REVIEW: Berlitz Basic Spanish Dictionary

[Dale Ahn]

The dictionary contains over 130,000 refernces from modern usage, complete and accurate definitions, as well as information about idiomatic expressions. It is ideal for writers, students, and professionals, or anyone else who needs the right word at the right time.

Are you planning on a vacation to Mexico? Columbia? Spain? Or do you have some business relations that require you to learn a little Spanish? Or maybe you even have some friends who speak Spanish and you want to be able to communicate a little better. Whatever situation you’re in, if you’re looking to get a Spanish-English Dictionary look no further because Berlitz has got you covered.

Installation

I was able to successfully install Berlitz on my external SD card, I do this to free space from my phones internal memory. When you install a purchased copy of the dictionary it will first show up as the German demo dictionary, which is strange because you purchased a Spanish dictionary. But don’t worry, at the bottom toolbar just go to Dictionary > Books… then select Basic Spanish, click ok and put in your serial number to complete the registration for Berlitz Basic Spanish Dictionary.

I noticed that the user guide that came with the software was only in German which didn’t really help me out. No sign of an English user guide anywhere.

Layout

The layout of this is clean and simple. You first open up the program and the top section with alternating colored lines is a list of all the words in this dictionary. Right below that is the definition of the word chosen and further below that is the search field.

Using Berlitz Basic Spanish Dictionary

On the bottom toolbar you will see a flag of the language you are searching the dictionary with. Select the language and start searching by spelling out the word in the search field. As you type in each letter the dictionary begin the search. I noticed that the word list at the top would get in the way at times because it took up too much space on the screen. That is easily removable by tapping once on the definitions field and then tap again to bring it back up.

The full-text search function in this dictionary is I think one of the best features. Search a word and it will compose a list of where that word is found in the entire dictionary, including definitions. Just double-tap a word from the list and view where that word is found in the dictionary.

Another great feature for those who are completely unfamiliar with the Spanish language there are supplements to the dictionary. These supplements will help show you the best way to use the dictionary to find what you need. It also includes a guide to learning how to pronounce words correctly in Spanish and has also a full list of abbreviations used in the dictionary.

Overall Thoughts

It came in real handy when I actually needed a Spanish Dictionary, but besides being handy it works great and is very easy to use. The extra searching and supplement features make this dictionary a must have.

Pros:

• Full-text searching
• Supplements
• Very easy to use

Cons:

• User guide is only in German

For the purposes of this review I only covered the Berlitz Basic Spanish Dictionary but Berlitz also has basic dictionaries for Italian, French, and German. Pocketland is currently selling all four of these versions of Berlitz Basic dictionaries for $24.64 US.

Thanks to Pocketland for providing me with this great software.