Feb 09 / 5 Comments / Announcements
Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out our survey and have their voice heard. We received thousands of responses from all over the world and got invaluable feedback to improve the site.
Congratulations to the Amazon.com gift card winners Kait N. from Arizona and Ira B. from Connecticut!
We will use everyone’s thoughts to help shape our product development going forward and prioritize where we focus our resources.
In just over a week since launching the new site, we’ve made tons of improvements. If you see anything else we should look into, please report it using the Feedback tab on the right. Due to limited resources we cannot implement each change, but we promise we will read and fully consider every message.
Going forward, we will continue our efforts to bring you the best Spanish reference and language learning materials on the Internet.
Thanks for all your feedback and for using our site!
Saludos,
The SpanishDict Team
Feb 03 / 1 Comments / Announcements
We are proud to introduce a redesigned and much-improved version of SpanishDict.com! In our newest version you’ll find:
- A complete, unabridged dictionary with hundreds of thousands of new translations, examples, and phrases.
- One super-search box to search the dictionaries and translate sentences.
- A streamlined, more intuitive design that is easier to use.
- A new Spanish Grammar section with over 100 clear, concise explanations and interactive grammar quizzes with over 4,000 questions to help you master each skill.
Screenshot of the new grammar quizzes
We have made hundreds of other small improvements, highlights include:
- More powerful lookup: our super-search box recognizes thousands of word variations and points you to the correct entry.
- Try searching for conjugated verbs like “fuiste”, tricky prepositions like “la”, or full phrases like “this is cool” and you’ll find the best results available online.
- Double-click to quickly translate a word throughout the site.
- Easier social sharing of dictionary, conjugation, and other pages.
- Cursor is automatically placed in the search box when the page loads.
- Audio pronunciations of words that are entered into the translate box.
- Direct links to content from the homepage when you are logged in.
- Simplified navigation bar.
- Audio pronunciation for phrasebook entries.
- English verb conjugations.
- Feedback tab to easily send in comments.
We hope you like the new site. If you have any suggestions, find any bugs, or just want to send us a message, click the “Feedback” tab on the right and drop us a line.
¡Saludos!
The SpanishDict Team
Nov 04 / 3 Comments / Announcements
We are happy to announce a powerful new translation tool for numbers, dates, and symbols.
Learning how to translate numbers and dates can be difficult. Traditional dictionaries and translation tools have always come up short—only showing the translations for a few numbers, leaving people to puzzle over the proper translation for larger numbers, dates, and symbols. With SpanishDict’s intelligent translation box, it is now simple. Just type in the date, time, number or symbol and you will receive translations in both Spanish and English.
You can try these examples:
5:00pm - A las cinco de la tarde
4th - el cuarto
173- ciento setenta y tres
06-30-2012 - el sábado, el treinta de junio, dos mil, doce
The range of the new translation tools is impressive. SpanishDict is equipped to handle numbers from −999,999,999,999,999 to 999,999,999,999,999. You can also get full translations on a wide spectrum of decimals, dates, times, common symbols and even smilies :). To get started, just use the following formats:
Numbers: ###,###.##
Dates: MM-DD-YYYY
Time: HH:MMpm
We hope you enjoy the new functionality! Check out a fun little video too!
Mar 07 / 10 Comments / Announcements
We are very excited today to launch the world’s first Spanish-English Video Dictionary, featuring video translations for more than 5,000 of the most popular words and phrases in the Spanish language.
Learning a new language is best when you have access to both audio and visual features, teaching you exactly how to position your mouth when you form a word. The content for each video is based on common phrases you would hear or read while traveling in a Spanish speaking country like “te quiero,” “acomodar,” and “alquilar.”
Key features of the new dictionary feature include:
* HD Video; Studio Quality Audio
- Each video was filmed with high quality, HD video to provide a close-up visual reference of how a native speaker pronounces each word. Add URL for HD video.
* Native Spanish Speaker Pronunciations
- Both quick and slow pronunciation of each word to demonstrate proper pronunciation.
* Contextual Example Sentences
- Full sentences in both Spanish and English to ensure accurate and proper translations.
* Usage Information
- Every video includes the part of speech, gender, and usage tips
We hope you enjoy this new learning resource and that it helps you in perfecting your own Spanish pronunciation. We’d love to hear what you think!
Mar 05 / 11 Comments / Announcements
Overview
The SpanishDict Community Phrasebook allows members to create entries for compound words and phrases that are not currently included in the dictionary. Use it as a great resource to contribute idioms, technical jargon, and even slang. Our goal is 5,000 phrases in 6 months. Can we do it?
