Larousse Concise Dictionary: Spanish-English / English-Spanish

Based on a comment from a knowledgeable reviewer I considered the Oxford, Collins, and Larousse dictionaries. Many features of Oxford looked good but to my eyes, the font choices were not ideal, which hinders comprehension and retention for me, and I decided against Oxford for that reason. Others may have different opinions on fonts, so see what your eyes like. So I ordered Collins and Larousse, intending to choose just one. I've kept both. This review is really a comparison of the two.Collins gives the international phonetic pronunciations for both the Spanish and the English entries. Larousse gives them primarily for the English entries. Though they do add visual clutter in Collins I think they are useful and am not sure why Larousse doesn't give them for the Spanish words more often. If you are learning from a teacher you may not need them, but if you are studying on your own you may want them.The Collins has a complete summary of Spanish grammar, including irregular verbs. The Larousse just has a verb section.I find the Larousse much more readable than the Collins. The Collins has bright blue for the words you are looking up. It stands out, but the font is small for the headwords, the accents are easy to miss, and I actually find the all-black Larousse to be more readable. The headwords just jump out of the page at you, and though the typeface for the definitions is smaller in Larousse, there is more space between lines, which I find easier to navigate (you may have a different preference). It will be easier for me to catch the spelling and accents at a glance from the Larousse. (Yes, I am not a spring chicken.)Larousse gives more definitions or usage examples at one or two places where I compared. I think Larousse has more room for definitions since it gives less space to grammar.Both dictionaries alert you to slang and vulgarity.The Larousse system for linking a verb to its conjugation pattern saves you a step compared to Collins, as the Larousse gives a number right in the dictionary entry, keyed to the verb tables, while in Collins, you have to look up the verb on a separate list of verbs in order to find out which conjugation pattern to use for it. (However, the Collins verb tables are laid out in a more spacious and attractive way, and the Larousse tables give only some forms of the verbs, and give the verb tense names in Spanish.)So, I am keeping both--Larousse for the clear typography and easy-to-see accent marks, and more definitions and usage guidance; Collins for the grammar supplement and pronunciation help.

The Dictionary is Huge.I bought this for my teenager who's teacher recommended this for Spanish class.-Spanish to English-English to Spanishand another small section where it has numbers translated and other basic things to manage translating.The only thing I didn't like is that the book was a bit banged up from the shipping. Like its a paperback book and they SHIPPED IT IN A AMAZON BAG. so the pic is mainly to show the damage of the ends. these scuff marks were there when we opened the package. womp wompthe crease in the middle is from opening the dictionary.

This is a great dictionary! It has both Spanish and English translations as well as some helpful expressions. I only took a star off because when I received it, there was significant damage, namely the front cover was almost ripped off.

The book is very thick. Take a look at the photo comparing to an Apple mouse. Larousse is an old French dictionary company.After my daughter used it for a while, I will update this review. So far, it looks like it’s a very good price.

I am reviving my high school Spanish of 35 years ago and own six Spanish-English dictionaries, including the giant versions of the Oxford and the Harper-Collins. This one is the best. I keep it on the passenger seat of my car when listening to Spanish radio here in the San Francisco area. The text is a pleasingly readable font. The best part is the examples of usage of the words, in phrases, compound words, etc. These examples increase in number as each publisher's dictionary gets larger and larger. These phrases are key to understanding the many meanings and nuances of a word (in Spanish or English), and this dictionary is tops in this department. It never fails that when I look up a word in Spanish I start browsing a few more nearby definitions and just start reading the darned thing! Each Spanish verb is referred to one of the 81 verb conjugations conveniently placed at the end of the book. There's enough here in almost 1200 pages to keep you very busy. I'm tempted to splurge for the jumbo Larousse unabridged edition, but I have enough dictionaries. I think.

This is much easier to use than most. I have a few and with the exception of times when I need the "Diccionario de la Lengua Española" for rare words, this will be the one I use.

Very thorough, but it is such a large book, you really only can make good use of it at home.

I liked that it had up to date words.

Had to send back as it was too advance for my grandchild, well Great for some on a higher level

Simply the best SpanishDict there is.A must buy.I have been using this for while now and found it works very well

It's a dictionary, could be better but could be worst

Se trata de un diccionario-libro de tapa blanda, muy gastado, con el papel ennegrecido y de mal consultar. Mala compra.

very good for kids