Dónde está la biblioteca, part 3: Not here, apparently

[erinptah]

Previously: In search of the origin of the “dónde está la biblioteca” meme, I got my hands on a copy of Barron’s Spanish On The Go, 3rd edition (2004).

I have now tracked down a copy of the 1st edition, from 1992!

All of the “dónde…?” questions (five of them, across three sample dialogues) are the same. And the vocabulary list at the end of the booklet confirms “biblioteca” is not in here.

There was a moment when I wondered if Barron’s didn’t change anything at all, just reused exactly the same text in every re-release over the decades. Then I noticed, the restaurant recommendation in Dialogue 4.a is different. (Did they lose a sponsorship deal with the place from the 1992 version?)

They also updated the dialogues that have references to currency. The letter from 4.b that cost 75 pesetas in 1992, it’s 1.36 euros in 2004.

But yeah, as far as las bibliotecas go, it’s a dead end.

There are a bunch of other “learn Spanish” cassette tapes by different companies on eBay. Way too many for me to buy and inspect them all. I was willing to drop $20 to indulge this curiosity; I’m not blowing $200 on it. So this may be the end of the story.

(If you have any of these tapes on hand, and can confirm/deny whether your brand has the biblioteca line, please comment and let me know!)

Comments

[lb_lee]

I appreciate your devotion to this cause.