Spanish English Bilingual Visual Dictionary

Posted by Dreamer

A practical reference guide to Spanish/English vocabulary, the Spanish English Bilingual Visual Dictionary covers a wide range of words in everyday use for home, work, play, study, and life in general, and is illustrated with full-color photographs. Information is presented topically and the book includes an index and a list of useful phrases for even quicker reference.

After earning a Bachelor’s degree in Spanish I could expound on the uses of the subjunctive, analyze One Hundred Years of Solitude, or debate the history of Mexico. But university learnin’ is no match for real life in Spain.

Incidents like my underwear falling from the clothesline onto my neighbor’s windowsill or lacking the right vocabulary for a cooking date with a Spaniard have humbled me in the Spanish department on numerous occasions and sent me scrambling for a dictionary. What the hell was the word for “windowsill” again and why didn’t the dictionary that pulled me through university have the word for “slotted spoon”?

As I’ve discovered, the Spanish English Bilingual Visual Dictionary is 15 chapters of preventive measures covering all the vocabulary that people actually use in real life, plus extra for the curious types. It’s designed as a reference book, but in my opinion it easily converts into a self-study book for the pro-active expat, as well as a welcome addition to the school of emergency piecemeal learning many expats didn’t realize they signed up for when they moved to Spain. You see, the dictionary has words like “cistern” so you can look up the word in the index or just flip to the Home section and go straight to the diagram of the toilet because yours is overflowing and seeping through the floor into your downstairs neighbor’s bathroom. (Trust me, it happens.)

Even if you think you have Spanish emergencies under control, I think this book is a great way to fill in the blanks of your universe and take your Spanish up a notch. It did for me.

Spanish English Bilingual Visual Dictionary by DK Publishing. London: Dorling Kindersley, 2005. 360 pages.
Buy the book in Europe or buy the book in North America.

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