Collins Robert French College Dictionary, 4e

This dictionary has every word possible (well, a good amount anyway). lol. Definetly a great purchase.

I think this is the best single-volume, bilingual dictionary available for French and English. However, one word of warning, if you already own the sixth edition of this work, do not think you're getting much in purchasing the seventh. Every section has an identical number of pages. Really, the only updates you're getting (other than corrections) are a few words inserted here and there--not enough to change the total page count of any particular section. For instance, I found the new terms "weblog" and "webmail" (although "blog" was not included) in comparing one page between the sixth and seventh editions. So if you already own the sixth edition, realize that you will get very little more in upgrading to the seventh. For this reason, I'm thinking of returning it. One nice change, however, is that the seventh edition does not have the fairly useless thumb index and has a plain edge. That being said, in comparison with the Larousse and Harrap's single-volume, bilingual dictionaries, I definitely think this one is the richest in terms of defining real usage. I keep Larousse as a backup and have dispensed with my Harrap's all together.

This dictionary is, in my opinion, essential for the student or individual wishing to continue their study of the French language. Unlike traditional French-English dictionaries, it provides a range of definitions for terms, including oft-used combinations and contexts, and defines terms in their pronominal sense, if necessary. I find it to be indespensible in my study, and have found it recommended as the dicionary to purchase from every instructor in every (undergrad) course at my university.I am giving this book only 4 stars because while I believe it to be on par with the best translation dictionary one can buy, it, of course, does not compare to the likes of Le Petit Robert, which is much more comprehensive and inclusive of French terms. This is however, because it does not include English translation. Regardless, for one who speaks English, or even one who speaks French, this will likely be the only dictionary necessary to translate unfamiliar words.

Nicely laid out, this dictionary is complete and well-assembled. The middle section that helps with cultural differences is especially nice. My biggest complaint is that they use the new pronunciation alphabet, wherein different letters have a specific sound, as opposed to the tradition lines and curves above vowels that so many of us have learned in grammar school.

As an AP French teacher, I research a great deal before I ask my students to buy a dictionary. My bible from my years as a college French major to even now as a teacher has been the unabridged Collins-Robert French English dictionary, with its nuanced entries--entries which actually teach the reader how to differentiate between different usages of words. (For it is in only this that a foreign language dictionary can truly have any value...)This abridged version still tackles the nuance problem to an admirable degree, while maintaining an affordable, portable sensibility. It's for this reason that I ask my students to buy it.The Larousse is still good--my colleague swears by it, and "googol" is in the unabridged version while it's not in the Collins-Robert... but aesthetically, intuitively, and--most especially--in terms of the phrases you really want to translate, the Collins-Robert covers more interesting ground. Buy this book, and if you have a Palm Pilot or equivalent with enough memory, buy the Palm version too.