This book is an extremely extensive Spanish vocabulary guide that also doubles as a Spanish-English dictionary. It has many sections, among which the two most notable ones are the unusually large sections focusing on colloquial (slang and generally informal) language and on cognate patterns. Learning these cognate patterns will help you expand your vocabulary enormously and very rapidly by learning to predict word meanings and the existence of words in Spanish. Other significant sections focus on expressions (with many complete sentences) related to travel, food, education, emergencies, and basic conversation. The largest part of the book is the A-to-Z Spanish-to-English section. There is an also an excellent por vs. para section (with a great summary, followed by the more complete portion).

Basically, this is the book that the author wishes he could have purchased thirty five years ago, when he began to study the language seriously. Although there are innumerable Spanish language textbooks and grammar books, there are few intermediate and advanced vocabulary books, and those that do exist are far too limited in both scope and scale. Likewise, the existing "street" or slang dictionaries for learners of Spanish are also far too limited. This work seeks to fill those gaps. The author has worked on it for many years, and has written it with the experience of being both a teacher and a student (a student of a few languages). Given that dual perspective, this book would be a great resource for any and all purchasers, including (but not limited to) serious college-level learners, do-it-yourselfers who look for language-learning guides at the local bookstore or library, travelers who want to be able to truly engage with the locals in the Spanish-speaking world, medical professionals, first responders, anyone who works with Spanish-speaking customers, and more.