Ah Spanish / English Dict CL

I first used this dictionary in my undergraduate Intensive Spanish class before spending a year in Spain and found it amazingly helpful. It was the first dictionary I encountered that showed me the challenge of communicating ideas between the two languages. With all the dictionaries I've used as a student for 16 years and teacher for 2 and 1/2 years, this is the best English/Spanish dictionary I've encountered. You can't go wrong with it.

The American Heritage Spanish Dictionary is an exceptional book for those interested in the words used in the Americas. Highly Recomended! So good that I even purchased the electronic version for my Palm Treo. Other dictionaries that are as good is the "Larousse" Dictionary. But then agian this dictionary is based on the "Larousse" spanish dictionay.

When I want to buy a product I research it a great deal and that I did with the American Heritage Spanish Dictionary, 2nd Edition (Hardcover). I've had it for 3 days and it is indispensible if you want to learn Latin American Spanish, which most so-called good dictionaries do not concentrate on at all! It even had mofongo, a dish from the Dominican Republic, listed! All the other dictionaries I've had didn't even list foods, much less specialities from various Latin American countries. Furthermore, the print is easy on the eyes and the covers appear strong, unlike the HarperCollins, which some people have complained about. My advice: Get it (the hardcover version). It is so worth the price.

As a professional Spanish translator, I do not find myself referring to this dictionary much, preferring instead the world's current best SpanishEnglish dictionary, The HarperCollins Spanish Unabridged Dictionary, which is twice as heavy, twice as comprehensive, and often twice the price of this one. Still, for anyone who is not a professional translator, who does not want to cart around a dictionary weighing well over six pounds (this one weighs just under three), or who just wants the best dictionary possible on a budget, the American Heritage Spanish Dictionary is the best value out there.* It is a better dictionary even than the Oxford Spanish Dictionary for the accuracy, precision, and variety of its translations. Unlike many of the Spanish dictionaries on the market, such as the Oxford and the HarperCollins, which are skewed toward European English and Spanish, the American Heritage emphasizes North-American English and Latin-American Spanish. Extremely well-edited, clear, and easy to use, it also has an excellent "Notes on Grammar and Usage" section. There are fewer usage examples in its entries than in the HarperCollins or the Oxford, but it very efficiently and clearly packs a lot of dictionary into a small volume. Here, by way of example, is the entry for the word "leaf" (minus the pronunciations of "leaf" and "leaves," which use special characters I cannot type here): leaf - I. s. [pl. leaves] BOT. hoja; (foliage) follaje m., hojas; (sheet of paper) hoja; (page) página; (folio) folio; (sheet of metal) lámina; (of table, door, shutter) hoja; AUTO. hoja * gold l. = pan de oro * in l. = con hojas * l. tobacco = tabaco en rama * to shake like a l. = temblar como un azogado * to turn over a new l. = empezar una nueva vida, hacer borrón y cuenta nueva II. intr. BOT. echar hojas -tr. hojear * to l. through = hojear Where a lesser dictionary might say "leaf - hoja; follaje, hojas; página; folio; lámina" and send you scurrying to the Spanish side to find out which of these translations fits the particular meaning you want, the AH saves you valuable time by clearly differentiating, within its English entry, which translation refers to leaves of trees, which to leaves of paper, and which to leaves of metal. Notice also that in cases where the gender of the Spanish word might not be clear (such as "follaje" here), or might be different from what one would normally expect (such as "problema," for example), the AH includes an indication of the gender (m. or f.) within the English entry, unlike other dictionaries which, again, would force you to take the time to look up "follaje" or "problema" on the Spanish side to find this information. This fault is especially a problem with words like "problema" or "mano" where most students would not even think to take this extra step, thinking (incorrectly) that they already could tell the word's gender from its final vowel. This second (2001) edition brings this dictionary more up to date by adding m

The American Heritage Spanish Dictionary is one of the very few books for which I actively seek out opportunities to recommend it. It does what all bilingual dictionaries should do, but what many do not do at all and the rest do not do well. It allows the user to distinguish among all the possible translations of the word without having to flip back and forth between the English and Spanish sides, looking up the back-translation of each possibility. Whereas some dictionaries might define "leaf" as "hoja; hoja, página; folio; lámina," sending you back to the Spanish side to find out which one you wanted, the American Heritage definition of "leaf" looks more like this: BOT. hoja; (foliage) follaje m, hojas; (sheet of paper) hoja; (page) página; (folio) folio; (sheet of metal) lámina; (of table, door, shutter) hoja; . . .making it much easier to find the proper translation quickly. The American Heritage Spanish Dictionary is also one of the few to emphasize American English and Latin American Spanish. It also gives the gender of words even on the English side in cases where the gender is not obvious. The main shortcomings I have encountered are that on occasion a word will appear on one side but not the other and that, because it was published in 1986, it obviously lacks some of the computer terms which had not come into widespread use by then. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this dictionary above the other dozen or so on the market for anyone who needs a well-designed and easier-to-use tool for translating between English and Spanish.