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Rating: 
Summary: One of the best dictionaries for beginners and students
Review: (By Edward Trimnell, author of "Why You Need a Foreign Language & How to Learn One," ISBN:1591133343)I own a lot of Spanish dictionaries, and this is one of my favorites. Although an advanced user of Spanish will need something a bit more extensive, this dictionary is perfect for those who are just starting out. This dictionary provides especially thorough coverage of the idioms and derivative uses of each word. For example, under the entry "plomo" (lead), the authors included the entry "gasolina sin plomo" (unleaded gas). Under the entry "plaza", you find "la plaza mayor" (the main square) and "una plaza de toros" (a bullring) While this may sound like a minor point, the inclusion of such items really benefits the beginner who is trying to build a functional Spanish vocabulary as soon as possible. The visual layout of the dictionary is also good. Blue lettering is used for main entries, and derivative entries are bulleted, so that they don't all run together (a common failing of many dictionaries).
Rating:
Summary: One of the best dictionaries for beginners and students
Review: (By Edward Trimnell, author of "Why You Need a Foreign Language & How to Learn One," ISBN:1591133343) I own a lot of Spanish dictionaries, and this is one of my favorites. Although an advanced user of Spanish will need something a bit more extensive, this dictionary is perfect for those who are just starting out. This dictionary provides especially thorough coverage of the idioms and derivative uses of each word. For example, under the entry "plomo" (lead), the authors included the entry "gasolina sin plomo" (unleaded gas). Under the entry "plaza", you find "la plaza mayor" (the main square) and "una plaza de toros" (a bullring) While this may sound like a minor point, the inclusion of such items really benefits the beginner who is trying to build a functional Spanish vocabulary as soon as possible. The visual layout of the dictionary is also good. Blue lettering is used for main entries, and derivative entries are bulleted, so that they don't all run together (a common failing of many dictionaries).
Rating: 
Summary: Spanish Teacher of 25 Years Recommends This Dictionary
Review: By far this is the best and easiest dictionary for high school students to use. A self-instructional section at the beginning shows students how to use a billingual dictionary and look for the exact meaning of the word they wish to find. With other dictionaries, students have come up with very bizarre translations, but this dictionary will help them to catch the nuances that go with a language. I have several copies myself and have recommended it to all my students.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent BEGINNER'S dictionary
Review: Harper Collins has a long history of providing students of world languages with dictionaries that, in addition to being reasonably comprehensive, have the cleanest, most transparent design on the market, and combine those features with affordable prices. The new (2001) Beginner's Harper Collins is no exception. Although it is a reference likely meant for first- and second-year students, and therefore is NOT as comprehensive as more advanced learner's dictionaries may be, it seems quite sufficient for that level. The two-color design makes it easy to distinguish between keywords; each new meaning of the same word is underlined and begins on a new line. Explanations are clear, and provide not just basic meanings of words, but also usage patterns - a feature which is very helpful, and usually NOT found in similar, basic dictionaries. And so the English TO DEPEND is not only translated as Spanish DEPENDER, but also includes prepositional extention (DEPEND ON = DEPENDER DE), with an example (The price depends on the quality = El precio depende de la calidad); additional meanings and prepositional usage are explained through clear examples: You can depend on him = Puedes contar con él; DEPENDING ON in the sense of SEGÚN has not only an example (depending on the weather = según el tiempo que haga) but also a color-highlighted usage note (según has to be followed by a verb in the subjunctive). The authors had enough common sense (unlike those of some competing dictionaries) to list only the most usual, frequent meanings, leaving out confusing details. And so, commendably, TO REALIZE is simply rendered as DARSE CUENTA, without listing the existing, but misleading verb REALIZAR (correct, although in the sense TO FULFILL and not TO BECOME AWARE OF); an appropriate usage structure is given as well: to realize that = darse quenta de que, plus there is a sentence: Nos dimos cuenta de que algo iba mal. Usage notes scattered generously on the pages are a very helpful and unique feature; and so the entry for AN EAGLE not only gives ÃGUILA, but also highlights with a blue boxed background: "Although it's a feminine noun, remember that you use el and un with águila." Quite impressive in a BEGINNER'S dictionary! There is a good and sufficient, although brief intro. on how to use a dictionary, followed by a few useful check exercises. The reference part includes irregular verb charts, as well as sections on telephone, e-mail, traditional correspondence, numbers, dates and telling time, and a list of common false cognates ("falsos amigos"). In the text of the dictionary all irregular verbs are clearly marked with an *, although finding the conjugation may have been made easier if they also had a pattern number listed in the entry, without requiring a second search in the the irregular verb section. I can't resist mentioning the paper, although it may seem trivial to some readers: unlike so many pocket-size dictionaries, this one is printed on good, smooth, crisp white paper, NOT the yellowish and coarse newsprint which unfortunately is the common fare of most dictionaries in this price range .... Two-color print is another visual asset, although sadly it has not been used to its maximum advantage (e.g., irregular verb forms in the conjugation patterns could have been highlighted in color,increasing the visibility, without any additional printing cost). Overall, for the first and second year students of Spanish (and equally for the Spanish-speaking students of English as a FL), this is the dictionary of choice, with little competition currently on the market among bilingual dictionaries (beginner's Spanish-only Diccionario Escolar VOX, ISBN 0844279803, ... would be a great companion to this title beginning at 2nd year level). One should note, however, that most serious students of language will outgrow the scope of this vocab by the end of their second year of (college) study.
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