Product Description
by Patricia V. Lunn (Author), Anita Jon Alkhas (Author)
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.
Back Jacket
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.
Author Biography
Patricia V. Lunn is a professor emerita of Spanish at Michigan State University. She is the coauthor of, among other books and articles, En otras palabras: Perfeccionamiento del español por medio de la traducción, segunda edición (GUP).
Anita Jon Alkhas is an associate professor of French at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She has contributed articles to the Contemporary French Civilization, the French Review, and Georges Sand Studies, among other journals.
