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What Spanish dictionary for UK English-speakers?
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Paul Magnussen
Posts: 1805
Joined: Nov. 8 2010
From: London (living in the Bay Area)
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 What Spanish dictionary for UK Engli...
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My trusty old Cassells dictionary was published in 1978 and I figure I need a new one. However, a quick perusal of Amazon indicates that the Cassells hasn’t been updated in decades.
I considered the Oxford, but apparently it’s aimed (rather strangely for a UK publication, I thought) at speakers of US English: for instance, if you look up mouldy, it’s not there; you have to look under moldy.
So now I’m looking at the Collins, which was updated in 2011. Apparently the Kindle version sucks, but I’ll be getting the hardback.
Has anyone any opinion on this dictionary, or any other recommendation?
I should say that this is for reading books at home, not for taking on holiday; so thoroughness is the criterion, not weight.
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Date May 5 2013 17:00:13
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Richard Jernigan
Posts: 3430
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA
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RE: What Spanish dictionary for UK E... (in reply to Paul Magnussen)
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After a period of several decades using two or three different weighty tomes, I have gone over almost completely to the website www.spanishdict.com. It puts up definitions from as many as three different dictionaries, and it translates phrases from Spanish to English. I haven't tried more extended passages.
I learned Spanish as a child, and have spent much of my life in areas where Spanish is either the most used language, or the second most used, so more often than not I don't need to refer to a dictionary--for example, I don't remember looking up stuff more than a time or two wading through the lengthy Spanish biography of Segovia by Alberto Lopez Poveda. On the other hand, I bogged down frequently in the prize winning "Viaje a la Alcarria" by Camilo Jose Cela when I tackled it years ago, but my impression was that Cela was consciously being "artistic", and flaunting his extensive vocabulary a bit.
I tried www.spanishdict.com with "mouldy" and "colour" and it worked OK, but I can't testify to comprehensive UK coverage.
RNJ
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Date May 5 2013 19:46:12
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NormanKliman
Posts: 1143
Joined: Sep. 1 2007
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RE: What Spanish dictionary for UK E... (in reply to Paul Magnussen)
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I haven't seen newer editions, but my impression about 10 years ago was that the Oxford dictionary was much better than that of Collins. As a means of gauging quality, you might want to look for some of the more obscure false cognates (condescending/condescendiente, for example). In any case, I've yet to see a flawless bilingual dictionary. The best strategy is to work with two monolingual dictionaries and come up with your own translation.
For Spanish, I suggest the two-volume "Diccionario del español actual," commonly known as the "Seco" in reference to editor Manuel Seco. Another one known as the "María Moliner" is a long-standing alternative to the dictionary of the RAE. As Lionel has pointed out, there's an online version of the RAE dictionary here: http://www.rae.es/rae.html. I use it on a daily basis, along with the Cambridge online dictionary (http://dictionary.cambridge.org/). In hardcover, there's also an interesting "Diccionario panhispánico de dudas," published or endorsed by the RAE, that not only includes regional variations but thoroughly clarifes common doubts (aun/aún, porque/porqué/por que/por qué, correct use of "le" and "lo," etc.)
You probably already know this, but, if it's to be used at home, as you've indicated, don't even waste your time with paperback and similarly slimmer editions.
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Date May 6 2013 9:54:32
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