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Larousse Standard Dictionary: Spanish-English / English-Spanish (Larousse Standard) | 
| Creator: Editors Of Larousse
Publisher: Larousse
Category: Book
List Price: $39.95
Buy New: $26.37
You Save: $13.58 (34%)
Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 367982
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 664
Shipping Weight (lbs): 4.3
Dimensions (in): 9.7 x 7.2 x 2.4
ISBN: 2035420768
Dewey Decimal Number: 863.21
UPC: 046442420761
EAN: 9782035420763
Publication Date: August 1, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
The newest edition of the Larousse Standard Dictionary is the ideal resource
for students and teachers of Spanish. It covers the everyday conversational
language used by native speakers as well as specialized terms.
This authoritative reference includes
• 174,000 words and phrases with 257,000 translations
• up-to-date coverage of general, business, and literary vocabulary
• coverage of the major regional varieties of Spanish
• hundreds of proper names, abbreviations, and acronyms
• clearly labeled idiomatic expressions
• a supplement with a guide to aspects of life in Spanish-speaking countries
• Spanish verb tables
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| Customer Reviews: Read 15 more reviews...
 One of the leaders in the field August 20, 2006
81 out of 81 found this review helpful
My Master's thesis was a review and rating of large Spanish-English dictionaries. Since then, I have conducted follow-up studies to keep up with the market.
I find the leaders in the field to be Collins (HarperCollins), Larousse, and Oxford. Each publisher appears to be trying to one-up the others with the newest and best edition. The real winner is the consumer. My joint review of these three dictionaries is found here and duplicated under both of its competitors.
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 says nothing about the value of the words chosen. Likewise, ignore the word "unabridged" in the title. No work is truly unabridged except the monumental monolingual Oxford English Dictionary.
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. The Collins, Larousse, and Oxford are all excellent in this respect, presenting a wealth of practical information to guide users through the semantic and syntactic complexities.
The second factor is organization, which is important in large desk dictionaries. In an entry for a complex word like "get," a bad dictionary may force users to lose time searching for their translation through unbroken columns that can extend for more than a page. This was a problem--now corrected--in previous versions of the large Larousse dictionary. Today, the current editions of the Larousse, Collins and Oxford use similar organization schemes, dividing long entries by meaning into well-titled paragraphs. This scheme makes these dictionaries a joy to use.
Third, 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." Larousse, Collins and Oxford are leaders in this respect; their frequent revisions are more than mere window dressing and do a creditable job of covering the most recent additions to the language.
Fourth, 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. All three dictionaries get it right, giving stylistic equivalents for translations as well as clear advice to the user.
One complaint about the Collins is that it often presents Britishisms without labeling them as such. Revisions have only partially corrected the problem. For this reason, I would not recommend this dictionary to native Spanish speakers in the US.
Oxford and Collins contain excellent "language in use" sections which give formulas for language functions such as asking for information, agreeing, disagreeing, etc., as well as formulas for letters and documents.
The bottom line on large dictionaries? Avoid Vox, Velasquez, and Cassell's. Simon & Schuster's may serve as part of a collection but is unsuitable as a user's only dictionary. I will report on the large Harrap's when I examine it, but my opinion of their other dictionaries is quite favorable. While not perfect, Collins, Oxford, and Larousse are the best large Spanish-English dictionaries I have examined. Except as noted here, most users would be well served by any of the three.
Large but User Friendly September 29, 2005
51 out of 52 found this review helpful
Very good reference. Large, authoritative appeal. It's a friggin tome. Unabridged, so there are many many slang terms and colloquialisms, and some arcane and useless ones as well. Es un muy gran diccionario.
Positivos:
1) Unabridged. There has not yet been a word I couldn't find.
2) Diverse. Includes scores of common phrases and usage, which I like because it's helpful to understand how the words are used, and the nuances of usage between languages.
3) Informative. The added sections provide a lot of cultural background, etymology, and atlas-type data that is interesting and sometimes useful.
