|
| ||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £1.15
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Pocket Oxford Spanish Dictionary for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £1.15, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Product Description
Product Description
Authoritative and up-to-date, this fourth edition of the Pocket Oxford Spanish Dictionary covers over 90,000 words and phrases, and 130,000 translations of contemporary Spanish and English. Hundreds of new words from Spanish and English have been added from computing and technology to health and lifestyle, based on findings from the Oxford Languages Tracker. Includes excellent coverage of both European and Latin American Spanish. More than just a dictionary, this handy reference book also includes extensive sections on grammar, culture, and communication giving you the tools you need to communicate effectively and understand aspects of another culture. The grammar supplement provides full information on key points of Spanish grammar, including verb tables for quick reference. The section on culture offers lively and useful information on life in the Spanish-speaking world, covering everything from political institutions to how weddings are celebrated. The communication supplement gives help with all types of correspondence, including example letters, emails, CVs and résumés, and a guide to text messaging. Also new to this edition is a brand-new section on the internet and online services. The Pocket Oxford Spanish Dictionary is the perfect reference for student and adult learners needing an affordable, portable dictionary. This dictionary includes 6 months' access* to Oxford's premium Spanish / English online dictionary service, Oxford Language Dictionaries Online, so you can find accurate translations and extra resources wherever you are. The site is regularly updated with the latest new words and meanings from Oxford's modern languages research programme, the Oxford Languages Tracker. You can also hear audio pronunciations and improve your language skills with online cultural notes, guides to writing, and much more. *Available in selected markets (UK, Europe, Australia, Canada, and South Africa). Terms and conditions apply; please see www.oxforddictionaries.com/access for information
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a very clearly written easy to use dictionary. Labels are friendly and useful. There is a pronunciation guide and a spanish word table. But interestingly spanish words are not accompanied with their pronunciations whereas english words are. Words with different meanings in different countries are also indicated. There is also basic information about spanish speaking countries in the world and "how to write a letter" section on various objects from holiday postcards to booking a campsite. The dictionary is quite large to be called as "pocket" with dimensions 4.7x13x19.5 cm. I think it is not one to carry through a trip.
27 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There is no disputing the dictionary is fully comprehensive and easy to use. However, Oxford is far from honest in terming this a pocket dictionary. I have seen smaller bibles, if you are looking for something that you can carry on your persons or in a backpack, don't bother with this book.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
34 reviews
60 of 60 people found the following review helpful
Not your abuelo's Spanish dictionary
3 May 2000
Format:Paperback
After too many years I decided it was time to retire the well-thumbed Cassell's from my undergraduate days, and I'm glad I did.
Carvajal's Pocket Oxford features modern word choices and intelligible definitions, in place of the quaint usages and ambiguous synonyms that used to keep me thumbing back and forth through the dictionary as though it was a thesaurus, trying to figure out which word was the right one for a given context. It offers ample pronunciation and grammatical cues for each entry, including details less sophisticated dictionaries leave out, such as the pronunciations of Spanish words which don't follow Spanish orthography (el "handicap" is pronounced /'xandicap/ not /an'dicap/) and distinctions between countable and uncountable nouns in English (you can pass "two rolls" across the table but usually not "two breads"). Where more explanation is required, it makes frequent use of sidebars (clothing measures, the rules for compound nouns, and the niceties of synonyms for "toilet"). It keeps up with new vocabulary ("el Internet") and includes ample coverage of European and American usage in both languages. Place names appear together with regular entries, not relegated to a gazeteer in the back. Clearly some real thought went into the usability of this dictionary.
My one word of caution is that the word "pocket" doesn't really apply to this book any more; it's a little hefty for travel use. But at 80,000 entries it it complete enough to cover most needs without the overwhelming bulk of an unabridged dictionary.
55 of 56 people found the following review helpful
Among the better Spanish-English dictionaries
9 Sep 2006
Format:Paperback
My Master's thesis was a review and rating of Spanish-English dictionaries. I find this dictionary, like all the other Oxford dictionaries, to be a good choice.
Here are a few of the factors which distinguish a good bilingual dictionary from a bad one.
To begin with, ignore certain publishers' marketing ploys such as entry and translation counts. They say nothing about the value of the words chosen.