Suggest a Phrase
Know a phrase in English or Spanish and want to know how to translate it? Suggest the phrase and let a native speaker fill in the rest of the details. When your phrase gets published, you earn the Phrasebook Contributor badge just for helping out!
Add New Entry
If you know both the English and Spanish for a phrase that is not already in the dictionary, tell us! You can also provide examples, context, regional information, and any additional notes you may know about the phrase.
Top Quality Entries
We’ve appointed a few new moderators around here to help out all our new members (over 225,000!) and to make sure the phrases that represent the SpanishDict community are top quality. Each phrase submitted needs the approval from two moderators before it is included in the official SpanishDict Community Phrasebook.
Integration into the Dictionary
Once a phrase has been approved and is included in the official SpanishDict Community Phrasebook, it will also appear on dictionary entry pages that include that word. So if you look up “snooze” in the dictionary, you will also see “You snooze, you lose” on the same page.
We hope you enjoy (and use!) the new SpanishDict Community Phrasebook. Our members have such an enthusiasm for learning and teaching Spanish and English, that I have no doubt we’ll have the best Phrasebook on the internet in no time!
Sep 29 / 16 Comments / Announcements
Now you can take SpanishDict with you anywhere in the world! No need to be connected to the internet to have access to our complete dictionary, a talking phrasebook, an interactive vocabulary game, the word of the day, and your very own favorites list. And of course, it’s all free!
Browse the full version of our Spanish-English dictionary with the same features you love on the web: multiple definitions, auto-suggest as you type, and audio pronunciations without ever having to be connected to the internet.
The phrasebook includes over 700 phrases and words with audio pronunciations by native Spanish-speakers and both the English and Spanish translations. This is a priceless tool when you are traveling and need to know how to ask “Do you have double rooms?” at a hotel or “Would you like to dance?” to that cutie at the dance club.
The word game is surprisingly addictive for Spanish-speakers of all levels, from beginner to native. The game gives you the word and the pronunciation by a native speaker, and you just have to choose the correct translation. The more words you get right, the harder they become. See if you can get all the way to level 15!
And don’t worry about missing the word of the day if you are away from the internet either. There is a complete set of word of the day entries right there in the app! You can even add your favorite words to your “Favorites” to remember for later or simply to email to yourself.
We are super excited about this new app and how it give you so many more resources for learning and practicing Spanish. You can download it from the iTunes app store. We hope you enjoy it and if you do, please tell your friends and leave positive feedback on the app page in iTunes.
Aug 18 / 9 Comments / Announcements
You can now access SpanishDict from your cell phone! SpanishDict Mobile’s slimmed down interface packs a lot of punch: you can lookup words in the dictionary, translate phrases, and conjugate verbs—all from a single search box. Whether you’re at the supermarket and want to translate Spanish ingredients, or you want to tell your girlfriend’s Spanish-speaking mother what a lovely home she has, you can use SpanishDict Mobile for your Spanish translation needs wherever you are.
SpanishDict Mobile is optimized for your cell phone to present Spanish translations in the clearest, fastest format possible. Here are some of the SpanishDict features you know and love that you can now find on SpanishDict Mobile:
- Word definitions, phrase translations, and verb conjugations that are all available by searching in one single bar
- Quick translations are available for thousands of words
- Jump-to conjugations for any verb that appears on the same page as its definition, so there’s no need to click to another page
- Super fast phrase translations
- The ability to return to the full version of SpanishDict by clicking the link on the bottom of our mobile homepage, just in case you still can’t find what you’re looking for
We hope that SpanishDict Mobile helps make Spanish learning and translation more convenient than ever. Simply visit SpanishDict.com from your cell phone to check it out.
Aug 06 / 27 Comments / Announcements
Welcome to the new SpanishDict.com!
We are delighted to announce the release of the new SpanishDict.com.
With over 100 improvements to the site, we are breaking down the
barriers to learning Spanish. It is now easier than ever to translate
words in our comprehensive dictionary, practice vocabulary with our
multimedia flashcards, get answers to your questions in the Answers
section, and actually learn Spanish with our full-length, professional
video courses. Check out the video for a tour of some of the new
features.
We hope you enjoy the site and good luck with your Spanish!
