Spanish for Beginners

By Babel Publishing

Reading short stories is an effective and fun way to learn Spanish!

Improve your reading skills, learn new vocabulary, brush up your Spanish and have fun with these 15 engaging original stories in Spanish, ideal for beginners and new learners of Spanish.

Follow the adventures of the Garcías, an Argentinian family of four moving from a small town to the big city of Buenos Aires. You will navigate new situations with them, from going to a new school, to celebrating a surprise birthday party, to meeting new friends, to going to the hairdresser’s. You will learn Spanish vocabulary and expressions in everyday situations. By the end of the book, you will understand basic Spanish... and you might even want to travel to Argentina!

All stories are written using simple vocabulary that you can use during day-to-day conversations in any Spanish-speaking country.

By reading the 15 short stories included in this book and completing the suggested activities after each chapter, you will:

- Learn and remember hundreds of Spanish words and phrases that you can use in real-life situations.

- Improve your general Spanish reading comprehension skills.

- Familiarize yourself with many grammatical structures without having to memorize any rules or do boring grammar drills!

- See language learning in a completely new way!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sato Publishings
• Release date: Feb 26, 2018

Book preview

The universe is made of stories, not atoms, the poet Muriel Rukeyser once wrote. Human beings are storytelling creatures. We use stories to make sense of both our past and our present. Cultures all around the world have used storytelling to pass knowledge from one generation to another. Our ancestors understood very well that this was the best way to make sure our histories and cultural information, such as how to relate to others and our world, was not just understood but remembered.

By reading stories in a foreign language, we experience the target language and culture not just from the outside, but also from within. We feel anticipation regarding the plot, we feel empathy towards the characters, and these feelings help us to start recognizing patterns, picking up on phrases just as if we were in a real-life situation.

Through storytelling we not only recreate social situations in our brain, but actively develop our social skills of cooperation and empathy, increasing our awareness of cultural differences and similarities. Our brains don't always recognize the difference between an imagined situation and a real one: characters become alive to us. What they say and do is therefore more meaningful. Because of this, the words and structures that relate a story's events, descriptions, and conversations are processed in a deeper way.

The goal of this book is to introduce you to real-life situations in Spanish for a deep and immersive learning experience. Each chapter consists of a short story, a reading comprehension section, and a quiz section. The objective of these last two sections is to reinforce your own reading experience through simple questions and activities. At the end of the book, you will find a key with answers for the quiz section of every chapter.

You will meet the Garcías, an Argentine family of four moving from a small town to a big city, and you will navigate different situations with them, from attending a new school to celebrating a surprise birthday party. You will learn Spanish vocabulary and expressions in everyday situations. By the end of the book, you will understand basic Spanish… and you might even want to move to Argentina!

BEFORE YOU START READING

First, quickly scan the text and underline any words or expressions that look familiar.

Second, think about the words you have underlined. What do you think the story is about, based on those familiar words? Do not look any words up at this stage!

Third, read the chapter. Try not to get discouraged if you do not understand everything at this stage. Once you have read the chapter for the first time, go ahead and look up any words you need in a dictionary. Then, try to read it again.

The idea behind this process is that you have an intuitive knowledge of how stories are constructed, and you also probably know more words in Spanish that you give yourself credit for. Spanish is a Romance language, and English has been influenced by many Romance languages, like French, Italian and, of course, Spanish.

You can find the key for every quiz on the last page. There is no key for the reading comprehension section: there are no wrong answers there!

¿Empezamos?

CAPÍTULO 1: El anuncio

Ana está en su habitación estudiando cuando escucha que su madre la llama desde el piso de abajo.

— ¡Ya bajo! — grita Ana.

Deja el libro sobre el escritorio y baja las escaleras. Entra a la sala de estar y encuentra a su madre, María, a su padre, Alberto y a su hermano menor, Juan, esperándola. La familia García a pleno.

—¿Qué pasa? ¿Por qué hay reunión familiar?— pregunta Ana, sorprendida.

— Tenemos que contarles algo— dice Alberto, muy serio—. Vamos a mudarnos.

—¿A una casa nueva?— pregunta Juan.

—Sí— dice María —. A una casa nueva… y a una ciudad nueva.

— ¡¿Qué?!— exclama Ana, confundida.

— ¿Por qué?— dice Juan.

— Porque me ofrecieron un trabajo mejor— explica María—. Y hay más oportunidades de trabajo para papá.

—¿Y nosotros?— pregunta Ana.

— Hay escuelas y universidades muy buenas. Es una ciudad muy grande. Harán muchos amigos. Es un futuro mejor para todos.

—Me gusta vivir en el pueblo. No quiero estar lejos de mis amigos— dice Ana, enojada.

—Yo sí quiero ir a la ciudad— dice Juan, entusiasmado, y le saca la lengua a Ana.

Ana llora. No quiere ir a la ciudad. No quiere tener amigos nuevos. Quiere quedarse y estudiar en la universidad

Reviews for Spanish for Beginners

[Laura M · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It provided good exercise for a beginner in an entertaining way.