After too many years I decided it was time to retire the well-thumbed Cassell's from my undergraduate days, and I'm glad I did.Carvajal's Pocket Oxford features modern word choices and intelligible definitions, in place of the quaint usages and ambiguous synonyms that used to keep me thumbing back and forth through the dictionary as though it was a thesaurus, trying to figure out which word was the right one for a given context. It offers ample pronunciation and grammatical cues for each entry, including details less sophisticated dictionaries leave out, such as the pronunciations of Spanish words which don't follow Spanish orthography (el "handicap" is pronounced /'xandicap/ not /an'dicap/) and distinctions between countable and uncountable nouns in English (you can pass "two rolls" across the table but usually not "two breads"). Where more explanation is required, it makes frequent use of sidebars (clothing measures, the rules for compound nouns, and the niceties of synonyms for "toilet"). It keeps up with new vocabulary ("el Internet") and includes ample coverage of European and American usage in both languages. Place names appear together with regular entries, not relegated to a gazeteer in the back. Clearly some real thought went into the usability of this dictionary.My one word of caution is that the word "pocket" doesn't really apply to this book any more; it's a little hefty for travel use. But at 80,000 entries it it complete enough to cover most needs without the overwhelming bulk of an unabridged dictionary. Pocket Oxford Spanish Dictionary
My Master's thesis was a review and rating of Spanish-English dictionaries. I find this dictionary, like all the other Oxford 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. Oxford 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." Oxford 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.
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, Oxford is a dictionary you would certainly be pleased with.
This dictionary (identical to the one sold in hard covers as the "Desk" dictionary of Spanish) is excellent within its limits. If compactness and simplicity of layout are your most important criteria (and you don't want a "baby" dictionary), then this may be the right choice for you.But if you want the most extensive coverage available in paperback, the Webster's New World Spanish Dictionary (ISBN 0139536477) has MANY more words and definitions, while still remaining compact enough in comparison to the big hardcovers. As someone who used the Oxford Pocket until I outgrew it and then moved on to the Webster's New World & have been delighted with its superiority, I can make this recommendation w/o reservation.
THIS IS A GOOD ONE. MANY SMALLER POCKET DICTIONARIES ARE WORTHLESS...THIS ONE JUST ABOUT ALWAYS HAS THE WORD I AM LOOKING FOR WITH GOOD SYNONYMS AND EXPLANATIONS. IT WILL FITIN A PURSE OR BACKPACK EASILY AND IS WELL WORTH ITS WEIGHT WITHTHE INSIGHT IT PROVIDES
I was rushing when I ordered this dictionary and didn't take the time to read the reviews - how can you put the word 'Pocket' on this monstrousity? - It's dimensions are 7 3/4" x 5" x 2". Can someone contact the publisher and get the name "Pocket" off the front of this book?!
This is not your regular Spanish/English dictionary, it's packed with a lot of features - I had to read the instructions at the beginning of the book to understand how the translations were structured. If you're heading to a Spanish-speaking country on vacation, this is NOT the dictionary to buy!
This dictionary is not at all meant to be carried around in the streets. It is big even for me, a birder who routinely travels with heavy bird identification guides.
In the middle of the dictionary there is a section on hispanic culture and another on anglo culture, which remind me of "Lonely Planet" guidebooks. These take more away from the efficiency of the book. When I am in, say, Uruguay, I will refer to my guidebook for that information.
The words I did not find while reading a short article were: mesurado, sosiego, and cabal. Also, I only found about 50% of the Mexican slang words I could think of.
The things I always wished I had in my dictionary while learning English (from French), a bilingual conversion table for those maddening units of measurements and a bilingual map of the world, were as usual absent. - Sc - Spanish - Learning Spanish - Dictionary'
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