28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Webster's New World Spanish Dictionary, October 5, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Webster's New World Spanish Dictionary: Spanish/English English/Spanish (Paperback)
I have used this dictionary continuously for nearly four years. My copy has now fallen apart, and is difficult to use. I recently purchased a similar dictionary by Oxford because my bookstore did not carry the Webster's, and find it doesn't even come close to fulfilling my needs as does the Webster's. Rarely am I unable to find the word for which I am searching: also, the entries give clear grammatical examples of the word's use, related idioms, etc. I have a desktop hardbound dictionary as backup, but the Webster's answers most questions for the average user.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The most useful Spanish reference book I own, May 1, 2001
This review is from: Webster's New World Spanish Dictionary: Spanish/English English/Spanish (Paperback)
This is by far the best Spanish-English dictionary I have ever used. It is the only dictionary I brought with me for my semester in Spain - I live with a Spanish family, and all my classes and homework are in Spanish! I previously owned an American Heritage Spanish/English dictionary, but I hated it so much that I went out and on the recommendation of a friend, spent [$] on Webster's New World pocket edition Spanish/English dictionary, which is slightly different than the one listed here (mine has an orange cover, only 90,000 words, only 611 pages, and is from 1991). I have never regretted it. The book has an easy to read font, relatively small size and lightweight, and includes nearly every word I have looked up, including (surprisingly) some random, very specific art terms.
Each entry has the word in bold, the pronunciation in English, the part of speech for each definition, the numerous definitions, phrases to clarify each use, phrases that include the word (under the entry for "house," you can find the words for "house plant"), and colloquial phrases. There is a prounonciation guide at the beginning of the book, which when reviewed should provide adequate direction for any beginning Spanish speaker. The phrases the dictionary provides are actually used by native Spanish speakers, and are not archaic ridiculous sentences that no one uses. If the phrase is out of date, it says so. Slang words and swears ("tacos") are also included, though like some other words, are sometimes not on both sides of the dictionary. For example, if you look up the word "idiot," it provides "idiota" y "tonto." However, the Spanish definition of the English word does include the also commonly used "gilípollas," which also means idiot. "Gilípollas" is defined on the Spanish side of the dictionary. I have found this to be true for some other words as well. This is a minor fault, especially considering it is the pocket edition.
I have never felt as though I compromised my Spanish by buying only the pocket edition. On the contrary, I think if I had bought the "college edition," I would have to search through words I would never use just to find the words I want, not to mention the college edition is too big to carry anywhere! I have also been known to sit down for an hour and literally read my dictionary because the phrases it provides are so useful. My fellow exchange students are all jealous of my dictionary; mine is the one we rely on when writing critiques of Spanish literature, it provides the most accurate translations in my vocab class, in grammer class I am rarely chastised for literally translating english to spanish because the phrases provided are so accurate. Webster's New World Spanish Dictionary Pocket Edition will always be a part of my Spanish library. I would highly suggest it to anyone who wants to complement and improve their own Spanish.
Note: This dictionary was not quite as useful in Nicaragua as it was in Spain, but then again, my spanish had already improved so much that maybe I just didn't need it as much! (June 2003)
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent dictionary, December 27, 2000
This review is from: Webster's New World Spanish Dictionary: Spanish/English English/Spanish (Paperback)
Since I've been majoring in Spanish literture for more than five years, I've been using so many diffenent kinds of dictionaries to compare and understand the right meaning of the words and the expressions. Now I just can say Webster's was the best. The contents are imcomparable. It's just excellent. The only thing I want to say is the paper. This is the third time that i bought this dictionary. The copy falls aparts easily I think(or maybe it's just because of my habit) Anyway for average users webster's will give all the answers. (and Spanish doesn't need pronounciation signs)
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