267 used & new from £0.01
See All Buying Options
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
Spanish Lessons: Beginning a New Life in Spain
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Spanish Lessons: Beginning a New Life in Spain (Paperback)

by Derek Lambert (Author)
2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


2 new from £2.99 263 used from £0.01 2 collectible from £0.01
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Paperback (New edition) £7.99 £7.19 49 used & new from £0.01

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

  (What is this?)
   Spanish Courses in Spain opens new browser window
www.escuelai.com  -  Learn Spanish abroad. Visit Spain, learn Spanish & enjoy your stay. 
   Spanish Courses Barcelona opens new browser window
www.tandembarcelona.com  -  Tandem Barcelona offers intensive Spanish courses all year round. 
   Spanish in Spain Malaga opens new browser window
www.instituto-picasso.com  -  2 weeks course 238€ (4 lessons/day) 4 weeks course 445€ (4 lessons/day) 
  
 

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society (The Lemons Trilogy)

The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society (The Lemons Trilogy)

by Chris Stewart
4.0 out of 5 stars (29)  £4.77
Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucia

Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucia

by Chris Stewart
4.2 out of 5 stars (87) 
A Parrot in the Pepper Tree: A Sequel to Driving over Lemons: A Sort of Sequel to "Driving Over Lemons" (The Lemons Trilogy)

A Parrot in the Pepper Tree: A Sequel to Driving over Lemons: A Sort of Sequel to "Driving Over Lemons" (The Lemons Trilogy)

by Chris Stewart
4.7 out of 5 stars (21)  £4.76
Shooting Caterpillars in Spain: Two Innocents Abroad in Andalucia

Shooting Caterpillars in Spain: Two Innocents Abroad in Andalucia

by Alex Browning
4.5 out of 5 stars (4)  £4.96
Easy Learning Spanish (Collins Easy Learning Audio Course)

Easy Learning Spanish (Collins Easy Learning Audio Course)

by Carmen Garcia del Rio
4.3 out of 5 stars (34)  £5.97
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 258 pages
  • Publisher: Ebury Press; New edition edition (5 April 2001)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0091879248
  • ISBN-13: 978-0091879242
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.4 x 2.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 603,986 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Anyone yearning for a house in the country--another country--will be reassured it can be done with Derek Lambert's engaging tale of his new life in Spain. Reassured, yet likely unconvinced that a rundown property with no running water, access or much of a roof is anybody's idea of a holiday home. That's just the point of Lambert's book: his goal was a life, not a get-away. "In the fading light, the house looked more apologetic than prepossessing. And yet it beckoned as though it contained small mysteries that might one day become familiar to us", he says as he scrambles over a stone fence to peer into the window of the house in a remote region of Andalusia. Indeed, the mysteries of plumbing, builders and a river with no bridge--and how one pays for such things--unfold slowly and then pick up speed and character as the story progresses.

This book has more of a sense of plot than many of this genre, leading to the decision whether to stay or leave, one familiar to anyone who has decided to live abroad. Lambert does not have the writing style that Frances Mayes brings to Under the Tuscan Sun nor the consistent humour of his Andalusia neighbour Chris Stewart in Driving over Lemons. However, he offers an important sense that he and his family are willing parties to the plot he weaves. That combined with Spanish lessons on the building trades and the ability to shear sheep makes Lambert's book a pleasant guide for setting up not just a house, but a home, in rural Spain. --Kathleen Buckley --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.



Product Description

After a long career as a jet-setting journalist, Derek Lambert decided to settle with his family in a white "casita", on Spain's Mediterranean Costa Blanca. Lambert introduces us to the "real" Spain - a nation of passionate and often contradictory people - as he adapts to his new found home.
See all Product Description

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(3)
(3)
(4)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Spanish Lessons: Beginning a New Life in Spain
69% buy the item featured on this page:
Spanish Lessons: Beginning a New Life in Spain 2.9 out of 5 stars (17)
Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucia
10% buy
Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucia 4.2 out of 5 stars (87)
Easy Learning Spanish (Collins Easy Learning Audio Course)
9% buy
Easy Learning Spanish (Collins Easy Learning Audio Course) 4.3 out of 5 stars (34)
£5.97
Quickstart Spanish
7% buy
Quickstart Spanish 4.5 out of 5 stars (8)
£11.44
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

