The 10 Best Spanish Textbooks

Living Language Complete Edition (about $28) is a program that furnishes you with multiple learning tools, including 3 workbooks with 9 accompanying CDs. It starts with beginner material and works its way to advanced concepts, so you'll finish with a thorough grounding.

Whether you're planning to head abroad, have made a bilingual acquaintance, or simply want to quickly pick up a few key terms, the Easy Phrase Book is sure to be beneficial for you. It's a solid reference that boasts over 700 conveniently-organized, everyday expressions.

Conjugation can be one of the trickiest aspects of mastering a dialect, which is where Barron's 501 Verbs is helpful. It arranges hundreds of the most commonly-used verbs in alphabetical order, and each one has its own page and is set alongside all 15 tenses and moods.

Madrigal's Magic Key (about $11) eschews rote memorization in favor of an unconventional approach that has students learning verbs in the past tense before they encounter the infinitive. This is because the author wants to emphasize storytelling, which is naturally more engaging.

Packed with 400 engaging exercises complete with immersive instructions written in the language, The Ultimate Review and Practice (around $12) is a total grammar study program intended for the intermediate level. It's also supplemented with an array of bonus digital content.

If you're just starting out but have some familiarity with the language, then Easy Spanish Step-By-Step will prove instructive. Each activity is short, to the point, and clearly explained, but it can be a pain to check your answers since the key is in the back of the book.

Complete Grammar (about $10) is a comprehensive guide to practical concepts that avoids overwhelming the reader with confusing and unnecessary technicalities. You'll benefit from a variety of activity formats, including multiple choice questions and creative writing.

Short Stories Volume One (about $10) is a collection of eight compelling accounts that fall within a handful of genres, including crime, science fiction, and fantasy. They're designed to be unconventional and enjoyable, so you'll hardly realize you're studying when you read them.

Whether you're homeschooling a young teenager or looking for something to supplement your own studies, Middle/High School (about $9) is a thorough resource that's appropriate for students as well as any adult who's just breaking into the subject.

See It & Say It (about $11) is as simple as it gets, using a plethora of illustrations to introduce new vocabulary and facilitate fast absorption. It's rife with crystal clear commentary and useful reminders, not to mention plenty of translation tasks and questions to answer.