Spanish books at B1 level

What B1 means, in numbers

24 lessons

Lesson 43 to lesson 66, all free.

7,887 words

Of B1 Spanish to read straight through, the story alone.

329 words a lesson

From 299 to 361. About ten minutes of reading each.

4 review units

One every five lessons, going back over the level.

The Spanish itself

• The present subjunctive in all four of its jobs: wanting, asking, feeling and doubting.
• The pluperfect, reported speech in the past, and conditions with si.
• Connectors and register: the words that hold a written paragraph together.
• Sentences long enough that you have to keep the beginning in your head to get to the end.

B1 is the ceiling of every graded reader here, all four novels included. Above it the adaptation stops and Cervantes starts: that is B2.

The 24 free lessons at B1

All free, with no sign-up. Each one is a chapter of Don Quixote rewritten at B1, with 4 review units among them.

• The princess MicomiconaLesson 43The present subjunctive: the form, and wanting
• The favour the princess asksLesson 44Asking, begging, ordering: the subjunctive of influence
• A night at the innLesson 45The subjunctive of emotion: me alegro de que
• The giant’s headLesson 46Doubt and denial: no creo que
• The reunion at the innLesson 47Negative orders, and addressing somebody as usted
• The battle of the wineskinsLesson 48The connectors that hold a story together
• Arms and lettersLesson 49Discourse markers and the formal register
• The captive of AlgiersLesson 50The pluperfect: what had already happened
• Zoraida’s lettersLesson 51Reported speech in the past
• The escape by seaLesson 52Si with the present: the condition that really can happen
• Basin or helmetLesson 53Agreeing and disagreeing
• The brawl at the innLesson 54Ponerse, volverse, hacerse, quedarse
• The cage on the ox cartLesson 55The passive with ser and a participle
• The knight back in bedLesson 56Periphrases: seguir, dejar de, volver a
• Their story is in printLesson 57Talking about books and what gets published
• The mistakes in the bookLesson 58Es raro que and the subjunctive
• Sancho and Teresa argueLesson 59Kitchen Spanish and proverbs
• The third sallyLesson 60Cuando plus the subjunctive
• Looking for Dulcinea’s palaceLesson 61El que sea: relative clauses in the subjunctive
• Three peasant girls on the roadLesson 62Lo bueno, lo peor, lo que
• The cart of the playersLesson 63Exclamations with qué
• The Knight of the MirrorsLesson 64Comparatives and superlatives
• The knight in the green coatLesson 65Ser and estar for describing a person
• The adventure of the lionsLesson 66The whole of B1 in one scene