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Spanish Reading Material | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Books, Literature & Reading |  | |
| roiyair Diglot Newbie Israel Joined 4663 days ago 9 posts - 11 votes Speaks: Modern Hebrew*, English | Message 1 of 7 08 February 2012 at 3:20pm | IP Logged |
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I've been studying Spanish for about a month now, using mostly Rosseta Stone and
Pimsleur, and I'd like to take it to the next level. I'm looking for recommendations for books using simple language that I can read to begin with. I mostly like reading fantasy novels, but I am open to other genres. Hopefully one day I will be able to read Cervantes' Don Quixote :) Edited by roiyair on 08 February 2012 at 3:20pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Arthaey Groupie United States arthaey.com Joined 5036 days ago 97 posts - 155 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 2 of 7 08 February 2012 at 10:10pm | IP Logged |
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See if The Lion, The Witch, and the Warddrobe is readable yet (check out the "Look Inside" feature to read the first page). I guess if you've only been studying for a month, that might be too difficult still.
If it is too advanced, then I recommend you go to your local library and check out children's picture books. They're entertaining enough, but since you probably won't want to re-read them once you get beyond this beginner stage, you might as well "rent" them from the library rather the purchase them. :) 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5012 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 3 of 7 09 February 2012 at 12:02am | IP Logged |
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There are lots of options here http://www.europeanbookshop.com/languagebooks/subject/SPA/m4
Most of the books here are graded in terms of difficulty. I can only speak for La Spiga readers and Easy Readers. They are very good for the begining stages, but you dont get much content for your money. If you enloy reading you may like to try Assimil Spanish with Ease, which is a great way to learn for people who like to read, and is a great option to help you advance after Pimsleur. These readings are really good, and free online http://albalearning.com/audiolibros/ Theres a lot of other good stuff out there, Il post some more links if I can find them. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Michael K. Senior Member United States Joined 5719 days ago 568 posts - 886 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Esperanto | Message 4 of 7 09 February 2012 at 12:39am | IP Logged |
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Thanks for the link, dbag.
I bought Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia at a library book sale a few months back and I saw the complete anthology for $20 at a local bookstore. Unfortunately, someone bought the book before I could get it. My Spanish is still pretty basic, but I don't think it would be too hard with the original next to it for references. Does anyone know what is popular young adult (ages 12-19) literature in the Spanish world? It would probably be more interesting to read than literature for younger children. You may also want to find El Principito for free online. It's only about 60 pages and has a good story. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| RRouse Newbie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4299 days ago 2 posts - 2 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 5 of 7 14 February 2013 at 7:15pm | IP Logged |
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I don't know how far along you got with Rosetta Stone, but after taking some hit or miss Spanish classes I started studying Spanish on my own and started going through a number of the books in the "Leer En Espanol" series. I think they are excellent. It was just what I needed to get away from basic Spanish and into a little more meat. They are good about repeating vocabulary, and the stories are a bit more adult. Those with the CDs add the listening component.
After a few titles from each of the levels of Leer in Espanol series, I took up "El principe de la niebla" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. This is written for younger folk (teens?), but it's not abridged. There are three in the series I believe. I was able to get into the story as a story and at times forgot I was reading in another language. I am going to continue with the others in the series. I'm currently finishing up the unabridged version of "El desorden de tu nombre" (Juan Jose' Milla's). (The Leer En Espanol series has this abridged, but I didn't read that one.) This has been a real ego booster because I'm in the last quarter of the book and not needing a dictionary at all. After I read the Spanish, I read the English and am pleasantly surprised that I'm getting just about everything. There is a lot of repeated vocabulary. I've also read some short stories by Julio Cortazar. I've had some success with these and also some frustration. I can get through some with just a little dictionary help and others just remind me how much Spanish I still don't know. The good thing is that they aren't too long so I can usually commit to finishing them. Richard 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Tamise Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom jllrr.wordpress.com/ Joined 5233 days ago 115 posts - 161 votes Speaks: English*, German, Dutch Studies: French, Japanese, Spanish | Message 6 of 7 14 February 2013 at 8:50pm | IP Logged |
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I've just started reading El valle de los lobos by Laura Gallego García. I have very little Spanish, but I am getting the gist of it for the most part and I am enjoying it. I think there's an English translation too for parallel reading. At a guess, it's a bit more difficult than the Narnia books (I have one in Spanish, but haven't read it, so am really only going on font size and a quick look). In some ways it depends on your level of tolerance for reading things you don't fully understand yet. I'm about 80 pages into the book and I'm certainly understanding more than I was at the beginning.
In terms of readers, I've been reading the Lola Lago books, which are quite good, but very short and very expensive for you get. They do come with good audio versions. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Tahl Diglot Newbie United States Joined 4278 days ago 26 posts - 44 votes Speaks: English*, Welsh Studies: Spanish, Finnish | Message 7 of 7 02 March 2013 at 6:35pm | IP Logged |
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I am not at the stage yet of looking for easy reading material in Spanish, but I hope I
will be, eventually. For adult learners of Welsh, there are several series of short novels written in relatively easy language with 'hard' vocabulary translated at the bottom of the page. Are there similar series available in Spanish? 1 person has voted this message useful |
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