Harper Collins Spanish Pocket Dictionary

By Collins and HarperCollins

Book Overview

The HarperCollins Pocket Spanish Dictionary offers quick, at-a-glance coverage targeted for students and travelers. The comprehensive entries provide a wealth of modern and idiomatic phrases not normally found in a dictionary this size. The special puzzle and word game supplement offers an entertaining way of improving dictionary skills.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060956607
• ISBN13: 9780060956608
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Collins Reference
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.0" x 4.3" x 1.5"

Customer Reviews

One of the better Spanish-English dictionaries

My Master's thesis was a review and rating of Spanish-English dictionaries. I find this dictionary, like all the other Collins dictionaries, to be a good choice. Here are a few of the factors which distinguish a good bilingual dictionary from a bad one. To begin with, ignore certain publishers' marketing ploys such as entry and translation counts. They say nothing about the value of the words chosen. The first valid factor to consider is lexicographic technique. A bad dictionary simply lists translations. Take, for example, the entry in the Cassell's Spanish Dictionary under the English headword loop: "lazo, gaza, nudo; ojal, presilla, alamar; anillo; recodo, comba, curva, vuelta," etc. For the English reader writing in Spanish, this is hopelessly inadequate, as the dictionary provides no clue as to which translation to use in which situation. Compare the treatment of the same word in the far superior American Heritage Spanish Dictionary. "(length of line) lazo; (coil) vuelta; (bend) curva; (circular path) vuelta, circuito; (fastener) presilla" etc. Here, the user is given glosses in the native language to assist in identifying the right word for the context. Example sentences are also a tremendous help. Collins is excellent in this respect, presenting good information to guide users through the semantic and syntactic complexities. Second, a good dictionary should maintain an up-to-date lexicon, including such cultural and technological additions to the language as "baby sitter," "hostile takeover," "software," "flash drive." Collins is a leader in this respect; its frequent revisions are more than mere window dressing and do a creditable job of covering the most recent additions to the language. Third, idioms, slang, and cusswords can present real problems to the language learner, and a dictionary needs to handle them in a clear and frank fashion. This dictionary gets it right, giving stylistic equivalents for translations as well as clear advice to the user. One complaint about Collins dictionaries is that they often presents Britishisms without labeling them as such. Revisions have only partially corrected the problem. For this reason, I would not recommend this dictionary to native Spanish speakers in the US. Be careful when you choose a bilingual dictionary, as some of the choices--Cassell's and Vox, for example--are downright terrible. The field of large dictionaries stays relatively static over time, and the best choices in it by far are Oxford, Collins, and Larousse. The field of small dictionaries, on the other hand, has many more players. While not the only good choice, Collins is a dictionary most users would be pleased with.

Easy to Use

It's everything I hoped it would be. I especially like the bold blue writing for the word titles, which makes finding definitions quick and easy.