Do I really need reference books?
Dear Sir/Madam,
With all of the online sources out there, is it really necessary to have books? I've found that i have alot of books that i don't read bc i find the information online and would like to get rid of the books. The books that I'm thinking of getting rid of are the 501 spanish verbs and my spanish dictionary http://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Spoken-Spanish-Armed-Forces/dp/0385009763. Please let me know your thoughts.
Thank you, M
4 Answers
I'm 51 years old, so I come from the era of books, but honestly, I don't use them that much. It's so much faster and easier to look things up on the internet.
I have a nice $40 dictionary, the Collins Spanish-English dictionary. It's actually awesome. But the same thing, word for word, is available at http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-spanish/ , and it's free. Also it's usually easier to search a long page on the internet with your browser's search function than to wade through 6 column inches of type in a book.
The verb book is pretty much available here, though the examples given in one of the verb books like 501 or Big Red are really nice and something you don't get in a mere conjugation table.
You've got $30 worth of books there and they may be useful. I'd keep them if I were you.
But instead of buying more books, spend your money on Pimsleur or Learning Spanish Like Crazy. You'll get more out of those.
Hi obrasencurso,
Well in my opinion no you don't need any books (I'm learning Spanish and so far I didn't need any book), but sometimes you'll need those books for example: when you're away from your computer, when the internet connection is disabled, ...ect.
So do keep the books you never know! you may need them one day 
P.s: Books are boring and they do not encourage anyone to study, online references are interesting and nicely organized so you never get bored of them
Yes, you can find alot of knowledge related to languages online today, but how do you really know that all of the information you want to use is accurate/reliable/correct?
The advantage of books is that they have to be edited and published by people with technical expertise in the related field which, although not guaranteed to be an infallible process, provides a degree of protection for the consumer not yet provided through the internet! After all who checks that the online information you need is accurate?
You would have to already have a reasonably advanced knowledge of languages and other matters you might be interested in looking up to enable you to be assured that the information you were seeking is accurate but if you already knew that much would you be needing to find it on the internet?
Why are you trying to get rid of your books? Are you simply trying to save money or just think that you could learn Spanish better without them?
The reality is that you could learn languages and become fluent without using books if you were to go and live abroad in a Spanish-speaking country,and fully immerse yourself in the language, culture and social activity of the country and learn it like a young child does simply though constant practice interacting with the natives ...but books can be useful too !
The two aides you have mentioned: 501 Spanish verbs and a Spanish Dictionary have proven to be the most useful off line tools that have helped me develop my written Spanish However it is your choice...if you feel you can make better progress without them go ahead
In my experience, the books "out there" don't really measure up as of yet.
An exception is the RAE's DPD, dictionary and their lookup into historical documents. Otherwise, I'm underwhelmed. But there's no reason why things won't change.