Negativos:
1) Verbose. Phrases can be difficult to find, because there are so many, but that's a problem of the language and not the dictionary. It can be difficult to find the phrase you want, but with patience, I've found it every time.
2) Unwieldy. Don't purchase if you're looking for something to bring with you to class. I made that mistake. A smaller, cheaper paper back would be a better option for something to keep in your bag.
 Caution: Missing Pages November 26, 2005
26 out of 26 found this review helpful
I was excited to receive my Laurousse Unabridged Spanish-English Dictionary. The edition I received, however, was missing pages 285-300. 'Don't know if this glitch is common, but I'd advise other buyers to flip through pages to make sure they have a complete book. As a translator, I'm looking forward to receiving a complete tome -- and it certainly is an exhaustive work and not for carrying around with you!
Great Dictionary, Disappointing Quality September 22, 2006
21 out of 21 found this review helpful
I just purchased this dictionary at the beginning of the month, but unfortunately I had to return it back to Amazon for the second time. I had used previous editions of this dictionary while doing professional translations and now that I am freelancing, decided to get the latest edition to assist me with my projects. I was impressed to see how much the dictionary has improved over the years both in terms of content, layout and overall presentation and usefulness. In that respect, this dictionary deserves 4 or 5 stars. However, the first time my order was fulfilled, I went through every single page of the dictionary to make sure there were no missing pages (see earlier reviews from other users), as I did not want any unpleasant surprises later on. This proved to be a wise decision. Although there were no missing pages in either copy, both were defective. It seems that there is a printing problem with this edition, as several pages in the Spanish section of the dictionary were smudged with the printer's ink, thus rendering the text illegible. As I've indicated, this happened in the original as well as the replacement copy Amazon sent me. Because of this oversight or disregard for quality control by the publishing company I cannot recommend the purchase of this dictonary. Maybe there are good copies of this edition out there, but I am not taking any more chances and will be purchasing the Oxford Spanish Dictionary instead, which does not seem to have the same quality control or printing issues. ** By the way, I meant to give this review only 2 stars, not five! **
Excellent for Translators, Interpreters, and Linguists September 11, 2005
18 out of 23 found this review helpful
I might agree with Brook A. Baston's review of the Larousse Unabridged Dictionary regarding the vulgar and depraved words and expressions in this book if it was intended only to be used by young students, to whom I would recommend the more concise dictionary. However, the inclusion of these vulgar words and expression, which are a part of the Spanish and English languages, are frequently used in a court of law as well as in depositions, especially in criminal cases, which the court interpreters are duty-bound to render at the same social/language registry. As unpleasant as it may be to the interpreter, it is imperative to the legal case that the interpreter help the judge and jury perceive the complete reality of what is said, and reproduce the exact impression as if the speaker were speaking in English.
If a rape victim is asked to say what her assailant told her during the rape and she replied in English, the jury would receive the accurate impact of the words the rapist used. However, when interpreting from Spanish to English, if the interpreter replaces these words with those of a higher register, for example says, "I going to copulate with you," the impact received by the jurors would be different from the words used by the victim, and thus run a serious risk of being significantly inaccurate.
If the rapist spoke using vulgarities during the rape, but the interpreter "cleaned it up," in the interpretation, it could very well indicate that the rapist had to be an educated person when in reality he is uneducated and illiterate. This would not do justice to the case, could be very misleading, and could very well influence the outcome of the trial, with the prosecutor declaring a mistrial, or even worse, acquitting a guilty man and letting him go free into society to commit more crimes. Thus, the Spanish-speaking victim would not have an equal opportunity for a fair trial as an English speaker. The most unpleasant part of the interpreter's job is to have to use vulgarity during a trial, but it is imperative.
Therefore, an advanced dictionary such as the Larousse Unabridged Dictionary: Spanish-English/English-Spanish is an essential tool for the interpreter and translators. It is also an excellent tool for linguists and anyone else who has an interest in learning these languages in their totality, which would then have to include all language registers. For those persons who do not wish to be exposed to the vulgarity but still want an advanced dictionary, I highly recommend that they not look up the words that may be offensive to them.
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