Read Madrigals Magic Key to Spanish Online
Authors: Margarita Madrigal
Tags: #Reference, #Language Arts & Disciplines
Madrigals Magic Key to Spanish
And gladly wolde he lerne and gladly teche.
—
CHAUCER
A hardcover edition of this book was originally published in 1951 by Doubleday. It is here reprinted by arrangement with Doubleday.
Madrigal’s Magic Key to Spanish. Copyright © 1951, 1953, 1989 by Margarita Madrigal. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information, address: Broadway Books, a division of Random House, Inc., 1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036.
BROADWAY BOOKS and its logo, a letter B bisected on the diagonal, are trademarks of Broadway Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
Visit our website at
www.broadwaybooks.com
First Broadway Books trade paperback edition published 2001.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Madrigal, Margarita.
[Magic key to Spanish]
Madrigal’s magic key to Spanish/Margarita
Madrigal: illustrations by Andrew Warhol.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes index.
eISBN: 978-0-307-75487-5
1. Spanish language—Textbooks for foreign speakers—English.
I. Warhol, Andy, 1928–87.
II. Title. III. Title: Magic key to Spanish.
PC4128.M35 1989 89-30448
468.2,421—dc20
v3.1_r1
t this moment you know several thousand Spanish words even if you have never seen or heard a Spanish word before. You are not aware of these words simply because they have not been pointed out to you. In this book I’m going to show you how easy it is to learn Spanish by showing you how much you already know. For instance, have you ever seen these Spanish words before?
| popular | radio | actor |
| capital | conductor | ideal |
| animal | probable | flexible |
| hotel | cable | central |
Can you recognize any of these words?
| Atlántico | restaurante | optimista |
| Pacífico | importante | dentista |
| dramático | presidente | artista |
| constructive | permanente | confusión |
| atractivo | medicina | invitaeión |
If you can recognize even a few of these words, the Spanish language is yours for the taking.
It is encouraging to know that you can identify thousands upon thousands of Spanish words at sight. But it is really exciting to discover that with a few hints you yourself can form these words and that you can start out on your venture of learning Spanish with a large, ready-made vocabulary. When you study this method you will find that you will not only have the ability to recognize words, but that it will actually be within your power to convert English words into Spanish words.
Furthermore, you will learn what to do with these words. You will feel the thrill of starting right out forming sentences from the very first lesson. You will learn to think in Spanish and you will know the beauty and rhythm of spoken Spanish. When you finish this course you will be able to go to a Spanish-speaking country and talk to the people and understand them.
From the time man first began to learn foreign tongues down to the present time, language methods have relied on memory and not on the pupil’s powers of creation. Now the process is reversed. This book will teach you to create. The very first lesson will prove to you that you can create at least one hundred times more material than you could possibly memorize in the same given time. Furthermore, the process of creation is exciting, whereas mechanical memorizing is tremendously boring. Also consider that you are apt to forget a word that you memorize mechanically. But a word that you create stays with you forever.
The motto of this book, if such there be, is “And gladly wolde he lerne and gladly teche” (Chaucer). From my own experience I know that what is not gladly learned is not learned at all. It is the essence of this method to make learning Spanish a pleasure for you. I have tried to guide you lovingly through the language. Every means of making it easy for you has been incorporated into this book. Thousands of questions that have been asked by former students have made it possible for me to anticipate your questions and to answer them.
Do you believe that you cannot learn a foreign tongue?
Did you study languages in school and fail to learn to speak them?
Do yon know a great many Spanish words that you cannot put into sentences?
Were you ever bored in a language class?
Have you thought that learning a new language involved so much work that it couldn’t fit into your schedule?
If you can answer “yes” to any of the questions above, this method is for you.
This book will teach you to:
- Speak Spanish
- Read Spanish
- Write in Spanish
- Think in Spanish
This is not an empty promise. The method has proved successful with more than a quarter of a million people in the span of a few years. Not one student who has started this method has failed. Some went more slowly than others, but in the end every student learned more Spanish for every hour that he spent with the book than he had thought possible in his fondest dreams.
This method, which has worked with so many students, will work with you. Turn to Lesson I and prove this to yourself right now.
A
The letter A is always pronounced “ah” as in “Ah, Sweet Mystery.”
E
The letter E is always pronounced “E” as in
bet, test, bless.
I
The letter I is always pronounced “EE” as in
greet, beet.
O
The letter O is always pronounced “O” as in obey (but without the slightest trace of a U sound. It is a clean, distinct O sound).
U
The letter U is always pronounced “OO” as in
cool, pool.
B
1. The letter B is pronounced “B” as in
bit.
2. However, when a letter B appears between vowels it is pronounced very softly. In fact, the B between vowels is so soft that your lips hardly touch when you pronounce it. Try pronouncing the word “abundancia” with a very, very soft B.
C
1. The C before A, O, U is hard as the C in
can.
2. The C before E or I is soft as the C in
cent.
CC
is pronounced “X.” “Acción” is pronounced “axion.”
CH
As in child.
D
1. The letter D is pronounced “D” as in “do.”
2. When the D is the last letter of a word or when it appears between vowels, it is pronounced as the softest TH imaginable. Say the English word “the” several times making the TH very, very soft; then say “
ciudad,
” pronouncing both D’s with the same soft TH.
G
1. The G before A, O, U is hard as in
get.
2. The G before E or I is pronounced H as in
hen.
“General” is pronounced “heneral.”
H
The H is always silent in Spanish. “Hotel” is pronounced “otel.”
J
The J is pronounced “H” as in
hen.
L
The L is pronounced “L” as in
let.
LL
The LL is pronounced “Y” as in
yes.
“Caballo” is pronounced “cabayo”; “llevo” is pronounced “yevo.”
ñ
The ñ is pronounced “NY.” “Cabaña” is pronounced “cabanya” and “señor” is “senyor.”
R
The R is slightly trilled except when it is the first letter in a word, in which case it is strongly trilled.
RR
Always strongly trilled.
T
The T is always pronounced as the “TT” in
attractive.
“Patio” (pattio), “simpático” (simpáttico).
Y
1. The letter Y is pronounced “Y” as in
yet.
2. However, when the letter Y stands alone it is pronounced “EE” as in
beet.
“Y” means “and” in Spanish.
Z
The Z is pronounced “S” as in
sent.
QUE
is pronounced “KE” as in
kept.
QUI
is pronounced “KEE” as in
keen, keep.
GUE
is pronounced “GUE” as in
guest.
GUI
is pronounced “GEE” as in
geese.
The rest of the letters are pronounced as they are in English, with only very slight variations.
In some parts of Spain the C before E or I is pronounced “TH,” and the Z is always pronounced “TH.”