Review by colorsparkle -- Idiom Attack Vol. 1 Everyday L...

[colorsparkle]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Idiom Attack Vol. 1 Everyday Living (Spanish Edition)" by Peter Liptak.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Native Spanish speakers who are learning English at an intermediate to advanced level have a great new tool to level up their learning, with Idiom Attack Vol. 1 Everyday Living (Spanish Edition) by Peter Liptak. With its great layout, this is a helpful tool and a perfect addition to your library if you’re looking to improve your English skills. It has the feel of a workbook rather than a non-fiction book, and each chapter has three simple steps to help you learn the expressions.

First, the phrase will be put in a Spanish sentence before being translated to English so you can get an idea of how it’ll sound in context. It also includes some synonyms and a simple definition in English and Spanish. Next, there’s fill-in-the-blank exercises where you can practice using the phrases in English sentences. Finally, there’s a story written in both languages which contains the new idioms and some questions for both basic comprehension and deeper discussion. Idiom Attack has over 300 idioms to learn, and all are genuinely useful. They’re conveniently divided into 25 different chapters with themes, such as “Going to School” and “Telephone Talk.”

My favorite things about this book were the colors, illustrations, and great information. Every page was very pleasing to look at and well-organized, which makes it look very professional. There was not a single grammatical or typing mistake in the book, so I applaud the editors. There were super cute drawings to go along with the stories and themes, which were great. The translations were thorough and properly placed, and the way the introduction was written in English and then Spanish is an additional resource for language learners to test their abilities and increase their comprehension skills. The discussion questions would be perfect to use in a class or small group to use some of the idioms in conversation. I really think that this author covered all the important idiomatic expressions in English that I hear on a day-to-day basis. Some things I didn’t even realize were idioms, like “get up” or “junk food” are included.

My least favorite aspect of the book was that it didn’t include phrases in Spanish that were most similar to the expressions in English. It explained the expressions, but never truly translated them so it’s a little harder to understand what they mean. I also think that the cover image doesn’t fit with the book. Since it’s organized, cute, and professional on the inside, I think the front cover should match that so it’s more appealing to the eye. Finally, I was a little confused as to why the “How to Use This Book” section was only written in Spanish, when every other part of the book was in both languages.

I would rate this book 4 out of 4 because it is a very valuable resource for English learners and has quality information. It’s really perfectly edited and formatted, so I have no complaints regarding that. The perfect audience for this would be an advanced English class, because they can work through chapters on their own and practice as a group using the discussion questions. I would highly recommend this as a workbook, and it’s available in several languages other than Spanish.

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Idiom Attack Vol. 1 Everyday Living (Spanish Edition)
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