Customer Reviews

Bilingual Dictionary of Mexican Spanish (Spanish Edition)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book has proved its worth several times since I bought it. I think students of Mexican literature might find the most utility from it. Besides defining the words and providing an English equivalent for most of them, the dictionary illustrates usage with excerpts from newspaper articles, journals, mock conversations and works by authors such as Juan Rulfo and Carlos Fuentes. I would also like to thank Mr. Hamel for returning my phone call and answering my question about his other bilingual dictionary.

My only complaint with this book is that for the third edition, someone forgot to run the manuscript past a copy editor, and it shows. For example, under the entry for "totopos," you will find that the word means not "tortilla chips" but "tortilla ships." That was the funniest of several such booboos I've found just leafing through the book. Fortunately, those gaffes don't reflect on the quality of Mr. Hamel's research and scholarship. They are distracting, though.

This book is great for Mexican phrases and words. The only downside to it is that you have to know the Mexican word first. I use it in my Spanish class where my teacher is a Mexican. She uses it to explain words she uses that we don't understand when they are 'Mexican Spanish'. It is very helpful, however, I would like to see a complete Mexican Spanish/English, English/Mexican Spanish Dictionary.

Very basic dictionary for ... tourists maybe?. It's OK! I made a mistake when I thought it could serve my purposes. On the other hand shipping was great, came faster than expected and in excellent conditions.

Excellent resource for Spanish as it is really spoken, especially for those of us who live in the Southwest.