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A good dictionary can save you a lot of time when you're learning a foreign language. For a start, it will have most, if not all, the words you're looking up, which is something that many dictionaries don’t do. That’s why the Merriam-Webster's Spanish-English Dictionary is clearly above average.

I have worked as a Spanish teacher and translator for many years, and I know how frustrating it is to use a dictionary that simply isn’t good enough. I have learned the hard way how to judge a good dictionary and, for me, there are 7 requirements a dictionary must meet before I buy it. The Merriam-Webster's Spanish-English Dictionary meets them all:

• It has a good number of entries and translations: 80,000
• The entries give you sentence examples, not only word for word translations. This is essential to learn how to use words in context, and how to use phrases.
• It indicates when words are used only in one Spanish-speaking country or region, and the difference in meaning between regions.
• It includes conjugated verb forms. This saves precious time to those still working on their verbs.
• It’s a recent publication, so it contains new vocabulary and phrases.
• Its size makes it easily portable. You can take it to work, your language class, on trips, etc.
• Apart from the dictionary, it also has separate sections on grammar, numbers and verb conjugations.

You can buy the Merriam-Webster's Spanish-English Dictionary in US dollars and in UK pounds.

This review has been written by Maria Fernandez, an experienced native Spanish teacher and author of Learn Spanish At Your Own Pace, Spanish for Kids - interactive multimedia lessons, and other Spanish language learning publications for children and adults.