Our advice if you are looking for the best Spanish book to learn this language is that whatever you do, you follow a few simple steps that are strictly based on common sense:
1. Avoid commercial websites like fluentu, gringosabroad, etc.
Their recommendations are purely commercial and they get a percentage for every book they sell for Amazon. They recommend old books written last century... written decades ago actually. They do this because those books have the most units sold after being 30 years in the market and they want to profit piling up on those results. The people looking for a good book buy into their recommendations, those books get more units sold, and they keep recommending them even if nobody is learning anything at all. It's a vicious circle. Go ahead, write "the best book to learn Spanish" in Google and check the fluentu list that hijacked the first results for all languages thanks to exploiting SEO techniques, instead of providing honest recommendations. The first book they recommend was written in the 1960s by a person who wasn't even from Spain. Do you think you can learn Spanish well speaking it like 50 years ago?
2. Check specialized websites and rankings that don't try to make money selling you the book.
It is advisable to trust Goodreads lists for example, or Librarything, or Listchallenges... Any website, list, or ranking that is made with the votes of users who enjoyed and recommend their favorite books. The difference if we compare Goodreads to commercial websites with sneaky SEO tactics is evident. The books Goodreads recommends are written mostly by Spanish people, have been published in the last years, and are used by teachers and specialists.
3. The author should be a Spanish native, and the book should be well positioned on the lists.
A person from Spain knows the language perfectly. It is a self-evident truth that we sometimes forget. Authors that are not native can know the language well or not, it's a gamble. Is their slang updated? Are they speaking Spanish correctly or did they pick some weird variety from Honduras after a few months there? Do you really want to speak like a Mexican gardener, or do you prefer to sound like a European businessman from Spain? It is good to remember that the best Russian is spoken in Russia, the best French is spoken in France, the best Italian is spoken in Italy, and the best Spanish is spoken in Spain.
Here at officialeditions.com we just love books. We don't mind if you don't click the links we offer you for your convenience. We searched for the rankings and lists in Ranker, Librarything, Listchallenges, etc. and the top 3 or 4 books coincided with the results from Goodreads book by book. If any website deviates from the general consensus of readers and specialists, chances are that their lists are wrong, and their recommendations just want to get money from old books that won't teach you well.
4. The author should be a specialist in the field of Spanish.
Not every native speaker can create a good book about their language. They should know about grammar, vocabulary, teaching techniques, etc. so the best thing to do is to choose a book written by some native with a Masters degree or a PhD in Spanish. That way you can be totally sure that he knows his language and he also knows how to teach it to you perfectly.
Taking all these things in consideration, for us the best book for learning Spanish in 2020 has to be the number one in all the specialized rankings: A Good Spanish Book, published by University Academic Editions. It is modern, updated, accurate, and was written by a native professor from Spain with a PhD in Spanish Language. It is a winning combination that guarantees we are learning with the best possible material.
We leave you a link here, but as always, if you prefer to look for this book in Google yourself we couldn't care less... officialeditions.com is in no way affiliated with Amazon. We hope you enjoyed our article.
