Learning French from Spanish and Spanish from French: A Short Guide - Softcover

Lunn, Patricia V.; Alkhas, Anita Jon

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1626164258 ISBN 13: 9781626164253

Publisher: Georgetown University Press, 2017

Synopsis

All human languages have some things in common, but certain languages--because of their shared history--have a great deal in common. Those commonalities can help a learner proficient in one of a pair of related languages learn the second language more quickly. This book will serve as a catalyst for adult English speakers who have learned either Spanish or French as an L2 and wish to learn the other language as an L3. The manual takes advantage of the fact that learners with intermediate proficiency in an L2 are used to thinking consciously about language, know themselves as language learners, and can capitalize on what they know about one language to understand the other. 

The manual contains seven chapters that present concise and linguistically accurate descriptions of the paired languages, provide targeted exercises with answer keys, and give many examples of each principle. Audio files help with pronunciation. Parallel texts are short readings that help illustrate contrasts and similarities.  The book aims to accelerate the work of third-language learning for students, travelers, and budding multilinguals.

About this title

Review:

Lunn and Alkhas do not present the book as a textbook but rather a short guide to these two languages that have a lot in common. The best potential audience for this short guide may be teachers of French and Spanish because it serves as a reference for those who are regularly switching between the two languages.

--The French Review

A useful book that offers a contrastive view for English speakers who have knowledge of either of those languages and who wish to study them through similar and differing linguistic aspects of each.

--Hispania

From the Back Cover:

Learning French from Spanish and Spanish from French provides adult English speakers who have learned either Spanish or French as a second language with the tools to learn the other as a third language. Research in the growing fields of third-language acquisition and multilingualism documents how successful language learners intuitively build on their existing knowledge as they learn a new language. In this vein, Learning French from Spanish and Spanish from French takes advantage of the fact that learners with intermediate proficiency in a second language are used to thinking consciously about language, know themselves as language learners, and can capitalize on what they know about one language to understand the other. With chapters conveniently organized by grammatical concept and including supplementary resources such as exercises, parallel reading texts, and audio files, this book will benefit students, travelers, and budding multilinguals alike.

About this edition

• Publisher: Georgetown University Press
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1626164258
• ISBN 13: 9781626164253
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 158