Stories from Latin America : Historias de Latinoamérica

by Genevieve Barlow

These enduring legends offer insights into the history and culture of Latin American countries. For ease of comprehension, they are told in both Spanish and English, on facing pages.

Genres: Spanish Literature, Fiction, Language, Short Stories

149 pages, Paperback

First published January 11, 1995

Reviews

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars for the ingenious side-by-side English & Spanish format. This would be a suitable gift for ESL students or Spanish learners.

Disappointing book if, like me, you purchased it mainly for the stories. Should have been titled 𝘔𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘔é𝘹𝘪𝘤𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘍𝘦𝘸 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘮é𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢. I was looking forward to more stories from Central América.

The book consists of sixteen legends from Latin América which span 2000 years, from pre-Columbian times to the 19th century. Of the 16 stories, 5 are from México. The remaining are 1 from Paraguay, 1 from Colombia, 1 from Argentina, 2 from Perú, 1 from Guatemala, 1 from Bolivia, 1 from Honduras, 1 from Venezuela, and from Puerto Rico.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I'm learning Spanish, this book was really helpful in giving me confidence in my reading skills. The stories are short, but challenging (in a good way) for a beginner. It was great way to expand my vocabulary.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

16 short stories and legends from throughout Latin America. Interesting and great for practicing reading in Spanish.

[Bob Stocker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories from Latin America : Historias de Latinoamerica by Genevieve Barlow tells stories in “side-by-side” English and Spanish versions. I picked it up about a month ago to brush up on Spanish which I haven't used much for decade or so. It was the right thing me. Stories were short and comprehensible – unlike another “side-by-side” book that contained a long story that I had difficulty following in English. Vocabulary was appropriate for someone at my level – many words that I recognized or could easily guess and a few new ones. Translations appeared to be accurate, unlike yet another “side-by-side” book that sometimes embellished the English version. From my perspective the book's only shortcoming was that the stories (legends from the Spanish-speaking world) weren't something I'd be inclined to read for themselves.

[Lorena Salazar]

The book was pretty good, most stories were interesting. A couple are not very good. Over all the book was good.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading these stories is a great way to practice Spanish. The side-by-side English/Spanish made it easy to look up unknown words.

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for learning the language but the stories aren't exactly exciting.

[Mel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Colonial crap mostly. But ok for Spanish practice

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

These book is a little more difficult than Stories from Mexico and Stories from Spain.

[Reuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Folktales from Mexico, Central and South America. (The Spanish was easy.)