The Spanish SpeakOut guide combines a dictionary, menu decoder, and phrasebook in one durable, pocket-sized package, with color photos throughout. Written by native speakers in an accessible, easy-to-understand style, it introduces Spain and her people and provides entertaining insights into the delights of regional Spanish cuisine. Readers learn how to follow a menu in Spanish and order local specialties like paella in the southeast or hearty stews inland, as well as tapas throughout the country. Dialogue boxes throughout the two-way dictionary ensure that travelers can deal with every situation, from booking a hotel room to filling the car with gas. In addition, two PopOut phrase menus provide instant access to 200 essential phrases on eating, shopping, traveling, and sightseeing, and a light-up pen in the spine can be used on note pages at the back of the dictionary.

There’s a difference between learning a language and being able to speak it with the familiarity of a native speaker. This book fills that gap, clarifying tricky words and expressions and illuminating the finer points of Spanish wordplay and double meanings.

Spanish is the official language of twenty countries, and you are probably planning on visiting one of these.