HarperCollins Beginner's Spanish Dictionary: The Essential Dictionary From the First Class to the Final Exam

By HarperCollins

Book Overview

The dictionary is designed to be easy to read, easy to use, and easy to understand. The comprehensive entries highlight key translations, all essential set expressions and have clear, helpful examples to show how to best use the translation. Easy To Read, Easy To Use Easy To Understand Ideal for school use and anyone starting to learn Spanish Clear, innovative color layout allows for maximum ease of use Unique games section that helps readers have fun while learning Special entries on Latin American life and culture Table of common Spanish verbs

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0062737546
• ISBN13: 9780062737540
• Release Date: September 2001
• Publisher: CollinsRef
• Length: 635 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 1.3" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

MORE THAN ADEQUATE

This is a good beginners dictionary. We use it for high school Spanish 1. There are still some words that are not in here so sometimes we have to use internet or library for back up for homework. Nevertheless what's needed for basic conversation and translations is here.

The best size/content spanish-english dictionary I've found.

I love this dictionary because it is small enough to keep in a backpack, but has enough content to be useful all by itself. It shows you how to conjugate regular -ar, -er, and -ir verbs with three model verbs, and then notifies you within the dictionary if verbs are irregular; if they are, they will be in the middle of the dictionary along with the model verbs mentioned earlier. All-in-all, it's excellent for College Spanish I, II, and probably III ane beyond, though I am only in Spanish I.

Spanish Teacher of 25 Years Recommends This Dictionary

By far this is the best and easiest dictionary for high school students to use. A self-instructional section at the beginning shows students how to use a billingual dictionary and look for the exact meaning of the word they wish to find. With other dictionaries, students have come up with very bizarre translations, but this dictionary will help them to catch the nuances that go with a language. I have several copies myself and have recommended it to all my students.

Excellent BEGINNER'S dictionary

Harper Collins has a long history of providing students of world languages with dictionaries that, in addition to being reasonably comprehensive, have the cleanest, most transparent design on the market, and combine those features with affordable prices. The new (2001) Beginner's Harper Collins is no exception. Although it is a reference likely meant for first- and second-year students, and therefore is NOT as comprehensive as more advanced learner's dictionaries may be, it seems quite sufficient for that level. The two-color design makes it easy to distinguish between keywords; each new meaning of the same word is underlined and begins on a new line. Explanations are clear, and provide not just basic meanings of words, but also usage patterns - a feature which is very helpful, and usually NOT found in similar, basic dictionaries. And so the English TO DEPEND is not only translated as Spanish DEPENDER, but also includes prepositional extention (DEPEND ON = DEPENDER DE), with an example (The price depends on the quality = El precio depende de la calidad); additional meanings and prepositional usage are explained through clear examples: You can depend on him = Puedes contar con él; DEPENDING ON in the sense of SEGÚN has not only an example (depending on the weather = según el tiempo que haga) but also a color-highlighted usage note (según has to be followed by a verb in the subjunctive). The authors had enough common sense (unlike those of some competing dictionaries) to list only the most usual, frequent meanings, leaving out confusing details. And so, commendably, TO REALIZE is simply rendered as DARSE CUENTA, without listing the existing, but misleading verb REALIZAR (correct, although in the sense TO FULFILL and not TO BECOME AWARE OF); an appropriate usage structure is given as well: to realize that = darse quenta de que, plus there is a sentence: Nos dimos cuenta de que algo iba mal. Usage notes scattered generously on the pages are a very helpful and unique feature; and so the entry for AN EAGLE not only gives ÁGUILA, but also highlights with a blue boxed background: "Although it's a feminine noun, remember that you use el and un with águila." Quite impressive in a BEGINNER'S dictionary! There is a good and sufficient, although brief intro. on how to use a dictionary, followed by a few useful check exercises. The reference part includes irregular verb charts, as well as sections on telephone, e-mail, traditional correspondence, numbers, dates and telling time, and a list of common false cognates ("falsos amigos"). In the text of the dictionary all irregular verbs are clearly marked with an *, although finding the conjugation may have been made easier if they also had a pattern number listed in the entry, without requiring a second search in the the irregular verb section. I can't resist mentioning the paper, although it may seem trivial to some readers: unlike so many pocket-size dictionaries, this one is printed on good, smooth, crisp whit

modern format

The two-color (black and blue) print, high-quality paper, and the not-too-much-on-one-page format of this dictionary are what set it apart from the abundance of other Spanish-English dictionaries available. Because it is a beginner's dictionary, it is not exhaustive (for example, the word "mestizo" is not included as an entry). At the same time, the editors have made an effort to include very practical definitions. Therefore, under "pin" in the English section, you will also find PIN (número de identificación personal), and along with "making out" an address or "making out" a check, you can learn how to express "making out" with somebody. The dictionary includes a special middle section with verb conjugations, false cognates, and fun word games (in both English and Spanish).Though perhaps primarily intended as a resource for English speakers learning Spanish, my Mexican students of the English language have found this dicionary to be a helpful tool.