Looking for a dictionary like the Longman Language Activator

[Nfqufktc]

I would be grateful if you could suggest to me a dictionary like the Longman Language Activator by Longman or the Word Finder by Albert and Joan Rowe. I have found both to be very useful reference books for learning English. Now I wonder if one can find similar books for learning Spanish.

Your recommendation would be very much appreciated.

[aleCcowaN]

Being a native Spanish speaker I regret not having anything to offer on this subject.

I suppose you're looking for someone like a book in English I once browsed, with some 1100 word entries, where every word was complemented with real life uses, and related terms with their own examples, all organized as a logical tree. The book covered some 20 to 30 thousand English words. Are you looking for something like that?

A hypothetical Spanish version would be like this:

CASA

como tipo de morada (dwelling)
casa
apartamento
adosado
chalet
piso
casilla
mansión
palacio

según el material
casa de piedra
...de sillería
...de adobe
cabaña
...de lámina metálica

según el tamaño
... estándar
zulo
palacete

según la categoría
construcción estándar
construcción de lujo
vivienda económica
chabola (shanty)

etc.

If you describe what you're looking for in more detail, given some time we may be able to find something for you.

[Nfqufktc]

Thank you for your reply, aleCcowaN.

Yes, this is more or less what I had in mind, but let me expand on my request so you could understand better what I am looking for.
I would say that your example refers more to a dictionary of word combinations, also known as the collocations dictionary.

So, the HOUSE entry would be comprised of:


This is another type of the reference dictionary which would come in very handy in studying Spanish so any suggestions you may have for this type of dictionary are also welcome.

But, in fact, it was a Spanish-Engish dictionary of IDEAS/CONCEPTS that I was after in my request.

To illustate let me take the concept TO LIKE:

The sentence Me gustan mucho los dulces may be translated as

• I'm very fond of sweets.
• I adore sweets.
• I like sweets very much.
• I really enjoy (eating) sweets.
• I take great pleasure in (eating) sweets.
• Eating sweets pleases me very much, etc.

So, I would like to have the similar information in Spanish.

Of course, one can comb through the Cambridge dictionary, the Oxford dictionary, and the Larousse Gran Dictionario and marshal the relevant entries into a neat table but it would be nice have a dictionary like that for ready reference.

I will be grateful for any ideas that you might have about these two types of dictionaries.

[poli]

RAE may not be as comprehensive as the dictionary you have in mind, but it's good. Just look up the word casa, and you will see what I mean. It is more oriented towards peninsular Spanish.

[aleCcowaN]

Originally Posted by Nfqufktc

But, in fact, it was a Spanish-Engish dictionary of IDEAS/CONCEPTS that I was after in my request.

To illustate let me take the concept TO LIKE:

...

I will be grateful for any ideas that you might have about these two types of dictionaries.

Got it! This weekend, I will try some searches in Spanish using googlefoo and see what I find. Search queries in Spanish made by a native speaker might return a fresh set of results. I'll share what I may find.

[Nfqufktc]

RAE may not be as comprehensive as the dictionary you have in mind, but it's good.

Thank you, poli. I'll bear your suggestion in mind.

[Nfqufktc]

Got it! This weekend, I will try some searches in Spanish using googlefoo and see what I find.

Thank you, aleCcowaN. I am looking forward to hearing about your findings.

[aleCcowaN]

I'm sorry it took me this much to suggest something. The problem is not there's little but a lot.

This is the link to a PDF file of a paper about the variety of dictionaries published in Spanish.

https://www.researchgate.net/publica...y_conceptuales

It looks a good place to start and presents some works that are milestones in the history of this field, including works as recent as 2010.

[Nfqufktc]

Thank you for your effort