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Preface

At 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 capital animal hotel radio conductor probable cable actor ideal flexible central

Can you recognize any of these words?

Atlántico restaurante optimista
Pacífico importante dentista dramático presidente artista constructive permanente confusión atractivo medicina invitación

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 you 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:

1. Speak Spanish
2. Read Spanish
3. Write in Spanish
4. 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 yourseif right now.