Home Maid Spanish, by Margaret Storm and ElsieGinnett (Crown, Inc.). Paper, $5.95 HAVING TROUBLE COMMUNICATING with your Spanish-speaking household help? Fear not, busy plutocrats, a slim volume of helpful phrases called Home Maid Spanish will equip you with many basic household commands without the burden of learning an entire new language. Written some 30 years ago, this little gem retains its usefulness to today's economic elite by getting right down to basics. You won't find any of those pesky grammar rules or culture lessons complicating today's politically correct textbooks in this utilitarian volume--Home Maid Spanish is mostly commands. After some introductory pronunciation and everyday expressions, the book begins with the "First Day," in which employers learn how to ask in Spanish: "Do you have a telephone?" and "Will you live in?" We then move through the Living Room ("Wax and polish the piano, but do not wax the keys," and "Please be careful when you handle it"), the Bedroom ("Make the bed, and vacuum the drapes") and the Kitchen. If you still wrap your garbage in newspaper, now you can command somebody else to do it in Spanish. You can also tell your maid when you like dinner served. It's not all commands, though. You learn to ask questions, too: "Have you ever shopped in a supermarket?" and "Will you cook a Mexican dinner for us sometime?" After a day of such warm, personal interactions, what maid wouldn't feel comfortable when you command: "Make yourself at home." The only phrase lacking: "I'm not paying your social security taxes until I receive a political appointment."

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