Study New Languages

It’s funny, I started with 1 Spanish language dictionary and now I don’t know how many dictionaries I have….  I have a small pocket dictionary, a larger comprehensive dictionary, a book of verbs, a pictoral dictionary, a spanish language only dictionary, I have some other references too, that give tips and suggestions on the grammar and structure of spanish or the approach to improving your spanish…. This page will be the listing of my current references as well as those that I think could be useful or interesting.

First off… the first Spanish/English dictionary I ever owned in High School: The University of Chicago Spanish Dictionary, Fifth Edition, Spanish-English, English-Spanish: Universidad de Chicago Diccionario Espanol-Ingles, Ingles-Espanol We actually have two of these (my wife had one as well.) The ones we carried were orange and carried us for quite a while.

I was given a pictoral translating dictionary many years ago and it’s been quite interesting. The pages are usually organized by theme, so you’ll have lots of similar vocabulary. So for instance you may have a couple pages of various musical notation or instruments, or kitchen terms. (This can be a good source for word lists…) The Oxford-Duden Pictorial Spanish and English Dictionary Anyway, it’s come in quite handy and a pictoral dictionary can be a good reference addition. (I’ve even got an English only pictoral dictionary that’s handy for tracking down those…. “gee what do you call that boat steering thing” moments…)

This next one has become my favorite translating dictionary just for it’s larger type and easy to read print (plus more words than the old University of Chicago dictionary I have.) Webster’s New World Concise Spanish Dictionary

After a while you need to break away from a translating dictionary and move to one that keeps you within the language. I tried this one perhaps a bit too early in my progress, but I find I am using it more and more each day. (Sometimes one definition leads to another and yet another to make things make sense, but… I remember doing that in English years ago so… it’s a step along the way.) Diccionario Larousse del español moderno

Another highly recommended reference is The Big Red Book of Spanish Verbs: 555 Fully Conjugated Verbs. I made an effort to work through this one from cover to cover. They give 555 verbs. (With labels for “top 50″ and “top 100″ in usage.) There are full conjugations and great examples. The more common verbs get two pages worth of attention. I’m still progressing my way through this one, I think I was up to the Q’s or R’s last. But, this one is a great reference. When I’m trying to construct a thought and get a bit fuzzy on what the first person subjunctive of saber is…. I open this book.

1001 Most Useful Spanish Words – This is a nice (cheap $2!!!) reference book. I don’t own this one (yet), but I have read it is well reviewed in spite of a few errors in their example sentences.

I’ve also seen good recommendations for this book: Spanish Verbs: Ser and Estar : Key to Mastering the Language.