Hello,

I am going to Sevilla in a couple weeks for language school and am in need of a good dictionary. The one I have now is the Appleton-Cuyas version, and is very old. It has been a huge help to me in the past, but I'm wondering if I need something newer and more updated, or if it isn't necessary...

Any advice or recommendations are appreciated.

Thanks!

Sevillana,
There are several great dictionaries available to students now.

Here are a few recommendations:
1.Durvan's Diccionario Español-Inglés- Español as an excellent choice.
2.Espasa's Diccionario Español-Inglés-Español (40 dollars).
3. Real Academia's Diccionario de la Lengua Española, buy the latest edition and printing. The BEST! It is worth the investment, and can be purchased anywhere in Spain.
4. Gran Larousse Unabridged, a classic!
5. Collins Concise Spanish Dictionary covers Castillian Spanish as well as Latin American Spanish.

Good Luck on your search.

Thanks, Booklady! I knew you would have great info for me - I actually thought of you when I wrote the post and hoped you would respond. I checked out some of these on amazon, and will probably go with the one that A: fits in my suitcase, and B: I can afford.

Thanks again!

Since you're going to Spain, you might be better off buying the dictionary in Spain.

But, as far as I'm concerned...for a Sp/Eng. Dictionary, Booklady is correct: the LaRousse. For a Spanish/Spanish dictionary...María Moliner (which may be purchased in Spain in CD format), a two volume set.

Sheryl

I took a look at several when I arrived in Madrid last year and chose the Cambridge Klett (both pocket and compact) for its ease of use. Don't know whether it's a great dictionary or not, but it has served my needs. Also have an old large LaRousse from Mexico for desk use.

I have a Langenscheidt Pocket Spanish/English & English/Spanish dictionary that may fit your 'affordability and size' criteria. It's also a pretty good dictionary.

I also own one, Eddie, and it is, in my opinion one of the best and most affordable of the small pocket sized dictionaries on the market today. My son used it when he was taking Spanish classes in high school and he liked it because it was small and handy.

I vote for the Larousse. I bought mine in Spain for less than $8 USD at the time. It's about the size of a ¼-sheet of 8½ x 11 paper, and has idiomatic expressions, verb info and other nice things in addition to ample vocabulary entries.

Go Larousse...you can't go wrong.