One of the best parts of having a blog, I think, is that if I get stuck on almost ANY topic, there is SOMEONE who will know the answer.
William is taking Spanish 1 this year, and he likes it. He just added “Spanish-English Dictionary” to his wish list, probably not realizing that’s the sort of thing I would have bought him for free. Ha ha, sucker.
What I am wondering is if anyone can recommend a good one. I emailed his Spanish teacher and she recommended the Merriam Webster dictionary. I tried reading the reviews on that one and a couple of alternatives, and it got exhausting: everything from “THIS IS THE ONLY DICTIONARY YOU WILL EVER NEED” to “THIS IS THE WORST POSSIBLE CHOICE,” all on the same book.
William added three clarifying remarks to his request; he wants the dictionary to have:
(1) direct translation
(2) synonyms/antonyms
(3) sample sentences
I don’t know if those are reasonable requests or not. Ack, so last-minute.
The one I used for French and which I loved was Larousse. I see they have a Spanish one as well. That is likely what will be used in college, if he pursues the language that far. A great companion book is a “500 verbs” book, which will include conjugations (the dictionary will not).
I was just coming to say that a “500 verbs” book is a fantastic companion gift–I bought mine for college and wish I would’ve gotten it far sooner! I don’t have a particular dictionary I favor, but I do favor Barron’s 501 Spanish Verbs, so maybe Barron’s dictionary would also be a good choice? I would say to buy a regular-size dictionary, even if that means going secondhand, rather than a “pocket” dictionary. I went with a pocket dictionary in high school due to cost and drove myself crazy trying to read tiny print in a foreign language. Bad idea.
My advice is somewhat dated, but when I first started learning Spanish, I was a big fan of the Collins dictionary (the equivalent of the Collins-Robert for French). The version I had (waaaaay back when) also had verbs conjugated in the centre section, which is very helpful because verbs are a bitch in Spanish (and French too, for that matter). HTH
Buena suerte !
I agree with the teacher’s recommendation of Merriam-Webster because it focuses on Latin American Spanish, while some of the others are still a little too focused on Spain to be very useful in the US. I don’t think it has antonyms, but I’m pretty sure it has everything else he requested.
When he has computer access, I recommend wordreference.com, which combines several dictionaries and also has forums explaining pretty much anything that’s too complicated to understand from a simple dictionary entry.
Wordreference.com is great! (I am a French professor and use it frequently.) It’s a very good online dictionary, and the forums are fantastic for idioms, proverbs, and things like “What kinds of expressions do (people from x culture) use in a condolence letter?” or “How would I say ‘this is pure bull hockey’ in French?”
This isn’t relevant to your question. The Spanish professors here recommend the Larousse or the Collins to their students. As JudithNYC says, Spanish dictionaries are uniform and if you need to know a different usage for a different country, they’ll tell you.
Another vote for a verb section. That was the part I flipped to all the time – all the verb forms. I used it ~100x more than the actually dictionary part.
Also another vote for non-pocket sized. Mine was large-ish paperback size (think Harry Potter trade paperback). The pocket one I hated. I’m looking on Amazon right now to see if I see the brand name, I can picture the cover in my head but can’t recall the name. Will update if I find it.
Can’t find it. Perhaps they’ve changed cover design in the *cough* years since I graduated from college.
Another commenter made me think, though, that Spain-Spanish and Mexico-Spanish are kind of different. Did the teacher say which they are doing? That might be nice to know.
Now I’m just making it worse. So sorry. :)
I was a Spanish major in college and the Larousse dictionary was the recommended dictionary. However, as suggested above, if he is learning Latin American Spanish he might want something else.
I am native Spanish speaker, BA in Spanish Education and have taught Spanish to both native speakers in my country and as a second language in New York City. I want to clarify that there are 20 Spanish speaking countries and even though there are differences, Spanish-English dictionaries are uniform and where there are differences any good dictionary will give you the different usages (example: knave (as in cards): jota, Spain: sota. Sorry, that’s the first one that came to mind and was able to look up in my dictionary.)
As for my preference in dictionaries: I am partial to the Vox Compact Spanish and English Dictionary. My old copy (1997) has the usual conjugation section plus guides on pronunciation, geographical names, etc AND a section on phrases and idioms. That last section is my favorite part. I
Vox also has the college student and student dictionary versions but I am not familiar with those. I imagine they are larger (?)
Good luck in choosing the right dictionary for your son and to William in his studies. If I may say so, Spanish is a beautiful language. ;)
I was a French major, not Spanish, but another vote for a full sizer honker of a dictionary rather than the pocket-sized ones, which just end up being frustrating.
(Also, THANK YOU for buying this for him when requested… My mom had this weird thing where a dictionary “wasn’t a good gift” so she wouldn’t buy me one for Christmas in HS, despite it being repeatedly what I asked for. And then she didn’t buy it for me as a non-xmas gift either. So I had to use the stupid pocket dictionary all through HS until I got to college and earned money and bought my own dang big honker one.)
I would get him the one his teacher suggested, if only because this teacher will know its idiosynchrous nature.
Somehow, our house has three Spanish-English dictionaries. Let me see how they stack up to William’s request.
The Harper Collins dictionary has direct translation, but no synonyms or antonyms. The sample sentences are usually for situations where words have a specific meaning within a phrase: ropa is clothing, but ropa de cama is bed linen. It has a tiny section on irregular verbs and specific usages.
The Merriam Webster dictionary has direct translation, but no synonyms or antonyms; there are a lot fewer examples where they share word meaning within a phrase than the Harper Collins. There’s a longish reference section on irregular verbs, abbreviation meanings, and so forth.
The University of Chicago Spanish dictionary has direct translation, no synonyms or antonyms, but a lot of examples where they share word meaning within a phrase. There’s also a great reference section, and a long section on phrases that are idiomatic.
The first two are pocket-sized or purse sized, and I stuff them into my purse when I’m hanging out with my in-laws and am trying to keep up with the conversation. They’re very good and solid books for that. I used to use the University of Chicago dictionary a lot when I was reading and writing, but now there is 1.) Google translate and 2.) Kindle that lets you look up word meanings in text. (Magic) I have a nostalgic preference for the University of Chicago dictionary, but really one’s as good as the other.