The first valid factor to consider is lexicographic technique. A bad dictionary simply lists translations. Take, for example, the entry in the Cassell's Spanish Dictionary under the English headword loop: "lazo, gaza, nudo; ojal, presilla, alamar; anillo; recodo, comba, curva, vuelta," etc. For the English reader writing in Spanish, this is hopelessly inadequate, as the dictionary provides no clue as to which translation to use in which situation.
Compare the treatment of the same word in the far superior American Heritage Spanish Dictionary. "(length of line) lazo; (coil) vuelta; (bend) curva; (circular path) vuelta, circuito; (fastener) presilla" etc. Here, the user is given glosses in the native language to assist in identifying the right word for the context. Example sentences are also a tremendous help. Oxford is excellent in this respect, presenting good information to guide users through the semantic and syntactic complexities.
Second, a good dictionary should maintain an up-to-date lexicon, including such cultural and technological additions to the language as "baby sitter," "hostile takeover," "software," "flash drive." Oxford is a leader in this respect; its frequent revisions are more than mere window dressing and do a creditable job of covering the most recent additions to the language.
Third, idioms, slang, and cusswords can present real problems to the language learner, and a dictionary needs to handle them in a clear and frank fashion. This dictionary gets it right, giving stylistic equivalents for translations as well as clear advice to the user.
Be careful when you choose a bilingual dictionary, as some of the choices--Cassell's and Vox, for example--are downright terrible. The field of large dictionaries stays relatively static over time, and the best choices in it by far are Oxford, Collins, and Larousse. The field of small dictionaries, on the other hand, has many more players. While not the only good choice, Oxford is a dictionary you would certainly be pleased with.
Here are a few of the factors which distinguish a good bilingual dictionary from a bad one.
To begin with, ignore certain publishers' marketing ploys such as entry and translation counts. They say nothing about the value of the words chosen.
The first valid factor to consider is lexicographic technique. A bad dictionary simply lists translations. Take, for example, the entry in the Cassell's Spanish Dictionary under the English headword loop: "lazo, gaza, nudo; ojal, presilla, alamar; anillo; recodo, comba, curva, vuelta," etc. For the English reader writing in Spanish, this is hopelessly inadequate, as the dictionary provides no clue as to which translation to use in which situation.
Compare the treatment of the same word in the far superior American Heritage Spanish Dictionary. "(length of line) lazo; (coil) vuelta; (bend) curva; (circular path) vuelta, circuito; (fastener) presilla" etc. Here, the user is given glosses in the native language to assist in identifying the right word for the context. Example sentences are also a tremendous help. Oxford is excellent in this respect, presenting good information to guide users through the semantic and syntactic complexities.
Second, a good dictionary should maintain an up-to-date lexicon, including such cultural and technological additions to the language as "baby sitter," "hostile takeover," "software," "flash drive." Oxford is a leader in this respect; its frequent revisions are more than mere window dressing and do a creditable job of covering the most recent additions to the language.
Third, idioms, slang, and cusswords can present real problems to the language learner, and a dictionary needs to handle them in a clear and frank fashion. This dictionary gets it right, giving stylistic equivalents for translations as well as clear advice to the user.
Be careful when you choose a bilingual dictionary, as some of the choices--Cassell's and Vox, for example--are downright terrible. The field of large dictionaries stays relatively static over time, and the best choices in it by far are Oxford, Collins, and Larousse. The field of small dictionaries, on the other hand, has many more players. While not the only good choice, Oxford is a dictionary you would certainly be pleased with.
37 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Not the most comprehensive paperback available
19 July 2002
Format:Paperback
This dictionary (identical to the one sold in hard covers as the "Desk" dictionary of Spanish) is excellent within its limits. If compactness and simplicity of layout are your most important criteria (and you don't want a "baby" dictionary), then this may be the right choice for you.
But if you want the most extensive coverage available in paperback, the Webster's New World Spanish Dictionary (ISBN 0139536477) has MANY more words and definitions, while still remaining compact enough in comparison to the big hardcovers. As someone who used the Oxford Pocket until I outgrew it and then moved on to the Webster's New World & have been delighted with its superiority, I can make this recommendation w/o reservation.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