New Feature Highlights
Dictionary
- Find conjugated verbs - If you enter the word like “fuiste” we will point you to the verb “ir”
- Did You Mean? - a powerful algorithm for suggesting the correct spelling of misspelled words
- Quick dictionary translations – bold, easy-to-find translations are included right at the top of the page for the most common words
- Integrated forum search on the dictionary page – easily find answers relating to your search term
- Intelligent auto suggest - dictionary auto suggestions are sorted by popularity making it more likely that your word is suggested
Answers Forum
- All new answers forum that is faster, prettier, and more helpful
- Auto preview your question as you type
- Auto-suggested answers as you ask a question
- Thumbs up for good questions and answers
- Flagging of spam, commercial, and inaccurate posts
- Reputation system that unlocks more features as you earn more reputation
- Badges system that recognizes great contributions to the site and makes participation more engaging
Chat
- One-on-one video and text chat that matches you with other users who are looking to practice
- Sample conversations that you can use to practice your Spanish
- Quick translation tool that translates words and phrases without leaving the page
Flashcards
- Popular flashcard sets are previewed directly on the front page
- Creating flashcards is easier than ever with one-click auto translations
- Challenge a friend to score a higher score than you with the challenge a friend link
- Print flashcards in a pre-formatted flashcard layout
Learn Spanish
- Compare your writing and speaking responses with new model answer responses
- Check the spelling of your response on the Write section of the lessons
Reference
- Reference articles are intelligently linked to dictionary search results: search for “ser” and we will show you a quick link to the “ser verses estar” article in the reference
- Reference articles will improve and expand over time as the top contributors to the site will now have the ability to create and edit articles
There is really a lot more to show off, but I will leave a few surprises for you to discover. Hope you like the new features. Leave your feedback in the comments.
Jun 30 / 1 Comments / Language
You know when you are traveling abroad, feeling all confident after taking all those lessons and studying all those flashcards, and you walk into a little cafe or restaurant, ask for some peach juice, and the waiter just stares at you? You know you formed your question correctly, you studied so hard and even consulted the phrase book before asking! Well, did you ask for “zumo de melocotón” or “jugo de durazno”? It makes all the difference.
Depending on where you are, Spanish food vocabulary can be completely different from what you may have learned. And while this may be frustrating at times, it is also one of the greatest things about Spanish and it’s ability to adapt and evolve with the people who are speaking it. I mean, think about all the different ways English-speakers have come up with to say bathroom: toilet, water closet, loo, restroom, etc. So I say take this chance to learn a few extra words that all mean the exact same thing! That way when you are traveling in Argentina, you won’t get that disappointed look from that cute waiter or waitress. Take a look at a few more examples I found below and study hard!
Popcorn: palomitas (Mexico, Spain), cabritas (Chile), crispeta (Colombia), pochoclo (Argentina, Uruguay), cotufas (Venezuela), rositas (Cuba), popororo (Guatemala)
Catfish: siluro (Spain), bagre (Latin America)
Tortilla: tortilla (Mexico and central America), omelete-like egg dish (Spain)
Strawberry: frutilla (Argentina), fresa (Spain, Latin America, South America)
Avocado: palta (Bolivia, Peru, Southern Cone*), aguacate (Spain, Latin America, Northern South America)
Sweetcorn: maíz (understood everywhere), tierno, elote (Mexico), choclo (South America), jojoto (Venezuela)
Bean: poroto (Argentina), alubia, judía (Southern Cone*), frijol (Spain), caraota (Venezuela)
Pepper: pimiento (Spain), ají (Argentina, Uruguay, Peru), pimentón (South America), chile (Mexico)Variants in Spanish Food Vocabulary
Jun 02 / 0 Comments / Language
When I am traveling, I find that many of the people I meet are so wonderful and open to helping out a traveler who just wants to learn a little more about their culture, country, or town. I also find that I am saying “gracias” about a hundred times a day! So in an effort to expand my daily vocabulary, which is always a good idea anyway, I sought out some new and maybe even poetic ways to give thanks for all the little, and big, things total strangers do for me when I need it the most.
I find that saying Te agradezco la ayuda/la información/etc. is a great way to communicate a deep thankfulness and appreciation for whatever the person just gave you. A couple other similar phrases are Estoy agradecido por…(or of course Estoy agradecida if you are a woman) and Siento agradecido/a por…They all mean about the same thing, being thankful and appreciative of whatever the person has given you.
Another of my favorite ways to be thankful is to relate to the person just how much they have helped me. Me ha ayudado mucho/muchísimo (You have helped me so much) or Me ayudará la información, etc. (This information will really help me.) It’s always a good idea to let the person know that not only do you appreciate what they he or she has given you but that you will be using it in the future. You just have to remember your future tense, right?
Last of all, if I find I have exhausted these other thank yous and I am really looking to impress, I might try something a little more formal. Te doy gracias por… is always a winner. It may be a little old fashioned and formal, but you know some people are really into all the pomp and circumstance.
So, there is a thank you for each and every situation, and I can promise that a well thought out thank you can take a long way when you happen to be a long way from home. So try a few of these newfangled terms of appreciation, you’ll thank me!
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