A dictionary is a great investment for your study of Spanish. Nowadays you can get free dictionaries online, or on your smart phone, iPad or other device. I still like an actual book/dictionary to look things up quickly when I’m at home. Here are some suggestions for selecting a dictionary that suits you. If you’re buying a book, I suggest going to the bookstore and checking out the options so you’re not disappointed. Once I bought a dictionary without checking it out and was disappointed to find the font was too small and it didn’t have idiomatic expressions.
Size: A small dictionary, such as VOX Compact Spanish and English Dictionary or Webster’s Spanish English Dictionary for Students, can be carried around easily and will have most of the words needed by beginners. However, as you get more advanced you may want a bigger dictionary that has more entries and more nuanced definitions, such as Harper Collins Spanish College Dictionary. I have the Harper Collins dictionary, and although it is big and bulky, I love it. It usually has all the words and nuanced definitions I need, and the format is very user-friendly. On the other hand, for a beginner, the amount of definitions for one word may be overwhelming and confusing, so I don’t recommend it for a beginner.
Format: Can you easily read the font? Is it user-friendly, i.e. does the format (bold type, color-codes) allow your eye to easily separate word entries and expressions using the word? Does it give examples?
Practicality: Since Spanish varies from region to region, a good dictionary will include regional words, phrases and colloquialisms. I always look to see if it has a couple of words I know are regional (for example chompa for jacket). If it doesn’t, I think twice about buying it. You may also want a dictionary that gives examples of how to use a word.
Amistad Spanish Instruction 