ABOUT THE PROGRAM---

 

The Spanish Simplified! Language Learning Program™ is a practical and proven, user-friendly approach that shows you how to teach your tongue to talk and builds your confidence as you go along.  It is an easy-to-follow program that can be used to study Spanish on your own, with friends or in a classroom.    

 

Many years ago, I taught myself to speak Spanish while traveling in Spain during a summer vacation.  At the time I was a junior high French teacher with a love of learning and teaching languages.  After several weeks of trial and error, I uncovered a few short-cuts that made it easy to communicate effectively.  I was delighted to realize that I had just discovered a simple way to make thousands of useful sentences with a vocabulary of fewer than 200 words! At the end of my 6 week vacation I was amazed at how well I could speak Spanish.    

 

Spanish Simplified! is the result of my efforts to re-create for others the process I used to teach myself Spanish. The key to the program is its simplicity. 

 

Over the years I have learned that my language learning experience was not unique.  I’ve met many travelers who, with the same small vocabulary that I used, were also able to make themselves understood without being misunderstood.  This approach is well known and widely used, but not in most classrooms.  The head of a New Jersey school district foreign language department once told me, “Spanish Simplified! is the book I wish I had written.” 

 

Although I taught myself Spanish in 6 weeks, it took me almost 40 years to systematically organize this information and publish it in a readily accessible format. The vocabulary of fewer than 200 words is based on notes that I took during my summer in Spain.  The appendix includes additional vocabulary and phrases that I learned during two years in Bolivia with the Peace Corps and while traveling extensively in Latin America.  Bi-lingual friends from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Mexico and Venezuela have proof-read the program.  Several of them are teachers and have chosen to use Spanish Simplified! with their own students. 

 

The Spanish Simplified! Language Learning Program is dedicated to the many people who have told me, “I’ve studied Spanish but I still can’t speak it.”  May you enjoy the Spanish language—and Spanish speakers, and learn as much from them as I have. 

 

Spanish Simplified is Simply a Great Way to Learn

Spanish!