Spanish Short Stories For Beginners: 8 Unconventional Short Stories to Grow Your Vocabulary and Learn Spanish the Fun Way!

Finally, I have found a reading tool that actually helps me, rather than frustrates me. Olly Richards has put together a great combination of teaching and fun reading. For me, his instructions on how to read the stories takes all of the "I will never get this!" feeling away, and it is awesome to have enjoyable short stories specifically targeted to my level. Plus the short quizzes at the end to ensure that you understood the story are a great addition. My opinion is that this is a must-have addition for anyone seriously learning Spanish.One note, however - it is written in Castilian Spanish, not Latin American Spanish, so if you have been studying mainly Latin American Spanish (like me) there will be a few times when you have to use your own dictionary or on-line translator in addition to the provided vocabulary list after each story. This has not bothered me at all, as 99% of the time, I understand the gist of the paragraph without having to interrupt and translate.I highly recommend this book. The confidence it gave me when I realized I could read MUCH more than I previously thought - it was and continues to be a great boost to continue my studies and to me not feeling 'stuck.' I look forward to getting to the next level and purchasing the next level of Spanish Short Stories. Big thanks to Olly Richards for providing an enjoyable and essential learning tool.

The author has the right idea for what a book of introductory short stories for learning a foreign language should be. It is good that there is no accompanying English text--is is better for the reader to figure out the puzzle of reading a foreign language without such training wheels!The author works into his stories the kind of words that a tourist needs, rather that load you up with arcane vocabulary words.There is one odd thing about these stories however. I have started reading the author's book of introductory Italian short stories and the first story is identical to the to the first story in this book! Only the names of the cities, characters, and food have been changed--every event in the Spanish book correspond to an event in the Italian book! Stay tuned as I read more of the Italian stories!

These books are great for building your confidence and impressing your friends. I always thought I had to be fluent in Spanish before I started to try and read Spanish but I have found that just as when you read English you often skim many of the words and still comprehend it. So I read this one or two pages at a time and looked for the words I knew then I had the gest of the story and could review the vocab and the questions. After that I reread the whole chapter and looked up words I didn't know. Then I read it a third time all by myself. I couldn't believe I was reading a story in Spanish but it really felt good.The only down side is these stories aren't as interesting as some of the ones in other books of their kind. The stories are a bit juvenile in plot. On the plus side though they do have a nicer cover material than some books

Great stories. Easy to read and understand. Love that there's a recap and literacy quiz at the end of each section and chapter.You can purchase the voice recordings/audiobooks on audible! It's a really great supplement to hear and read at the same time and to get the proper annunciation of words when you don't know them. Read out loud and you will get even more benefit from these stories.

I am teaching myself Spanish and these stories have been very fun. I like the organization of it with 3 chapters per story and questions after each chapter. The story usually ends with a fun ending. I liked them very much and am happy they were written simply enough for me to read!

I would consider myself an Advanced Beginner in the Spanish learning spectrum. The book is a great tool to pull together all of the verb conjugations for me in an accesible short story. It’s challenging without being completely overwhelming. I know my basic verb conjugations but need I need continued practice. This book is a big help.

Really wanted to like this book as the concept of staged reading is very good. However some of the scenes seemed unnecessarily forced (even accounting for the fact that limited vocabulary has to be used) and some are downright discontinuous. Even if you're not ocd about plot consistency this has to be more than slightly disconcerting. For example in the second chapter Daniel and Julia had agreed to go eat paella. Suddenly Julia looks worried and wants to eat fish instead. So Daniel tells Julia to take a bus to the paella shop and Daniel will go eat fish. What? Julia wanted fish so why is Daniel telling her to go it paella, putting aside the odd fact that they're going out of the way to go to opposite places they decided I'm the first place? Later Daniel sleeps on the bus and ends up in Valencia instead. He orders a paella and the waiter laughs at him with no context whatsoever. Then immediately after that the story goes on "when I finished the meal I was embarrassed" why did it take him that long to be embarrassed?? "he shouldn't have laughed so loud, BUT it's strange" what??? "but" used here? This sentence makes no sense! Daniel then calls his mom. After hanging up the next sentence is "he arrives at the hotel" again what??? This is basic story telling continuity that can't be gotten right really interferes with the learning process and leads to less satisfaction in the endThe second story is about two friends Silvia and Jorge who got lost in the forest pursuing big foot and the big foot ends up tormenting Silvia in some cabin in the woods and it turns out the big foot is her dad who was trying to give her a birthday surprise and the friends all gather to surprise her in the cabin. That's some morbid sh right there. Another inconsistency here is that Jorge knew about it all along but somewhere in the store he pursues the big foot to a cave. If he knew about it why did he have to pursue the big foot (Silvia's father) in the first place. Really stupid author clearly has a very low IQ.

The stories read fine (although at times it's obvious they're written by a non-native speaker), but they all feel terribly patronising. You're better off picking up a kid's chapter book - preferably written by a Spanish person.

I've been learning Spanish for years and get by on a improver to intermediate level of conversation. I would say this is the best material I've found for improving my Spanish reading and vocabulary. There's a vocabulary list at the end of each chapter that covers a good selection of words/phrases that take away a lot of the time normally required to translate yourself. There's also some very useful hints and tips on how to read effectively.The stories are varied and interesting. 10 out of 10 to the author Olly Richards.

a good starter book for me, struggled with some of it but you get the gist. I particularly liked the summary and the multiple choice questions. For the beginner, this book is interesting and a little challenging at times.

brilliant book when learning Spanish, however, I would not recommend it for beginners. There are a few printed mistakes but I think is a good book

Brilliant for those learning Spanish. Interesting stories.