Publisher: Berlitz Publishing

ISBN: 981-246-430-1

Nearly every language instructor will tell you the same thing: their students want to learn the bad words, the swear words, the words that will offend. It should therefore come as little surprise that Berlitz would publish a guide to the less polite side of Spanish with their titles, Hide this Spanish Book and Hide this Spanish CD.

Open the book randomly, say, to page 31, and one gets an idea of what is meant by the title; the reader is treated to an “Uncensored” dialog box that offers a selection of insulting words to use when at a football (soccer) match. One can choose from Hijueputa, (son of a bitch), Chinga tu madre (@#&! your mother), Cabrones (bastards), and Vaya por la puta bola (Go get the (@#&!ing ball).

Inflammatory language to be sure, but just how inflammatory? Hide this Spanish Book solves the dilemma of showing how bad a word or phrase is by placing a thermometer next to the nastier ones. For instance, all of the previous examples are accompanied by a completely reddened thermometer, which defines the language thusly: “Ouch! Be very careful! Totally offensive, completely inappropriate, and downright nasty.”

Less offensive words are labeled with a half-full thermometer, and are defined as being: “Pretty crude and crass – use with caution (or not).”

Moreover, because Spanish is such a widely-spoken language, Hide this Spanish Book indicates in which country a word is considered bad. For example, of the above choices, Chinga tu madre (@#&! your mother), is used primarily in Mexico. So if you are traveling to Spain and you scream out, Chinga tu madre at a football match, you may not be understood.

The accompanying Hide this Spanish CD provides an in-depth look at all of the chapters, and includes a thorough tapescript as well. For the listening comprehension that it engenders, the CD is a very useful complement to the book. But if you choose not to purchase the CD, have no fear – you can find many of the audio files at www.berlitzbooks.com/hidethisbook.htm.

In terms of language ability, Hide this Spanish Book is written with the assumption that one already knows a bit of Spanish. It is also assumed that the reader understands that most of the language to be learned from the Hide this Spanish Book and CD is… inappropriate. But as a book which explores the wrong side of the tracks, Hide this Spanish will equip you with the tools you need to express yourself in even the most challenging of situations.

The above review was contributed by: Jim Curtiss: Click Here To Read More Of Jim’s Reviews