17 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (5)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (4)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
2.9 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Valuable Spanish Lessons, 2 Sep 2004
By A Customer
I picked up a copy of Derek Lambert's 'Spanish Lessons' without knowing what to expect. I was pleased to find that he'd been candidly honest and that he wasn't just another Brit buying yet another holiday home and wanting nothing to do whatsoever with the real Spain. I live in Andalucia and I don't know any English people here, I was pleased to find my thoughts echoed by Derek's book. He is honest about the problems he faced and is quick to point out why things went wrong, if they went wrong. The joys that he experiences, he continuously shared with the village, and the open-ness, generosity and love of the Spanish people was given back to him and his family.
He lives in a part of Spain that I do not personally know but his writing style conjured up images of orange groves and beautiful scenery with the imposing image of the mountain in the background.
This book is great for someone who lives or who wants to live in Spain. Derek has included some great pearls of wisdom within it's pages and for me it was a fantastic source of encouragement.
Well done Derek!
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Read, 18 Mar 2003
By A Customer
... I found this an excellent book, on a par with Driving Over Lemons - if you enjoyed that book, you'll enjoy this. I liked the fact that you got to read about the authors' experiences and life in Spain rather than be bombarded with excessive information on history, culture and the lives of the other villagers. It was an easy read that had me chuckling on a number of occassions and it managed to keep me awake on the train for a whole week. I didn't want it to end. I would definitely recommend it and will be lending it to all my friends and family.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A PROFESSIONAL JOB - TO KEEP THE POT BOILING, 27 Sep 2001
By A Customer
The twenty year gap between the events in the book and its publication are clearly evident in this book. The author knew from experience that there was a book in it and eventually, when he needed to, he wrote it. It seemed to me to be a project dug out and knocked off by a professional writer from his handy stash of notes held on file for a rainy day, financial or otherwise. It's competently written, as you would expect from the author's background but it has very much the feel of someone looking at his past through the wrong end of a telescope. The writing doesn't convey the impression that the author is revisiting his thoughts and feelings directly but remotely via the ability of a sound journalistic technique and the knowledge that he would have little difficulty getting it published. Job done.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Mildly entertaining
It's an ok, mildly entertaining read, but not much emotional depth to it. The editing was pretty poor, with a number of examples where the same snippet of information was used... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Bookworm

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor
This book is neither a useful collection of information about life in Spain nor a gripping novel. There's no real plot and the book reads more like a diary with no end in sight... Read more
Published on 3 Jan 2007 by Lumi Hamain

4.0 out of 5 stars Very readable and true to life
Contrary to my expectations, I really enjoyed this book and in fact I enjoyed it rather more than I did similar Spanish experience books like Driving over Lemons. Read more
Published on 16 Mar 2006 by senorital

1.0 out of 5 stars I tried to finish it........ but couldnt
This spanish adventure manufactured with the sole purpose of producing a book, and not a very good one at that. Read more
Published on 28 Jan 2004 by mr k claydon

2.0 out of 5 stars Wheres the spanish culture?
I bought Spanish Lessons as i have a fascination with Spanish Culture hoping to gain an insight into Spanish life before i visit it. Sorry to say i was dissapointed. Read more
Published on 17 Dec 2002

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a great book but effective!
I have to agree with many of the other reviewers - this does not compare with books like Extra Virgin or even Snowball Oranges for appeal and comes nowhere near Driving over... Read more
Published on 14 Jul 2002 by L. Day

3.0 out of 5 stars Heart not quite in it
Lambert writes with an air of arrogance, gives few insights into Spanish life and generally gives the impression that he is attempting to conquer rather than integrate. Read more
Published on 10 Oct 2001

2.0 out of 5 stars Midly entertaining but lacks in any substance.
Whilst the book is somewhat amusing it does not live up to its description. If you are buying the book to find out about someone tackling life in Spain as a newcomer this book... Read more
Published on 10 Aug 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars Charming
I bought this book on a whim, and didn't expect to enjoy it. I was delightfully surprised. This book is a treat, and I was sorry to see it come to an end. Read more
Published on 27 Jul 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant overall view of Spanish life with great humour.
Spanish Lessons by Derek Lambert

Brilliant! This book not only succeeds in what it sets out to do - to show how integration into a foreign culture can be achieved, without... Read more

Published on 20 Jul 2001 by books@kingmere.demon.co.uk

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject















i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.