Learning a language is a rewarding adventure, but choosing the right way for you can make a big difference in your progress, as there are many learning styles, and therefore, many ways to learn a language.
In this article, we will explore how to select your perfect book for learning Spanish. We will also see why immersing yourself in its literature can be an excellent way to learn the language.
How to choose the best book to learning Spanish
Understanding your learning style
We all learn differently, and what works for one person may not be effective for another. Before choosing a way to learn Spanish, it is crucial to understand your learning style. Do you prefer learning through reading, listening, oral interaction (everyday conversation)?
Aside from in-person courses, there are many resources that can help you learn a foreign language: television, videos, apps, podcasts… Undoubtedly, a great way to avoid falling into monotony and cover many aspects of the language learning process.
But we can’t forget one of the most traditional methods: books. Books are a very valuable tool that you shouldn’t underestimate, as they are fundamental in learning any language.
The importance of selecting the right Spanish book
And speaking of books, selecting the right one is essential to maximize your learning. You should look for material that fits your current level of Spanish, but also challenges you enough to continue progressing. Additionally, consider your personal interests and the type of content that motivates you to continue learning.
On the market there are manuals of all kinds and methods for learning Spanish, from those that adopt grammar-translation to the most innovative ones based on a more communicative approach.
How to choose the best book to learn Spanish language on your own
If you are self-taught, if you are motivated by self-learning, what aspects should you consider to know which is the best book to learn Spanish on your own? Here are the most important ones:
- It should be suitable for your age and level: a book for children or teenagers is not the same as one for adults. And it is essential to correspond to the level you want to study.
- It should have exercise books to practice what you have learned and their solutions because it is essential to know our mistakes to learn from them.
- It should include social and cultural contents (customs, celebrations, festivities…) from the Hispanic world.
- It should contain illustrations to facilitate the understanding of the contents.
- It should include practical appendices such as glossaries, grammatical summaries…
- It should be attractive and have a clear design to make it easy to handle.
- It should come with complementary material: CD, DVD, audios…
Why reading books in Spanish helps you learn the language?
We’ve talked about learning styles before. In this aspect, one of the preferred ways for many Spanish learners is reading literature books.
The reason is evident: reading literature in Spanish not only enriches your understanding of the language, but also immerses you in the cultural and linguistic richness of Spanish-speaking countries.
Now, I’ll explain the reasons why reading books by great authors of Spanish literature can accelerate your learning:
Benefits of learning Spanish through its literature
- You significantly increase exposure to Spanish with extensive reading, which is essential, especially if you don’t live in a Spanish-speaking country.
- It offers you the vision of a society and its culture. Through reading, you will learn a lot about Hispanic culture while improving your level of Spanish.
- By reading literary texts, you encounter language intended for native speakers, thus gaining greater familiarity with a wide variety of uses and forms of written language.
- They are the most effective strategy for learning and fixing vocabulary: deducing it from context.
- They help you consolidate learned grammar as you see it applied to different uses and specific situations. Additionally, you learn new grammatical forms.
- They are a valuable source for the development of language skills: your written comprehension improves greatly, and consequently, so do the other skills (listening comprehension, oral and written expression).
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- They provide you with an exceptional written model, a language of very high quality.
Best books to learn Spanish on your own
El conde Lucanor I (level A2)
Do you know the tale of La lechera (The milkmaid)?
It’s the story of a woman who goes to sell a pitcher of milk at the market. On the way, she thinks that with the money from the milk sale, she will invest in other businesses and become very rich.
But during the journey, her pitcher falls and breaks, and she has to say goodbye to all her dreams.
There are many versions of this tale: the greek writer Aesop wrote the oldest, and other authors have made their own version.
One of them was Don Juan Manuel. He titled it Doña Truhana, and he wrote many other popular tales that people already knew and passed down from parents to children orally because very few people could read and write.
With all these tales, he made a book titled El conde Lucanor, the first collection of tales signed by an author in the Spanish language.
In them, the protagonist, Lucanor, seeks advice from Patronio, his counselor, about something that worries him. To explain his advice, Patronio tells him a story as an example.
El conde Lucanor II (level B1)
Are you a confident person, or do you let what others say influence you too much?
This last thing happened to a very conceited king: some swindlers made him believe that they had made him a beautiful suit and in reality he was walking naked on the street in front of everyone, until a man told him the truth.
