Living Spanish: 5th edition

I have the Italian version of this book too. It is rather old fashioned, but I use both books as a useful reference for grammar, vocabulary and verbs, while using the Duolingo app to learn Spanish and Italian. Perhaps not the book for those who just want basic conversational Spanish, but for those who want a deeper understanding of the language it is fantastic.

This is the kind of course that was considered out of date when I was training a as a language teacher 40 years ago! So it's reassuringly old-fashioned, presenting language in a logical and helpful manner and systematically reinforcing your learning as you go. Students looking for a more communicative approach might despair at some of the subject matter, but I'm impressed so far. The paper is low quality and buyers should note that this no longer has the accompanying CD - there's a link to online resources instead.

I've done the first 2 lessons now, and I think it breaks the language down nicely. You would need to have basic vocab before starting the book. I received the 2015 edition with the audio CD missing. Luckily, you can find the audio online

The best book we have found to help our present understanding of Spanish which we have been studying for some years, We can read and write reasonably in the language yet find conversation difficult. The CD sold with the book is just what we need...the passages are read at conversational speed and the exercises are in Spanish also.The book has many other treasures ......a dictionary, lots of grammatical explanations and information about Spanish culture. A really useful book!We borrowed a copy from our local library which convinced us to make this purchase...we have also recommended it to our regular Spanish class.

I was delighted to see that this book was still in print as I inherited a tatty original which is no longer fully bound, unfortunately. In my humble opinion this is a superb introduction to Spanish, being grammar based and delivered in "bite sizes" (tapas?) together with interesting little stories to introduce the grammatical points and essential vocabulary (not "my postern" etc.) and many work excercises together with answers. I consider it a bit of a "tour de force" in (Spanish) language instruction and Mr Littlewood and(more recently) his collaborators are to be congratulated on an excellent product, sensibly priced. P.S. the latest version comes complete with a CD as an aid with pronunciation.

I am using this book to back up the Michel Thomas Spanish course which, despite giving a good grounding in Spanish verb usage, lacks the breadth that Living Spanish provides. I like the fact that it is a course for adults and so doesn't stint on the amount of information it provides, expects the reader to make use of a dictionary to translate Spanish passages and doesn't restrict itself to bite-size bits of information in bright colours like those courses aimed at youngsters. I am on chapter 5 and learning a lot.

Found it really worked on consolidating my Spanish,

I had the French equivalent and found it really useful (I am a tutor) so was really happy to find the Spanish one! Happy that there are audio's on line ! great!