Electronic books, also known as ebooks, are publications which can be read on a number of devices such as computer desktops, laptops and ebook readers. The last five years have seen the launch of many thousands of electronic books with a wide variety of formats. They range from plain publications, with hardly any features, to beautifully developed interactive multimedia ebooks with sound, images, notepads, feedback and hyperlinked menus.

   

The most basic ebooks are no more than digital versions of printed books. They’re a great invention, but they’re far from the electronic books I’m going to concentrate on in this article. Today I’m going to introduce you to fully interactive multimedia ebooks, in particular those that help you learn foreign languages in a flash.

Foreign language learning has been radically improved by multimedia ebooks. They make studying much more fun, and substantially easier. They have also brought the cost of learning down. So, what is it that makes them the powerful tool they are? Here are their top five features:

1. Multimedia ebooks bring the language to life by including audio and/or video. Whether you’re learning verbs, listening to dialogs or practicing your pronunciation, multimedia ebooks allow you to hear the text said by native speakers by a simple click; and you can listen to it over and over. Good ebooks also give you the translation of all the new words and phrases in each lesson, so you never need to use a dictionary.

2. Multimedia electronic books come with listening and speaking drills and exercises to practice the real language. If you’re learning verbs, for instance, you can practice saying and understanding the new forms; if you’re learning vocabulary, you’ll be able to practice all the new words you’ve come across. A good language ebook will also include a set drills at the end to help you review everything you’ve learned, as a whole.

Download ebook sample

3. Interactive electronic books give you the exercise and drill solutions. All you need to do is click a button. Good ebooks also let you save your personal scores, an essential feature for monitoring your learning progress.

4. The best electronic books include menus and links similar to those you find on well-designed websites. They make moving from chapter to chapter flawless, and you can quickly get to any lesson, drill or any other content. There are also plenty of external links to the author’s contact page, free resources, blogs, etc.

5. Good electronic books allow you to type in your notes and save them for future reference.

Briefly, interactive multimedia ebooks are self-contained. They provide everything you need, so you don’t have to use a dictionary, notepad, reference book or audio material.

Finally, language learning ebooks cover every aspect of the language: conversation, vocabulary, grammar, numbers, pronunciation, etc. They help you master understanding, speaking, reading and writing faster and more efficiently than traditional methods.

Here are some snapshots from my Spanish language learning ebooks:

Download ebook sample

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Spanish vocabulary audio flashcards from Maria Fernandez’s course

Forgetting the gender of the Spanish nouns you’re supposed to know well is both frustrating and demotivating. Today I’m going to walk you through the reason why those mistakes are made, and I’m going to give you an easy solution.

My fifteen years teaching Spanish have shown me that learning and reviewing vocabulary the wrong way is what leads to those mistakes.

You may be wondering, then, if there is a way of learning new Spanish nouns that will allow you to get the gender always right. The answer, without any doubt, is ‘yes’. Here are the two steps you need to follow:

1. Every time you come across a new Spanish noun, make sure you learn it with ‘el’ or ‘la’. When you’re reviewing vocabulary, do so with ‘el’ or ‘la’ in front of all the nouns.

2. Use recordings by native Spanish speakers to learn new vocabulary, in particular audio flashcards.

In all my Spanish courses this is the method I use. It’s fast, efficient and a great time-saver.

Learning nouns with their article the first time you come across them takes the same effort as learning them on their own, and it will save you a lot of time and frustration later on. So, for instance, instead of learning that:

the word ‘flor’ means ‘flower’

Always learn that:

‘la flor’ means ‘the flower’

Doing so will ensure that you associate ‘flor’ with ‘la’ in a natural way, just like Spanish native speakers do.

My second vocabulary tip is to use audio flashcards. The advantage of those is that you can hear the new Spanish words and their English translation, as well as practice and review them.

The task of learning new Spanish vocabulary becomes significantly easier with audio flashcards. They are an essential tool for acquiring a good Spanish accent, and a powerful resource for reviewing efficiently. Throughout my Spanish courses I have created audio flashcards to make your vocabulary learning experience smooth and enjoyable. I’ve included them in my online course, my Spanish Podcasts for Beginners, kids’ course, videos and my iTunes apps.

