Resumo de Collins Pons English-german German-english Dictionary

Fat, heavy and black: the Collins German Dictionary is the most frequently required dictionary on any german language program above GCSE. This is a useful book if you plan to learn German for more than a couple of months, and an absolute necessity (not necessarily because its good, but because of its incessant appearance on reading lists) if you plan to study at AS, A2, degree or any other such level.
The Collins German Dictionary is however the heaviest book you will perhaps ever have to carry, something to bear in mind if you were thinking of purchasing it as a multi-purpose dictionary, and it very definitely should not be bought as an all-rounder. You will also need, without a doubt, another smaller dictionary to help you out when you have all those other lovely books in your satchel and can't face being weighed down by the elephantine bible of German words.
Another thing to bear in mind is that, although the Collins German Dictionary most certainly one of (if not the) best of its kind, there is a tendency to 'grow out' of it. It has, that is, a rather shorter lifespan than one might think on first purchasing it. No, this is not just because the spine breaks off in the first two years you have it: this in fact is because the dictionary, the very same on which you swore your life on in the pre- and beginner years of university, does actually contain a surprising number of errors (or, perhaps more kindly, a number of inperfections). These are mostly in the form of mistranslations of sayings (especially english ones) which tend to be interpretted rather more seriously than the average english person might normally take them to mean.
And one final Bemerkung to make: the Collins Dictionary should by no means be seen as a friend in times of need. The sheer number of entries per word make it often impossible to know which one to choose, making the dictionary more of a hinderance (especially in those last few minutes of an exam when the massive weight of all those pages adds to the impossiblity of finding the right word fast...) than a life-saver.
There is one thing that can however be said in the poor thing's favour: and that is that even after many years of ill treatment and spilled coffee, the pages do, against all odds, remain in place, exactly where they were once glued. And even through all those late nights and hungover mornings where it will be lost and forgotten under towels and clothes and kicked under desks it can be guaranteed that the Collins German Dictionary will remain a faithful, constant, if sometimes incorrect, companion. And that it should be noted, cannot be said about many other things in those troubled student years.
Buy it because you have to. And as you begin to realise its mistakes and faults, be assured that it will be growing old and tattered at the same pace as yourself.

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