Customer Reviews

Larousse Unabridged Dictionary: Spanish-English / English-Spanish (Spanish Edition)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

My Master's thesis was a review and rating of large Spanish-English dictionaries. Since then, I have conducted follow-up studies to keep up with the market.

I find the leaders in the field to be Collins (HarperCollins), Larousse, and Oxford. Each publisher appears to be trying to one-up the others with the newest and best edition. The real winner is the consumer. My joint review of these three dictionaries is found here and duplicated under both of its competitors.

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 says nothing about the value of the words chosen. Likewise, ignore the word "unabridged" in the title. No work is truly unabridged except the monumental monolingual Oxford English Dictionary.

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. The Collins, Larousse, and Oxford are all excellent in this respect, presenting a wealth of practical information to guide users through the semantic and syntactic complexities.

The second factor is organization, which is important in large desk dictionaries. In an entry for a complex word like "get," a bad dictionary may force users to lose time searching for their translation through unbroken columns that can extend for more than a page. This was a problem--now corrected--in previous versions of the large Larousse dictionary. Today, the current editions of the Larousse, Collins and Oxford use similar organization schemes, dividing long entries by meaning into well-titled paragraphs. This scheme makes these dictionaries a joy to use.

Third, 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." Larousse, Collins and Oxford are leaders in this respect; their frequent revisions are more than mere window dressing and do a creditable job of covering the most recent additions to the language.

Fourth, 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. All three dictionaries get it right, giving stylistic equivalents for translations as well as clear advice to the user.

One complaint about the Collins is that it 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.

Oxford and Collins contain excellent "language in use" sections which give formulas for language functions such as asking for information, agreeing, disagreeing, etc., as well as formulas for letters and documents.

The bottom line on large dictionaries? Avoid Vox, Velasquez, and Cassell's. Simon & Schuster's may serve as part of a collection but is unsuitable as a user's only dictionary. I will report on the large Harrap's when I examine it, but my opinion of their other dictionaries is quite favorable. While not perfect, Collins, Oxford, and Larousse are the best large Spanish-English dictionaries I have examined. Except as noted here, most users would be well served by any of the three.

Very good reference. Large, authoritative appeal. It's a friggin tome. Unabridged, so there are many many slang terms and colloquialisms, and some arcane and useless ones as well. Es un muy gran diccionario.

Positivos:
1) Unabridged. There has not yet been a word I couldn't find.

2) Diverse. Includes scores of common phrases and usage, which I like because it's helpful to understand how the words are used, and the nuances of usage between languages.

3) Informative. The added sections provide a lot of cultural background, etymology, and atlas-type data that is interesting and sometimes useful.

Negativos:
1) Verbose. Phrases can be difficult to find, because there are so many, but that's a problem of the language and not the dictionary. It can be difficult to find the phrase you want, but with patience, I've found it every time.

2) Unwieldy. Don't purchase if you're looking for something to bring with you to class. I made that mistake. A smaller, cheaper paper back would be a better option for something to keep in your bag.

I was excited to receive my Laurousse Unabridged Spanish-English Dictionary. The edition I received, however, was missing pages 285-300. 'Don't know if this glitch is common, but I'd advise other buyers to flip through pages to make sure they have a complete book. As a translator, I'm looking forward to receiving a complete tome -- and it certainly is an exhaustive work and not for carrying around with you!

I just purchased this dictionary at the beginning of the month, but unfortunately I had to return it back to Amazon for the second time. I had used previous editions of this dictionary while doing professional translations and now that I am freelancing, decided to get the latest edition to assist me with my projects. I was impressed to see how much the dictionary has improved over the years both in terms of content, layout and overall presentation and usefulness. In that respect, this dictionary deserves 4 or 5 stars. However, the first time my order was fulfilled, I went through every single page of the dictionary to make sure there were no missing pages (see earlier reviews from other users), as I did not want any unpleasant surprises later on. This proved to be a wise decision. Although there were no missing pages in either copy, both were defective. It seems that there is a printing problem with this edition, as several pages in the Spanish section of the dictionary were smudged with the printer's ink, thus rendering the text illegible. As I've indicated, this happened in the original as well as the replacement copy Amazon sent me. Because of this oversight or disregard for quality control by the publishing company I cannot recommend the purchase of this dictonary. Maybe there are good copies of this edition out there, but I am not taking any more chances and will be purchasing the Oxford Spanish Dictionary instead, which does not seem to have the same quality control or printing issues. ** By the way, I meant to give this review only 2 stars, not five! **

This is the best Spanish-English dictionary I have ever seen. I bought it to help me translate the user interface of a computer program from English to Spanish and was pleasantly surprised by the large number of specialized entries related to information processing. Other technical and scientific disciplines are likewise well represented.

