Harrap Concise Spanish Dictionary
Improve Language Skills Learn Idioms Avoid False Friends and More
Aug 26, 2008
Learning a second language is often an exciting and rewarding pursuit. It can also be very frustrating; especially at the point when some spoken words can be heard and simple conversations become possible. This is a good time to evaluate the tools at hand.
Pocket dictionaries are fine. They slip nicely into pockets or handbags and can be consulted quickly when the need arises. But this portability is their downfall. They can’t cover anything in detail, often providing no more than one simple definition per word.
Learning Spanish a Stop Start Process
Learning Spanish, or any other language, seems to be a stop start process. Most adults encounter great difficulties remembering grammar and retaining vocabulary. There are several reasons for this, but one is that learners need to practice their hard earned skills. In real life situations the problems are compounded by a number of elements. There is often a certain time lag between hearing a word and translating it in the head, by which time the conversation has usually moved on. Local accents can hinder this process even further.
All this is exasperating in the extreme, especially if individual words have been heard and understood but make little or no sense in a phrase or sentence.
A good Spanish-English dictionary such as the Harrap Concise Spanish Dictionary [Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd., 2000] is vital. This isn’t an easily portable volume and is better used whilst sitting at some form of work surface. This simple act in itself can provide a psychological incentive, encouraging habits of more serious study. It is definitely not for learning on the run.
Useful Features
Become familiar with the conventions used, and read the preface thoroughly as it contains descriptions of some extremely useful features including:
- Productive words. Four hundred of the most commonly used words in each language have been identified and given extended entries. Clearly marked with the word in bold white in a black box.
- Idiomatic language. Of special interest to people who have reached the stage where they can engage in simple conversation. There are many entries covering language as it is actually used, not just in Spain but in Latin American countries too.
- False friends. This is a very useful feature, and lots of fun to use. As there are lots of very similar words in both English and Spanish it is often easy to guess meanings. But beware, this doesn’t always work. For an embarrassed person to claim to be embarazada could be even more embarrassing; it means pregnant. These entries are highlighted in a grey background.
Use this resource when translating local newspapers, often good sources of current idioms, especially in quoted speech, and isolated words will start to join together to form meaningful sentences and phrases.
The Harrap Concise Spanish Dictionary's claims to offer, “Real Spanish for the Real World,” and to provide, "...up to date information in the most accessible form possible," are clearly substantiated in these pages.
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