Briefly, learning new vocabulary following the two steps I’ve described in this article is not only more efficient in the short, medium and long term, but also much more enjoyable.

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Do you want to learn Spanish? Don’t have time? Welcome to my Spanish language course app!

This Spanish language learning app brings you mp3s, videos and pdfs directly to your iPhone, iPod and iPad without having to connect to your computer.

This easy-to-navigate and content-rich app costs only $1.99 from iTunes. It gives you a new episode every week, and access to the back catalog of dialogs, vocabulary flashcards, grammar, pronunciation and numbers from my Spanish course.

Every Spanish learning mp3 and video in this app comes with a pdf transcript. You can download all the mp3s, videos and pdfs, play them on and offline, keep them forever and go back to them as often as you want.

You can access this app wherever you are, whenever you want. It allows you to learn Spanish in your car, on the train, the bus, while waiting, exercising, bathing or cooking.

There are many other features to make this app a must for Spanish language learners: you can contact the show with one click, request new features, resume playing if you’re interrupted by a call, play the mp3s in the background, highlight your favorite mp3s and videos, and get special offers.

If you have any queries, please contact me.

FREE APP SAMPLES

At Spanish Bookworld you can listen to the free mp3s, watch a video and download a pdf from this app.

SPANISH APP SCREEN SHOTS

Here are some screen shots from my Spanish course app:

At Spanish Bookworld you can see more screen shots and find out more details.

Here’s a free Spanish language learning quiz from my Spanish course. It’s the first of the two review quizzes that you get in Lesson 1. Press Start to play it:

 

 

You can find many more language learning quizzes in my Spanish course. Those quizzes help you review what you learn in the online lessons, downloadable mp3s and videos.

All my quizzes come with listening comprehension questions, grammar drills, vocabulary and number exercises, spelling practice, and much more. Hope you like them!

 

This is what the Spanish language learning videos in my course look like on your iPod and iPhone:

 

On my Spanish Bookworld website you can download a free video sample from my Spanish course and put it on your iPod and iPhone, and you can also watch a free video sample online.

You can download the videos and mp3s in my Spanish course when you subscribe. Subscriptions cost $19.99 per month and come with a 60-day money-back guarantee.

My Spanish course contains 45 lessons with 5 videos and 5 mp3s each, plus online lessons, kids’ lessons, articles, an ebook and a members-only forum where you can post me all your Spanish language questions.

 

Until a few days ago, the only audiobook edition of Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) I was familiar with was priced at over a hundred dollars.

Now it can be purchased for $25.

That’s not bad for an edition which comes in 8 cds lasting 8 hours.

Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal is the first title in the series created by J.K. Rowling and, unfortunately, the only one that has been published in audio book format so far.

If you want to listen to this Spanish audio book along with the printed version, here is Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) in book format.

To help you learn Spanish better and faster, I’ll be posting on this blog the definition of the main grammatical terms together with practical examples. You can also find them in Lesson 1 of my free Spanish course. Today’s post is about:

ADJECTIVES

Adjectives are words used to describe or modify nouns and pronouns.

Here are some examples in English:

The black cat is on the new sofa.
My cat is black.
Which is your cat? The black one.

 

1. Adjectives – describing words

In these three examples the word black is a describing word which modifies the noun cat.

There is one other describing word in the examples above. Can you tell which one it is? Post your answer (or guess) in the comment box!

 

2. Adjectives – possession

Adjectives, however, are not just describing words, but they can also indicate possession:

My cat is black
Which is your cat?

 

In these two cases the words my and your indicate who the owner of the cat is.

 

3. Comparing English and Spanish

In Spanish grammar, adjectives work in a similar way. Observe these examples:

The black cat is on the new sofa.
El gato negro está en el sofá nuevo.

 

Notice that describing words in Spanish generally go after the noun they describe (gato negro) and not before it (black cat).

Here are the possessive adjective examples we saw above in Spanish:

My cat is black.
Mi gato es negro.

Which is your cat?
¿Cuál es tu gato?

 

Notice that the possessive adjective goes before the noun in both English and Spanish (my cat – mi gato).

4. More grammatical terms

This is what Lesson 1 of my free Spanish course looks like:

 

 

Sign up for free!

