3 out of 4 stars
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Title: !Hola! Lets Learn Spanish!
Author: Judy Martialay
Genre: Children/Educational/Spanish
Summary: Learn Spanish for kids! Meet Pete the Pilot and Panchito the Jumping Bean on a trip through Mexico as we learn common and useful words and terms while exploring the culture! Make a mask, learn about jumping beans, and find Mexico on a map all while having lots of fun!
This colorful little book is a great and surprisingly expansive starting point to learning Spanish. Geared and written for younger children, it's an easy read and can be very quick for more mature children to get through. It's also a fun read for parents and is intended to be used in groups to help reiterate everything being taught and practice pronunciation.
The book itself is broken up into several different parts consisting of two stories, a small skit, a song and more! Anyone vaguely familiar with the Mexican Spanish language will recognize some of the terms used but many were a little less common which made for an interesting read. While not an extensive breach into the language, it's a good opening for all ages but especially for the intended audience. I read it on my own in less than half an hour (which included Googling many of the phrases) and found both stories and all the activities very enjoyable!
I'm studying Spanish through several different resources right now and really loved the way this book incorporates the words into the stories. Phrases are used instead of just single words and they are used in ways that help the reader understand how exactly the phrases are normally used in everyday life. It was creative and fun and the drawings included were cute. The art was simple but clear and easy for children to apply to the story.
There is an audiobook that can be downloaded for read-along and help with pronunciation but I didn't download that part, being already familiar with the pronunciation of the words used.
My only complaint was that some of the words and phrases weren't made very clear. While I was able to grasp the idea due to context or look up the translation, most children might have trouble understanding which part of the line was the translation. This wasn't a big issue because of the index in the back with the list of words and phrases and their translations side by side. Because of this I rate !Hola! Let's Learn Spanish! 3 out of 4 stars. A great start to learning a new language!
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¡HOLA! Let's Learn Spanish
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