I especially appreciate the contextual information given with most entries. If a word is usually accompanied by a specific preposition, that preposition is given, so that, for example, we see that «in love with» is «enamorado(a) de». To help the user understand the different meanings of a word, complete phrases are translated where needed. Most entries have several such translations, with idiomatic usage well represented.

There is a 14-page section of verb tables, encompassing the three regular conjugations and 72 other model forms, each keyed with a number that is used in the Spanish-English section of the dictionary, to show which pattern is used for a particular verb. Forms other than first-person singular are not generally shown, nor are some of the compound tenses, but that information is usually available in first-year Spanish grammar texts and in books such as Gordon & Stillman's Big Red Book of Spanish Verbs.

No dictionary is perfect. This one contains a few omissions, e.g., where a technical term was translated from Spanish to English but not from English to Spanish, or a common English usage is not translated. I very occasionally wish for even more examples, especially when I am not sure which preposition to use. I was slightly disappointed to see an English example with a misplaced modifier. These are trivial complaints and in no way detract from the value of this magnificent dictionary.

The only disadvantage, if you can call it that, is that this dictionary, at 7.1 pounds (3.2 kg), is not easily portable. However, I would soon be frustrated with a dictionary that is any less comprehensive. I hope this one is some day released in PDA form, so that I can carry it in my Treo.

Yes, I read the previous reviews on missing pages and hope that I would not have the same problem. Unfortunately, I have discovered some missing pages. In my short time, I have discovered pages 61 to 76 of the English-Spanish section to be missing. Don't know what else is missing. I guess I will find out.

Aside from the missing pages, it is by its very nature very comprehensive (that's why I bought it), and gives lots of different examples for most of the words. If not for the missing pages, I would recommend it as a desk reference copy (obviously not for travel). Who can I complain to about the missing pages?

I might agree with Brook A. Baston's review of the Larousse Unabridged Dictionary regarding the vulgar and depraved words and expressions in this book if it was intended only to be used by young students, to whom I would recommend the more concise dictionary. However, the inclusion of these vulgar words and expression, which are a part of the Spanish and English languages, are frequently used in a court of law as well as in depositions, especially in criminal cases, which the court interpreters are duty-bound to render at the same social/language registry. As unpleasant as it may be to the interpreter, it is imperative to the legal case that the interpreter help the judge and jury perceive the complete reality of what is said, and reproduce the exact impression as if the speaker were speaking in English.

If a rape victim is asked to say what her assailant told her during the rape and she replied in English, the jury would receive the accurate impact of the words the rapist used. However, when interpreting from Spanish to English, if the interpreter replaces these words with those of a higher register, for example says, "I going to copulate with you," the impact received by the jurors would be different from the words used by the victim, and thus run a serious risk of being significantly inaccurate.

If the rapist spoke using vulgarities during the rape, but the interpreter "cleaned it up," in the interpretation, it could very well indicate that the rapist had to be an educated person when in reality he is uneducated and illiterate. This would not do justice to the case, could be very misleading, and could very well influence the outcome of the trial, with the prosecutor declaring a mistrial, or even worse, acquitting a guilty man and letting him go free into society to commit more crimes. Thus, the Spanish-speaking victim would not have an equal opportunity for a fair trial as an English speaker. The most unpleasant part of the interpreter's job is to have to use vulgarity during a trial, but it is imperative.

Therefore, an advanced dictionary such as the Larousse Unabridged Dictionary: Spanish-English/English-Spanish is an essential tool for the interpreter and translators. It is also an excellent tool for linguists and anyone else who has an interest in learning these languages in their totality, which would then have to include all language registers. For those persons who do not wish to be exposed to the vulgarity but still want an advanced dictionary, I highly recommend that they not look up the words that may be offensive to them.

Our teacher will sometimes look up a word in this dictionary, and teach an entire lesson based on the exhaustive, detailed entry. A lot of fun, and very comprehensive.

I read about the dictionary having problems with missing pages. I just received mine and was dissapointed: it has missing pages too, the quality control is poor. Think twice before buying this dictionary, look elsewhere...

I needed a great Spanish/English dictionary for my college Spanish course and this one was FANTASTIC! It had just about everything I could have needed for my class.

Keep in mind this book is HUGE so it is not something you would want to carry back and forth to class, but as a desk reference it is the best.