 

At www.spanish-bookworld.com I’ve set up a free Spanish language course with online lessons, downloadable mp3s and videos, kids’ lessons and language learning articles.

The online lessons have five sections: dialog, flashcards, grammar, pronunciation and numbers.

The online lessons, mp3s and videos all include learning material, speaking exercises and listening drills. They’ve all been recorded by native Spanish speakers.

This free Spanish course is available to you right now. Hope you like it! Below are some snapshots from the course.

Sign up for free!

Free Spanish course – part of the lesson plan

 

Free Spanish course – dialog

 

Free Spanish course – mp3s & videos

 

Free Spanish course – kids’ lessons

 

Sign up for free!

 

The Spanish greeting ‘buenas tardes‘ translates both as ‘good afternoon‘ and ‘good evening‘; and the greeting ‘buenas noches‘ means both ‘good evening‘ and ‘good night‘.

So, when do you use ‘buenas tardes’ and ‘buenas noches’?

Unlike in English, these two Spanish greetings have more to do with meals and the sunset than with the actual time of day.

Therefore, ‘buenas tardes’ is usually said after lunch, which is often from 2.00 pm. ‘Buenas noches’, especially in the summer, is usually said after 9.00 pm. In winter, many people say ‘buenas tardes’ at least until 8.00 pm, even if it’s dark; and many only use ‘buenas noches’ after dinner, which tends to be from 9.00 pm.

When using ‘buenas noches’, remember that it’s not only a farewell, but also a greeting. You can use it both when you meet someone and when you leave.

As you can see, there is no golden rule as to when to use these Spanish greetings. The important point is that they’re vague and flexible. Best of all, there’s an easy way out if you’re unsure as to which one to use: you can simply say ‘buenas’.

If you want to practice saying these and other Spanish greetings, you can hear them said by native speakers in the Lessons 2, 3 and 4 of my Spanish course. Here are two samples:

Lesson 2 dialog and flashcards

 

 

 

In this free Spanish pronunciation lesson we’re going to learn how to pronounce the vowel ‘a’ correctly.

You can hear all the Spanish words in this post, including the exercise at the end, in the free Lesson 1 of my Spanish for beginners course.

1. Tips on how to get the Spanish ‘a’ always right

• The Spanish a sounds like the ‘a’ in the English word: ‘father’.
• The Spanish a has a pure, unchangeable sound. You should pronounce it always the same way.
• The Spanish a sounds the same whether it comes at the beginning of a word, in the middle, at the end or on its own.
• Often it will be tempting to say the a like in the English words ‘table’ or ‘hand‘. Unfortunately, doing so will make it difficult for Spanish speakers to understand you.

Pronouncing the vowel ‘a’ correctly will dramatically help you communicate successfully in Spanish.

2. Difficult Spanish words with the letter ‘a’

To master the Spanish a, practice saying words that look similar in English and Spanish. Those words often sound quite different in Spanish, and it can take a while to get them consistently right.

Here are ten words that will help you quickly master the a. To hear them said by native speakers, go to the multimedia Lesson 1 of my Spanish for beginners course. It’s free.

vacaciones – vacation
aire – air
cafetería – cafeteria
individual – individual
pasaporte – passport
radio – radio
recepcionista – receptionist
mayonesa – mayonnaise
mineral – mineral
patata – potato

3. Saying a difficult Spanish sentence

Here’s a sentence with several words with the letter a. Read out this sentence paying particular attention to the way you say each a. In my free Lesson 1 you can hear this sentence said slowly and at normal speed.

Mañana por la mañana vamos a nadar a la playa
Tomorrow morning we’re going to swim at the beach

Can you say this sentence fluently? Try every so often over the next few days and you will soon master it!

4. Spanish pronunciation exercise

We are now going to practice saying ten very useful words: ten place names. They all contain at least one a. Can you say them out loud correctly?

América
España
Panamá
California
Colorado
Florida
Sacramento
Álamo
Salinas
Palo Alto

Remember that you can hear all the Spanish words in this post in the free Lesson 1 of my Spanish for beginners course. There you can also download the free Lesson 1 podcast and videocast, and go through them on your iPod or any other mp3 player.

Do you have any questions? Are there any Spanish words you are not sure how to pronounce? If so, please let me know through the comment box below.