Larousse Student Dictionary: Spanish-Englsih English-Spanish

Everything promised in the ads and reviews I read on this reference book is true. I love the highlighted entries and the illustrations. My students (adult ESL learners) love them, too! It's a great starter dictionary for English or Spanish. Some of the entries are brilliant - look under the entry for the word "it". This book goes beyond the definitions and succinctly explains the differences between the two languages of the common usages of individual words. I highly recommend this for use in the classroom.

I used this book while taking a course in Spanish at my church. It really helped. I like the idea of using sentences instead of just the usual word explanations found in ordinary dictionaries. I highly recommend this to beginners.

My middle schooler really likes and uses this dictionary. The format is more "student friendly" than my Spanish dictionaries. She finds the words she needs and the explanations are concise and the pictures entertaining.

very good photos and definitions. Perfect for 1st or 2nd year spanish students.

My Master's thesis was a review and rating of Spanish-English dictionaries. I find this dictionary, like all the other Larousse 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. Larousse 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." Larousse is good 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, Larousse is a dictionary you would certainly be pleased with.