Looking for books for independent study?

Summer break is coming up, and it's not too early to start thinking about how you're going to practice once classes finish.

If you're looking for books that will help you develop (or keep) your skills this summer, let me suggest the REAL series of books that have been published by Cambridge University Press. These books focus on one specific goal (for example, reading or listening) and they're broken down into specific units that teach you how to do specific things, like getting a refund in a store or creating a simple presentation. We've used these texts a lot in our Stop Spanglish classes this year, and a couple of students have decided to buy their own copies of the texts because they like them so much.

Here's an example of one of the Real Writing books that we've used.

Most of the English-language bookstores in Madrid, such as Booksellers and Pasajes carry them (though, as always, the best deals can usually be found on Amazon.)