Casi se muere (Spanish Edition) Paperback – November 1, 1998

"Casi se muere" is interesting, not to mention a good learning tool. When I was in Spanish class my teacher told is to pick a simple book in Spanish then summarize it. Since i had bought a book by Lisa Turner and Blaine Ray. i went to their books and found "Casi se muere'. "Casi se muere" (he almost died) is a book that is short and simple yet interesting. It is what i would recommend for any Spanish class because it teaches you a lot about Chilean culture for example, how it differs from Spain and Mexico and how Chile takes a bit of many cultures to make their society.

Context, particularly in a narrative, probably remains the best way to learn and solidify a new language. Learning vocabulary and grammar in isolation through repetitive drills has its place, but relying solely on such techniques will likely make learning more tedious and boring. Some, overcome with ennui, may even give up. Thankfully loads of easy language books have recently flooded the market. These target specific learning levels and help learners witness the benefits of those frustrating but sometimes necessary monotonous methods quickly. Not to mention that they reinforce the material learned by rote and even reveal the rewards of continuous learning. The Blaine Ray series presents a perfectly gradated sequence of short books directed at people just starting out in a new language. The Spanish series seems to have the most books and levels, beginning with the very simple "Berto y sus buenas ideas" and slowly increasing in complexity through 4 levels. "Casi se muere" or "almost dead," with its curiously morbid title, appears in almost the exact middle of nivel 1, or level 1. The preterite verb tense just begins to peek into the text towards the end and some new grammatical structures make for more challenging reading than previous installments. Anyone who completed the level's preceding volumes ("Pobre Ana" and "Patricia va a California") will encounter few problems with this one. As always with the Blaine Ray series, a vocabulary list includes all of the story's words with fully conjugated verbs and variations.The story of "Casi se muere" deviates only slightly from earlier books. The theme of a student traveling to another country continues. This time a high school aged girl, Ana Silva, travels from Hermosa Beach, California to Temuco, Chile to stay with a family. She relates her travels through letters to her friend Alicia. While eating at school with friends, she notices Pepe Ayala all alone with a purple face and apparently suffocating. Using her Heimlich skills, she forces a piece of meat from his clogged throat and Pepe recovers. Unfortunately, the disgorged piece lands on the shirt of the school bully, Jaime Campos, who begins to stalk and taunt Pepe. A mild nebulous teenage romance ensues as Ana finds herself thinking of Pepe constantly, though she sometimes doesn't see him for weeks at a time. The big moment arrives during the Chilean Independence Day celebrations on September 18th, where Ana and Pepe meet again, talk, eat empanadas, dance and dodge Jaime. Here Ana also learns about Chile's national dance, the cueca or "handkerchief dance." Before Ana leaves she and Pepe encounter Jaime one more time, but this meeting ends with a surprise. Then Ana basically returns home after learning the difference between "Adiós" and "Chao" as used in Chile. The Blaine Ray series always adds interesting cultural elements into the stories, which makes them even more interesting to read. As this series progresses, the tales become gradually more elaborate and increasingly more satisfying to complete. They help reward further study. Those who continue on can look forward to even more compelling stories in future Blaine Ray books. ¡Ahora lea!

I love this series of books. I'm learning Spanish on my own and these are great to read for practice and even read out loud to practice saying the words. The books are simple but not totally boring for adults. I think the authors were very thoughtful when they put this series together. The series comes with books that get progressively more difficult at the right steps for a learner who wants to read more and more. I'm not good enough to read the newspaper in Spanish, yet, so these books are great and at a good price.

This whole series is great! It's so fun to actually understand a whole BOOK in Spanish. The plot is very simple, of course, but they are funny and the feeling of accomplishment in understanding a book is great.*Same review for multiple books in this series

These books are a great way to learn Spanish and better understand basic grammar, conjugations and expand vocabulary. The glossary in the back makes the reading quick to get through.

I had to buy this book for my daughter's Spanish class. She is finding it easy to read and helpful in class.

I work in a middle school as a Spanish teacher and we've been using this book series for two years. If you're a teacher out there, beware! This series has errors and it is extremely juvenile. I understand the whole tps (total physical response) story telling method, but there has to be something better out there. If you really want to see something awful, make sure your district orders the movies that comes with this series.

Great story! A little more challenging for FVR, but includes neat cultural points.