Franklin BES1940 Speaking Spanish-English Dictionary

I bought the translator for my wife who is learning English. Yes, nowadays there are a lots of on-line translators and cool English learning web pages, but when you are without WIFI you still want to have an "independent" handheld device. My wife is happy and finds it very useful. It's not too big or heavy, and its contents very comprehensive. It "talks" too so you can review the pronunciation of the words. If it starts "Mumbling" or becomes difficult to understand it's a sign to change the batteries. Please note that it doesn't translate phrases, only individual words. It has some "built-in" phrases for reference, though. Good product!

I put my son in a language based school to learn Spanish. Knowing it was a challenge, I got this for him for Christmas. His grades and participation have improved. Love the product and the ease of it. Would definitely recommend!

For the price, this dictionary has many features and seems fairly easy to use. It's certainly light weight and transports easily. My daughter has used it primarily for looking up meanings of words. However, if you're looking for the added benefit of the "talking" dictionary, it's OK, but not great. It's difficult to understand the mechanical/robotic-like voice as it pronounces the Spanish words very quickly. So quickly, in fact, that had I not had some understanding of the language and been able to repeat things for my daughter, she likely wouldn't get much out of it in the pronunciation arena.

My aged father-in-law from Colombia finally wore out another Franklin that he has used almost daily for almost 10 years. Finally had dropped the old one for the last time. It was amazing, how it took abuse...almost could not read the logo anymore. I was worried that he might not be quick to adapt to a 'new-fangled' one. I was wrong. He went to the directions, mastered the device, and it chirps at us regularly throughout his day. He began learning English at 57, and he has been a student of improving his skills since. Even with Parkinson's set in, he loves to learn.

A straight-forward interface with the option of utilizing both English and Spanish messages, you'll find a wealth of useful phrases and a full dictionary with the option to hear the phrases and words that you seek. I have several to use in my ELL classroom and my students enjoy them greatly. I find that the greatest issue that they have is the weak sound system that they pack. Even in dead silence, some of the words and phrases are quite difficult to hear. Still, as long as you're literate and interested in learning either English or Spanish, you'll find this to be well worth the money. My students enjoy it enough that some have actually purchased this model of the translator for themselves.

This is such a great device. You will have to read the instructions to get the best use out of it. It is a bit confusing at first to get it to speak the words But, if you are good with instructions, it is awesome. It will help with both English and Spanish. I highly recommend it. I was very impressed by the quality of the voice.

This is pretty worthless. Difficult to use. The screen is not easy to read. The translations are ridiculous. I took this with me to Cuba, and eventually stopped using it entirely because the translations were so unreliable, and it made me feel foolish. Total waste of time and money.

I bought this product for my eight year old daughter. She enjoys all the features that this product offers. This product allow you to learn the meaning of new words and hear the right pronounciation of that word in english and spanish. A must have.