Dictionary

[Desmond]

Hi was wondering if I should get a good dictionary that identified words as male and female as well as helping with pronunciation maybe phonetically. Any recommendations would like a good comprehensive rather than a pocket book.

[spanish learner]

When I was in high school I had an English to Spanish dictionary and it also had a Spanish to English section and it told you whether or not it was masculine or feminine and gave really good examples of the different ways that the words could be used. It was also small enough that it was never an inconvenience to carry and I got it at my local Wal-Mart. I love my little Spanish dictionary.

[Glen]

Yes, that's useful in the beginning - and of course the male/female identification will continue to be helpful - but later on with enough listening to native speakers (and maybe taking a course in Phonetics to learn the few simple rules involved) you'll need the pronunciation guide less and less; at least that was my experience. Good Luck!

[poli]

Some online sources offer audio pronunciation. I think Word Reference does this, but one word without a bunch of words around it may be difficult to hear correctly. Nevertheless it may help.

[Cloudgazer]

Hi, Desmond:

Any Spanish/Spanish-English dictionary worth its salt should specify the gender of Spanish nouns, so your choice shouldn't cause an issue with that.

As for phonetic pronunciation, you might like the Random House Spanish-English English-Spanish Dictionary. It's never been my "go to" bilingual dictionary, though. For that, I use the Langenscheidt Spanish Standard Dictionary. It provides Spanish-English and English-Spanish sections and has equivalents of some common phrases, too. It is a pleasure to use.