Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses

"Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses" has been an unbelievably helpful resource in learning Spanish verb tenses. This book could almost stand alone as a textbook on Spanish verbs, and the exercises are fabulous.

In spite of the few small mistakes I've noticed in this book, it is an amazing value and I highly recommend it to anyone learning this fascinating language.


Excellent value and easy to understand   September 8, 1999
22 out of 22 found this review helpful

I am a Spanish teacher and I found out about Ms. Richmond's book through another teacher. I immediately bought the book and found it to be very useful in teaching concepts fundamental to Spanish. There were clear, insightful explanations that I had never seen before. As many before me have commented, this book is an excellent value for the money and would be a welcome asset to any teacher's reference library. It would also be an excellent resource for any aspiring student of Spanish because it makes the daunting task of mastering Spanish verbs a much more realistic goal.


May be drill and kill; there are no shortcuts to learning   February 20, 2003
Rocco B. Rubino (Ohio)
26 out of 27 found this review helpful

This book reminds me of the way my HS teacher of 4 years taught Spanish. It was "kill and drill" all the way, but it worked and I got a great foundation of the basics (this is 1975 to 1979, mind you), which has allowed me to, in the past 6 mos., begin my studies anew "independientemene," without feeling lost.

"Kill and drill" may be an anathman to the current zeitgeist in education, which stresses something called a "wholistic approach," but it is a method that has been tried and true. It's not as sexy as some of the present day modes of educating, but it works.

This book will lay a very, very strong foundation to the beginner, as well as "fill in the blanks" for the intermediate and advanced learner. The author uses a no-nonsense approach, which means she eschews excessive comment, as well as comments that are not germane to learning how to process/use verbs, and she sticks to the basics- Verb ending for all tenses, and proper usage. You can't go wrong with an approach like that. She also does a masterful job with irregular verbs, which is the bug-a-boo for all learners, beginners and advanced alike.

If the companion book on Spanish Grammar is as good as this book, together they will make a "deadly combination;" one that will put the learner well on their way to the proverbial "next level."