Stories from Spain / Historias de Espana (Side by Side Bilingual Books)

Dive into the tales of Spain-in Spanish and in English!

In Stories from Spain/Historias de Espana, we've placed the Spanish and English stories side by side--lado a lado--so you can practice and improve your reading skills in your new language while enjoying the support of your native language. This way, you'll avoid the inconvenience of constantly having to look up unfamiliar words and expressions in a dictionary. Read as much as you can understand, and then look to the facing page for help. As you read, you can check your comprehension by comparing the two versions of the story. You'll also find a bilingual vocabulary list at the end of the book, so you'll have a handy reference for new words.

Stories from Spain/Historias de Espana allows you to explore Spain's rich history. It included 18 well-known Spanish legends that chronicle almost 1,000 years of Spanish history. These tales will introduce you to an array of characters as dynamic and colorful as the country that gave birth to them. Moors, kings, nobles, rogues, and pirates are among those who will make these pages come alive for you! As you read these stories side by side, you will be not only fine-tuning your language skills but also gaining insight into the rich cultural heritage of the Spanish people.

Although I enjoyed the tales, I don't think the book is as good as Stories from Latin America. In that collection, the stories are roughly four pages in length; in this book, they are only two pages long (two pages each of English and Spanish). The writing seems a bit simplified and at times I felt that I was reading summaries of more intricate, and richer, legends. Also, an English-Spanish vocabulary section at the end takes up nearly one-third of the book, leaving only 113 pages for the stories themselves (as opposed to Stories from Latin America, whose sixteen tales total some 149 pages).

I'm glad I have both books in my collection, as this type of book is hard to come by. If you can afford to buy both, read Stories from Spain first, as the writing is a little bit simpler. If you can only afford to buy one, I'd go with Stories from Latin America.


Great true dual translation book   March 23, 2002
Harold McFarland (Florida)
18 out of 19 found this review helpful

This is a true bilingual book in Spanish and English. I love the format of presenting the Spanish on one page and the English equivalent on the facing page. You can easily go from one to the other. Because the stories are short and pretty basic, if you are trying to learn Spanish it is a great tutoring tool. You should already know some basic Spanish before reading the book, but for the intermediate or advanced beginner it is a great way to increase your vocabulary and practice correct sentence structure. In addition, the stories are from Spain and so teach some of the history and legends to help you get a feel for the country. Finally, there is a small dictionary at the back of the book that contains most of the words that you might encounter in the text.

Whether you use it for a review, to learn Spanish, to increase your Spanish vocabulary or just like the stories, it is a great little book and this style of dual translation books is highly recommended as an adjunct to a Spanish course of any type to recommend to speed your learning of a foreign language.


Honest review.   June 22, 2001
Larry Hackettt (Ireland)
14 out of 15 found this review helpful

I have read both this Book and also "Stories from Puerto Rico",both of which I thoroughly enjoyed,and found very educational from a grammatical and vocabulary point of view. As a student of the language I appreciate the Authors's efforts. Both books would certainly have received 5\5 but for the dictionary at the end of each book.This I feel is uneccessary,and in each case accounts for almost 1\3 of each book.That space could surely have been taken up with more stories.In any event one has the translation,on both sides, so why the need for the dictionary.


Este libro me encanta mucho!   June 12, 2004
Marcia Lawrence (Seattle, WA USA)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

I graduated with a BA degree in Spanish more than 30 years ago, and although I am quite fluent, I am currently reviewing and brushing up on my skills. Stories from Spain is not only a good book for intermediate Spanish students, but also for those of us who need to "get up to speed" once again. The bilingual format does it's job, which is to allow the reader to gain fluency without getting discouraged by having to constantly look up words in the dictionary. It is also a great way for the student to get immediate feedback on his/her reading comprehension.
The legends are clever, heartwarming, and many contain a moral lesson. I thoroughly enjoyed each story.


Great Book as a Transition to Reading Larger Works in Spanish   February 3, 2008
Stephen R. Devoy (San Pedro, California)
I speak Spanish fairly well and can read technical manuals in Spanish without a problem, but I haven't read many novels in Spanish. I bought this book to advance my Spanish reading ability hoping it would help me to progress to more advanced works. I'm still in that transitioning phase, but I enjoyed this book enough to purchase two more from the same collection. Each page of Spanish text is accompanied by the corresponding page of English text on the opposite side. If the reader has trouble with an idiomatic expression or an unfamiliar word, the translation is readily available.

My wife is in a similar situation, but her first language is Spanish and her second is English. She too has found this book useful as a tool. If you're learning Spanish or English and wish to polish off your language skills, try this book.