Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Find the right words fast.
Practical and easy to use, Frommer's Spanish PhraseFinder & Dictionary
helps you experience a place the way the locals do-by speaking the same
language.
- More than 5,000 words and phrases
- Phrases organized by topic and dictionary entry for easy use on the go
- A two-way dictionary cross-referenced to verb conjugations and the
most common phrases
- Detailed pronunciation guide and slang terms to help you sound more
like a local
- A two-way menu translator, basic grammar information, and more
Frommers. The best conversations start here.
Find great deals and book your trip at Frommers.com
From the Back Cover
Find the right words fast.
Practical and easy to use, Frommer's Spanish PhraseFinder & Dictionary
helps you experience a place the way the locals do—by speaking the same
language.
- More than 5,000 words and phrases
- Phrases organized by topic and dictionary entry for easy use on the go
- A two-way dictionary cross-referenced to verb conjugations and the
most common phrases
- Detailed pronunciation guide and slang terms to help you sound more
like a local
- A two-way menu translator, basic grammar information, and more
Frommers. The best conversations start here.
Find great deals and book your trip at Frommers.com
Product Details
- Paperback: 272 pages
- Publisher: Frommer's; 1st edition (April 3, 2006)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0471773301
- ISBN-13: 978-0471773306
- Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 3.6 x 0.6 inches
- Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
- Average Customer Review:
(3
customer reviews)
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Rating:
-
We selected this phrasefinder thinking it would have good basic information to
help us get around in Spain. It was somewhat useful for my husband, who only
remembered a few words of high school Spanish and was able to use it to refresh
his memory. But, beware: there are mistakes, including a big one on p. 28 of the
"Spanish Grammar Basics" section which confuses the verbs "ser" and "ir." Also,
this book is full of Latin American words and expressions which don't work in
Spain. And, the dictionary in the back is just too small to be of any
consequence. It became our running joke that, each time we encountered an
interesting new word, it wouldn't be in there. We wouldn't recommend this book,
but suggest choosing a compact (well edited!) Spanish-English dictionary for use
on your travels.
Rating:
-
... Neither do I. But it's amazing how much comes back to you with this little
book gem. I just spent 5 days in the guts of Mexico City on business and I
really enjoyed this book. It's small enough to carry around discretely and well
organized (like "stuff to say in restaurants" and "stuff to say at hotels").
Really nice for short trips to Mexico. If you ever had high school Spanish -
even a million years ago like me - this is a great book because you will kind of
remember how to talk Spanish but you'll have forgotten the words. I highly
recommend it.
Rating:
-
I'm trying to learn Spanish on my own using an assortment of dictionaries, CDs,
language guides and texts, and a couple of phrase books. In my search for
learning aids I examined a number of phrase books; none were perfect, but this
one seemed to have a better balance of features than most:
- Pocket-sized, with good quality flexible paper (not too stiff!)
- A Spanish-English & English-Spanish dictionary, with words indexed to phrases
- A basic language and grammar guide, incl. common verbs and conjugations
- Straightforward clear translations on a broad variety of topics
- Well-organized, clean layout, helpful pronunciation guidance
- Uses illustrations as an aid in appropriate places (e.g. body parts, parts of
a car, etc)
Like most phrasebooks, the dictionary section is limited by the space available,
but this one seems to include most of the words that are mentioned in phrase
section. Still, you'll want to have a real dictionary to supplement this (or
any) phrasebook.
What would make this worthy of 5-stars?
- Each section is color-coded along the edge, but there is no color key along
the outside cover of the book. This would make it easier to quickly find and
locate sections.
- The introductory sections on "Survival Spanish" (key phrases) and the language
overview should be beefed up a bit. The grammar section has a surprising amount
of useful guidance on verbs, but is much more sketchy about other rules of the
language. Another 5 to 10 pages on grammar would go a long way toward making
this a near-perfect phrase book.
After carefully examining a number of Spanish phrasebooks, I'm not sure that any
of them are quite worthy of 5 stars... but the Frommer's is *very* good and has
been the best that I've found.
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