well and correctly so that listeners could also take the opportunity to practice pronunciation.

Definitely recommended for anyone feeling like their speaking ability has plateaued and needs to take it to another level, especially if you learn better by understanding and analyzing syntax than by ear.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent book should be titled "How to Speak Real Spanish" gets you over the hump

If you're stuck in upper verb beginner Spanish, this book will get you over the hump. Actually, maybe it's the hump from intermediate to advanced.

Cons (only one): the narrator's voice is VERY flat, and her accent isn't the greatest, but the bad accent makes it easier for you to understand. Just don't imitate it if you're SPEAKING.

Pros: the most practical, focuses Spanish tract that teaches thou subtle distinctions that make the difference between you saying words in Spanish vs. really SPEAKING Spanish. It deals with usage of the most important, commonly used and tricky vocabulary and concepts.

It shows you how to make distinctions, like clarifying the concept of fear from fright, concern, theoretical concern and phobia. Or other signs of sophistication in your speech, which not only impresses other people, but Harris you to think in Spanish instead of translating English in your head.

The targeted vocabulary they pick is super useful and vital to everyday conversation. Make sure to get the book AND the audio book! I bought the audible. And this book is free through Kindle unlimited so I use them with the immersive reading, where I can read and listen simultaneously ir switch back and forth when I'm at work, etc. It may have sold me on immersive reading; I'm not a big fan of the price of Audio books, made more expensive with a ebook, no less, but for foreign language learning, it's amazing and sort of imperative.

You will not regret this purchase!

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

It's like having a teacher with you.

Many common and confusing concepts, words and expressions are sorted out with good examples and explanations. I just wish there was some kind of attachment that lets me see the spelling of some of the words.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Worth the process of admission

This is one of the best books I have found on learning the intricacies of Spanish. The narrator is fast speaking and moves through solid information quickly. This is a straight up five star performance. The only this that is missing is an outline of the materials. I have listened to this already five times and will probably listen another five. This is not a perfect audiobook on Spanish but is one of them.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Boost your intermediate Spanish skills

This really does give ways to say things like native speakers do. For intermediate students.

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1 person found this helpful