It is a mark of the popularity of this handy dictionary that it is now in its third edition, having originally been published in 1997. As with other Collins dictionaries, the title has been produced from the Collins Wordbanks database that enables the simultaneous updating of the range of dictionaries from this publisher. The present volume has been revised to include some 50,000 definitions that the editors assure us give “priority to everyday vocabulary and the language of current affairs, business, computing and tourism”. While a concise dictionary such as this cannot be expected to compete with specialist computing and business dictionaries, nevertheless the reviewer was able to find common terms from these areas such as Punto.com and Cibercafe in the Spanish section and User Friendly, PIN and Panic Buying in the English section.
Students of Spanish are well served by the inclusion of colloquial expressions such as Guay (super), Chungo (lousy), and Cutre (naff). Similarly in the English section readers will find everyday and colloquial expressions as diverse as Bungee Jumping, Pub Crawl, Dodgy, and Pissed. Interestingly the Spanish section includes PSOE (Spain's ruling Socialist Party) but no reference to their conservative opponents, the PP (Partido Popular). Even more curious is the translation of British Rail by RENFE, the Spanish national rail company. One wonders whether design or oversight is responsible for the inclusion of Republica Democratica Alemana (German Democratic Republic) and Republica Federal Alemana (German Federal Republic) as examples to illustrate the use of “republica”.
In both sections grammatical information describing the respective part of speech of each word is given. Phonetical pronunciation is also given according to the International Phonetic Alphabet. The compilers explain that a complete table of the IPA symbols is included on page xiv. Readers will, however, search in vain for any such information. Entries are nevertheless clear and well laid out with a wide range of examples to illustrate the meaning of words and phrases within a particular context. Certain words are selected for special explanatory treatment (Palabra Clave in the Spanish section and Keyword in the English section) whilst more lengthy explanations are provided for special terms such as Guardia Civil, Loteria, Queen's Speech and Rag Week.
A particular feature of the present dictionary is the lengthy section covering most aspects of Spanish grammar including verb tenses, sentence structure and specific translation problems. Such information is to be found in many similar dictionaries but rarely in such extended detail. The rear cover draws the reader's attention to “the comprehensive 255‐page grammar section”, clearly a further confusion on the part of the editors since the grammar section, in fact, runs to 316 pages.
Despite the criticisms mentioned above Collins are to be congratulated on producing an excellent dictionary for intermediate students. This handy‐format dictionary is easy to use and a mine of useful information. It may, however, prove somewhat bulky for inclusion in the tourist's suitcase. Nevertheless, it deserves wide sales for use both in the home and in libraries.
