Spanish Pronto!: Learning Tools The best online and print resources, as well as a few suggestions for learning more Spanish. For more Spanish information and resources, see the Spanish Pronto! main page.

Accents [^]
How to type accents: Typing Foreign Language Characters on Your Mac or PC

Alphabet [^]
The Spanish alphabet and its letters: Spanish Pronto!: Spanish Alphabet

Arabic [^]
100+ Spanish words from Arabic defined: Spanish Pronto!: Arabic Words in Spanish
About 1,400 Spanish words of Arabic origin: Patrimonio lingüístico de origen árabe en el idioma español

Countries/Cultures [^]
Everything about Latin America: Latin America Network Information Center - LANIC

Dictionaries [^]
Spanish-English, English-Spanish, and Spanish-Spanish: Diccionarios.com
Spanish-Spanish: Diccionario de la Lengua Española (The dictionary from the Real Academia Española.)
Technical Spanish (legal, clinical, mathematical, etc.): Technical Spanish
Recommended print dictionaries: Dictionaries

Grammar [^]
Basic Spanish grammar lessons, explained well: Learn Spanish: A Free Online Grammar Tutorial
Exercises covering tricky points of grammar: Grammar Exercises Index
Expressing English thoughts with Spanish words: Spanish Writing Guide
Recommended grammar books: Grammars

Lessons [^]
Basic conversational Spanish, with video: BBC Languages - Talk Spanish (Moves fast, but you can pause and rewind.)

Media [^]
Spanish news media outlets worldwide: Recursos Noticieros en Español, Kidon Media-Link

Names [^]
Spanish names:

News [^]
Spanish news media outlets worldwide: Recursos Noticieros en Español, Kidon Media-Link
The latest news, in Spanish:
Google News Argentina
Google News Chile
Google News España
Google News México

Pen Pals [^]
Person-to-person international correspondence: International Pen Friends/ Pen Pals Exchange
Classroom-to-classroom international correspondence: Schools Pen Friends/ Pen Pals Exchange

Pronunciation [^]
Computer pronunciation of Spanish you enter: Bell Labs Spanish Text-to-Speech Synthesis
Pronunciation basics: Spanish Pronto!: Basic Study Reference

Questions [^]
 

Reading [^]
Learn real vocabulary reading real Spanish: Spanish Reading Practice
Spanish-language short stories: Proyecto Sherezade
Great books in Spanish for children: Spanish children's book review

Sayings [^]
Spanish sayings (dichos), with translation: Spanish Pronto!: Dichos, Refranes, Sayings, Proverbs
250 selected sayings, without translation: Refranes colombianos

Search Engines [^]
Internet search in Spanish: AltaVista

Slang [^]
Spanish slang by country (including U.S.): Jergas de habla hispana

Technical Spanish [^]
English-Spanish Internet/computer terms: Ciber-Lexico Comparativo (Comparative CyberLexicon)
Spanish--and Spanglish!--law enforcement and emergency terms: Spanish For Law Enforcement & Emergency Personnel
700 legal terms, most with multiple translations: Legal Terms with Spanish Translation
197 trial-related words translated and defined: Criminal Justice Guide - Spanish - Resources
1200 social-security terms translated: Social Security Online
350+ mathematical terms translated: Spanish-English Math Dictionary
AIDS-focused Spanish-English medical terms: FUNDAMIND - Glosario de Términos
Extensive dictionary of clinical chemistry terms: Diccionario inglés-español
2,000+ archaeological and related terms: LexicoEngSpa or LexicoSpaEng
350+ fruits, herbs, and vegetables in English, Spanish, and Latin: NAPPO Commodity Reference
Extensive dictionary of aeronautical terms: Technical Aeronautics Dictionary (En-Sp) or Diccionario Técnico Aeronáutico (Sp-En)

Telenovelas [^] (Spanish-language soap operas)
Daily plot summaries and conversation: Telenovela World

Tests [^]
Spanish AP (advanced-placement) test: AP Spanish
Check your Spanish level: Webspañol's Spanish Level Test

Translations [^]
Fast, free, imperfect translations: AltaVista - World/Translate
Spanish translators (not free): Yahoo! Spanish Translation Services Page
My translation service (also not free): Spanish Pronto!: Translation Service / Servicio de traducción (spanishpronto.com)

Verbs [^]
Complete conjugation of any infinitive (-ar, -er, -ir) verb: Comp-jugador
Basic regular-verb conjugations: Spanish Pronto!: Basic Study Reference
Basic irregular-verb conjugations (present tense of estar, ser, haber, tener, poder, ir): Spanish Pronto!: Basic Study Reference
Conjugations of 25 common Spanish verbs: Vocabulary: The Most Common Spanish Words

Vocabulary [^]
24 important basic phrases: Spanish Pronto!: Basic Study Reference
100+: Basic Spanish Words with Pronunciation (numbers, days, months, eating, colors, family, directions, etc.)
Arranged by grammatical category, for learning: Vocabulary: The Most Common Spanish Words
Arranged alphabetically, for reference: Glossary: The Most Common Spanish Words
Learn real vocabulary reading real Spanish: Spanish Reading Practice
Recommended print usage guides: Usage Guides

Take a trip to someplace Spanish is spoken. (Spain, Mexico, Costa Rica, ...)

