Lonely Planet Latin American Spanish Phrasebook & Dictionary

I love this little book. It was really helpful and just the right size to put in my purse or backpack. I
Really liked how easy it was to use. Plus, as a chef, the food dictionary was great.
I give it two thumbs up!

This is great for students, leisure travelers, and business travelers.This teaches you basic to intermediate Spanish that covers every subject, Latin American culture and facts. Plus, it has a dictionary. Lastly, it is pocket-sized.

Really useful product, was extremely helpful for my trip to Cuba and I will hang onto it for future trips to Latin America! I loved the dictionary section, especially that it has subsections just for food words, English-to-Spanish, and Spanish-to-English. As always, Lonely Planet does an excellent job highlighting the key phrases you'll need in just about any situation. It's also the perfect size: easy to fit into a back pocket, a clutch, a purse, a backpack, etc. -- I was really glad I bought this for my trip!

Actually a very handy phrasebook, although the dictionary let me down a few times. Was perfect for a week in Mexico, and am looking forward to using it in other Latin American countries. Very well color-coded and organized. Takes up next to no room and easy to carry in a small purse on a daily basis. I don't like using my phone for translation services, as it takes me out of the present moment. Will buy a larger dictionary to complement it next time. My Spanish level is about 1/4 fluent, so adjust your needs accordingly.

Like many non native speakers of Spanish I've done most of my practice at home, without applying my knowledge in the "real world". Often it's intimidating to speak simple phrases when you're out in public, while you most likely would remember those same phrases were you inside your house studying. Lonely Planet's phrasebook solved that problem for me. I know most of the phrases but often I forget the exact phrasing when I'm expected to speak to natives. Pick up this guide, stick it in your pocket and gain the confidence to speak to natives knowing you have a backup.

This book helped so much in Costa Rica! I especially appreciated the translations for demanding safe sex. I went to Costa Rica to study abroad and being college students a lot of my classmates were being flirtatious and a bit promiscuous. I made sure to share the safe sex phrases so my friends would be safe and smart while having fun!

Good because it fits in your pocket. Difficult if you have to go through it on the spur of the moment when you need a phrase for a taxi driver or in a restaurant. Took it on a trip to Columbia, but quit carrying it by third day, just used sign language and pointing at menus to get by.
I found the organization of material and phrases a little peculiar, but could probably be useful if studied in advance so you know where to find things in it.

Buy them for yourself! for your children! for your friends! These are the best phrasebooks... I have used them in Europe, Africa and the Americas. They always manage to make me giggle, and I am always willing to dive in.

Good quality cover, well bound. These survive back pockets, wet backpacks, and more.

I just returned from a three week vacation in Italy and if it wasn't for the fact that it would be littering, I wish I could have whipped this book off the highest peak I could find! I started calling it the Useless Book, carrying it with me anyway on the off chance I could find one word I needed. The only consistent thing is that it failed me every time. [I took a course using Rosetta Stone, but my memory bank and vocabulary weren't that extensive]. I had trouble finding simple necessary words (such as "fare" for a taxi) but it is full of translations for pick up lines and politic discussions (?). The way it is laid out makes for an awful lot of thumbing pages back and forth, which left the person I hoped to converse with hanging there in silence. The Italian only Menu Decoder is equally frustrating. I did find one situation where the book was useful - there was this bathroom in a restaurant with no paper...

Well, I bought this before a trip to Spain. And, it's definitely European Spanish, not Mexican or South American Spanish. It's ok. But, not as easy to use as I had hoped. Really, a good Spanish/English dictionary might be better, if one knows a little about Spanish to begin. I doubt anyone is going to learn Spanish from this book. It's entertaining, but not as useful as I'd hoped. Hard to quickly find a phrase; sometimes all one needs is one word, and not a bunch of preconceived phrases for certain situations. And that is how it is arranged. But, one is not going to be able to use this little book to carry on a conversation in real time with a Spanish speaker. And, according to my Spanish wife, some of the phrases are not really "correct". Perhaps correct grammatically, but not "how we would say it in Spain". Like I said, it's ok.