This and other stories were told by parents to their children and grandchildren in the Middle Ages in Spain and throughout Europe, since almost no one knew how to read or write.
It teaches us that we should not get carried away by what others say or do, we should always trust ourselves without caring what they think of us.
There are many versions of this story, one of the oldest is by the Spanish writer Don Juan Manuel, titled What happened to a king with the swindlers who made a cloth. And he wrote many other folk tales that people already knew.
With all those stories he made a book that he titled El conde Lucanor, the first collection of stories signed by an author in the Spanish language.
It is called that because the protagonist, Lucanor, asks Patronio, his advisor, for advice about something that worries him. To explain his advice, Patronio tells him a story as an example.
Bodas de sangre (level B2)
Why do you think Federico García Lorca is unforgettable?
They managed to end his life, but not what he represents, so he has become a universal myth.
You don’t have to wait to fully master Spanish to enjoy Lorca’s work because learning Spanish is much more than speaking a language. It’s also about understanding its culture and its people. That’s why the best strategy is to read its fundamental authors.
And who better than Federico G. Lorca, the most read Spanish poet in the world?
He, better than anyone else, knew how to combine the cultured with the popular, the traditional with the new.
That’s why I want to talk to you about one of his masterpieces, Bodas de sangre (Blood Wedding).
It is a play based on a tragic event that occurred in southern Spain in 1928 and impressed the entire country so much that all the newspapers of the time published the news.
It is about two young people who are going to get married, but on their wedding day, the bride sees Leonardo, her old love, again, whom she has always been in love with.
She loves her fiancé, but she does not love him; her passion unites her with Leonardo, and there is nothing that separates them from their destiny.
So, after the ceremony, the two flee together, driven by their love. The groom goes out to look for them, full of pain and rage, and arrives at night in a forest, where the runaway lovers hide.
La fuerza de la sangre (level C1)
Discover the strange idea that 17th-century Spain had of honor. Especially, that of women.
What is La fuerza de la sangre (The force of blood) about?
A beautiful young woman, named Leocadia, is kidnapped and raped by an unknown young knight.
As a result of the rape, the girl has a son whom her parents pass off as their nephew.
One day, the boy is run over by a horse, and an old knight takes him to his house to heal him.
El licenciado Vidriera (level C2)
Miguel de Cervantes portrays Spanish society of his time without leaving anyone unscathed.
His intelligent gaze wanders through all the corners of a corrupt society.
Because in El licenciado Vidriera, Cervantes takes out the magnifying glass to portray the evils of the society he lived in.
What does he tell us in this magnificent novel?
El Licenciado Vidriera narrates the life of the student Tomás Rodaja, who goes to the University of Salamanca to study. There he graduates in law and then travels to various cities in Italy as a soldier.
When he returns to Spain, he goes mad because of a love potion that a lady gave him in secret, and he believes he has a glass body and is very fragile, so he becomes obsessed with the idea that he can break into a thousand pieces.
However, his wit is surprising, and everyone consults him as a counselor.
How are my Spanish learning books?
My books are designed with comfort and self-learning effectiveness in mind. We offer two formats:
Ebook
Contains:
- An ebook with an introduction about the context and the author, and numerous sociocultural and vocabulary notes.
- Access to the streaming text audio recorded by native Spanish speakers at the appropriate pace for your level.
- Interactive exercises for listening and writing comprehension, written expression, grammar, and vocabulary, and immediate feedback for each exercise with the solution. You progress at your own pace and receive immediate feedback on your responses.
Audiobook
We offer you downloadable audio of each work, recorded by native Spanish speakers at the appropriate pace for your level so that you can enjoy it with complete peace of mind.
All concepts are clearly explained
To make your understanding easier, in addition to sociocultural notes, you have detailed explanations of potentially difficult words and expressions in Spanish, translated into English, French, and German, allowing you to expand your vocabulary effectively.
You use different learning skills
You practice your reading comprehension with literary texts, listening comprehension with audios, and written expression, grammar, and vocabulary with the various interactive exercise proposals.
The reading difficulty adapts to your level
From A2 to C2 of the European Framework of Reference, there is a book for each level of difficulty.
Interactive content helps you learn faster
Interactive exercises make learning more fun and motivating because concepts are understood more clearly. Additionally, incorporating the score obtained in each exercise increases your interest and attention.
If I have piqued your curiosity, you can see them here on my website in the BOOKS section of the main menu.
Any way, I wish you a safe journey into the Spanish language!