Do a language exchange: Someone helps you with your Spanish; you help them with their English. This can be face-to-face, in your community, or at MyLanguageExchange.com via voice chat, text chat, or e-mail.

Find Spanish-language magazines, newspapers, or children's books at the library, newsstand, bookstore, or online. For Spanish-language news from any part of the Spanish-speaking (and non-Spanish-speaking) world, try: Recursos Noticieros en Español, Kidon Media-Link.

Learn real vocabulary reading real Spanish with the Spanish Reading Practice page (includes a link to a real Spanish-language article and a Spanish-English glossary of all the words contained in the article), or read a short story at Proyecto Sherezade (no glossary, but interesting reading).

Buy or borrow Spanish-language CDs or tapes that come with lyric sheets. (The music will help you remember the Spanish you learn.)

Get hooked on a telenovela (soap opera). If you have access to a TV channel that broadcasts Spanish-language soap operas, you can read the daily summary of your favorite one at Telenovela World either after viewing the broadcast (to clear up whatever you did not understand) or before viewing it on videotape (so you will know what is happening). A great way to get hooked on daily Spanish practice! (And, unlike U.S. soap operas, they don't last forever, just a few months.)

Rent or check out Spanish-language films which are subtitled in English, hopefully ones that are good enough you can bear to watch them a few times. Suggestions: Carlos Saura's "Carmen" (R), Robert Rodríguez's "El Mariachi" (R--very violent), Luis Puenzo's "The Official Story" (R), or Pedro Almodóvar's "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" (R, but a comedy) or his "All About My Mother" (R). The video store or library may have other Spanish-language offerings, too, including films more suitable for children.

Films on DVD often come in the original language and dubbed into one or two other languages. You may be able to improve your Spanish knowledge by watching your favorite movies again, but this time in Spanish! (It would be even better if you could hear the Spanish and read it at the same time but, unfortunately, the written subtitle translation and the audio dubbing translation are virtually always completely different!! One solution to this problem might be to watch Spanish movies, which should have subtitling that matches what the actors are saying, and which may even provide the option of watching a dubbed or subtitled English version first.)

Find a book you enjoy in English and in Spanish. Read a paragraph in one language, then again in the other. (A fast way to pick up a lot!)

Contact the university Spanish department about joining or forming a Spanish conversation group.

Search the web for pages in Spanish about things you have already heard in English (e.g., the day's news) or about things you know quite a bit about already (e.g., your hobbies, profession, or interests).

Find a pen pal at Europa Pages' International Pen Friends/ Pen Pals Exchange site.

If you are a teacher, find classes of Spanish-speaking students for your students to correspond with at Schools Pen Friends/ Pen Pals Exchange.

Whatever you do, take advantage of what you already know to help you acquire more Spanish skills, and take advantage of your personal interests and enthusiasms to stay interested and enthusiastic about learning more Spanish!

RECOMMENDATIONS

These are all items which I have found to be enjoyable ways of spending more time with Spanish. Perhaps you will enjoy them, too.

DICTIONARIES

The HarperCollins Spanish Unabridged Dictionary, Eighth Edition
hardcover edition, © August 1, 2005, HarperCollins Publishers.

The current best Spanish dictionary out there; well-edited, easy to use, and absolutely massive! Unless you are a professional translator, this may well be all the dictionary you need. (And if you are a professional translator, as I am, this is a great dictionary to add to your collection.) The downsides are the price (the best is often the most expensive, after all), the weight, the very occasional absence of terms common in American English, and verb tables that have been abbreviated (e.g., for the imperfect of ir, just: "Imperfect: iba," and for the future of saber: "Future: sabré") Making up for these relatively minor flaws is the outstanding "Language in Use" section, which will help non-native speakers of either language sound much more natural in all their correspondence (business letters, personal letters, e-mail, job applications, etc.) and in their other writings (e.g., papers, articles, and essays). The Harper Collins Spanish Unabridged Dictionary, Eighth Edition is my recommendation for when only the best Spanish dictionary will do.

The American Heritage Spanish Dictionary, Second Edition
hardcover edition, © 2001, Houghton Mifflin.

It is a better dictionary even than the Oxford Spanish Dictionary for the accuracy, precision, and variety of its translations. Emphasizes American English and Latin-American Spanish. Well-edited, clear, and easy to use, it also has an excellent "Notes on Grammar and Usage" section. Fewer usage examples than the others, but it efficiently yet clearly packs a lot of dictionary into a small volume. Usually sells for about half the cost of the HarperCollins Unabridged. (The paperback version of the American Heritage has 58% of the words at about 25% of the price, but you will miss being able to find exactly the word you want, and the print is way too small.) This second edition brings this dictionary up to date by adding many current terms that were missing in the 1986 edition, but has not changed much else from the original. I am already looking forward to a third edition that might perhaps use current technology to rework this dictionary based on an electronic corpus of the latest American usage in both languages. There might also be a market for a more comprehensive dictionary, along the lines of the HarperCollins Unabridged, but written and edited from the perspective of the Americas. This dictionary is not as comprehensive as the HC Unabridged, but the American Heritage Spanish Dictionary (hardcover edition) would be my recommendation for students, teachers, and others looking for the best all-around value in the Spanish dictionary market. (An excellent dictionary that won't bust your budget or your back.) If you would like more information, you can read my longer review of this dictionary at amazon.com.

The Oxford Spanish Dictionary, Second Revised Edition
hardcover edition, © 2001, Oxford University Press.

Although not as well-edited as the American Heritage, the Oxford is still an excellent dictionary in its own right, but the more I have used it, the less I like it. I have found it less trustworthy than the previous two for giving the proper translation, and the example phrases tend only to repeat the obvious translations and uses of a word, doing little to clarify the rarer or more complex uses. All in all, most things the Oxford does, the HarperCollins does a little bit better, but the Oxford does easily have the better verb conjugation tables. If you are living in the UK, are learning Spanish (not advanced speaker or language professional), and want an excellent dictionary that will serve your needs, the Oxford Spanish Dictionary will certainly do, and might even serve you better than the American Heritage, which is more biased towards Spanish and English as used in the Americas. The Oxford sells for a little less than the HarperCollins Unabridged, but if you can skip a latté or two to save up a few extra bucks (or quid or loonies or whatever), do that and get the HarperCollins Unabridged instead.

(The American Heritage weighs a mere 3 pounds; the Oxford weighs 5 pounds, 5 ounces; and the HarperCollins, 6 pounds, 5.5 ounces, making the American Heritage probably the best choice if you must cart your dictionary around with you in your backpack or suitcase.)

GRAMMARS

English Grammar for Students of Spanish: The Study Guide For Those Learning Spanish, Fifth Revised Edition
by Emily Spinelli, ©2003, Hodder Arnold H&S.

This book has become a classic. This is the one for you if you are in high school Spanish or your first couple years of college Spanish and are finding yourself confused by all the grammatical terms being thrown at you. Each of the many very short chapters explains a single grammatical idea, first explaining it in terms of English grammar, then explaining the same idea using examples from Spanish grammar. You can get this edition of English Grammar for Students of Spanish at bookstores (including amazon, which sells both new and used copies), but it is also likely to be available in earlier editions at used bookstores and in libraries.

A Textbook of Modern Spanish
by Marathon Montrose Ramsey, © 1956, Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Absolutely incredibly detailed traditional grammar of Spanish suitable for advanced Spanish majors, graduate students, and professors. There have, of course, been some changes in Spanish since 1956, but this is the best work I know of for finding the answers to questions about even the finest points of Spanish grammar. In browsing through or studying this book you almost can not help but learn something new, no matter what your level of Spanish. Excellent for resolving virtually any Spanish grammar doubt. (Unfortunately, it is also extremely difficult to find. It needs and deserves to be republished, whether with updating or even just "as is.") If you do succeed in obtaining a copy of Ramsey's A Textbook of Modern Spanish, please let me know the good news. Thanks.

A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish, Fourth Edition,
by John Butt and Carmen Benjamin ©2004, McGraw-Hill.

This is a much more modern grammar, and also is full of examples and excellent observations about Spanish grammar. It often feels a bit less thorough than Ramsey, though, and on occasion I find myself disagreeing with its observations or suggestions. A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish is for advanced students.

USAGE GUIDES

These books are especially useful if you already have a couple years' worth of Spanish and are planning to go live in Spain or Latin America for a while.

Cassell's Colloquial Spanish: A Handbook of Idiomatic Usage, Including Latin-American Spanish, Third Revised Edition
by A. Bryson Gerrard, ©1993, Orion Publishing.

Tons of useful information about Spanish words that your dictionary barely had time to drop hints about. In Cassell's Colloquial Spanish, the author writes entertainingly, and at greater length, about why a certain word should be avoided or why the word you have been using all this time didn't mean quite what you thought it did.

Breaking Out of Beginner's Spanish
by Joseph J. Keenan, ©1994, University of Texas Press.

Reading this book after I had already majored in Spanish and spent a year studying at the University of Costa Rica, I did not find it very helpful for myself--I suppose I had already broken out of beginner's Spanish by then. I did, however, find it very insightful and easy to read. The emphasis is on taking your Spanish beyond what you were able to learn in school. This book was highly recommended to me, and is universally very, very highly recommended; see, for example, the reviews at amazon.com.

If you have opinions of your own to offer on these or other Spanish-language references, I would be glad to hear them.

Please mail comments or suggestions, or questions about Spanish, to: spanishpronto@earthlink.net