Dictionary Reviews

This book is extremely good if your are planning to visit Korea for personal or business reasons, or if you are learning the language and would like to enrich your Korean repetoire. The first part of the book has common expressions, greetings, daily interaction terms, business and travel terms, emergency situation terms, and terms to let you express nearly everything your can think of quickly and easily. The book has the english phrase on the left, its Korean counterpart is then written on the right hand side with the way to pronounce the phrase next to it. In addition to having these phrases, the book takes time out to teach a little about Korean culture, tradition, and etiquette. The second part of the book is a very good dictionary that has a ENGLISH - KOREAN section and a KOREAN - ENGLISH section. The book's small size and the fact that it has a clear, vinyl-like covering makes it the perfect book to take with you.

Excellent
This is all i need to say

I found this book to be quite helpful. I just came back from Korea last month and the book helped me a great deal. I taught myself Hangul and I learned quite a few words from this book. The grammar section is also helpful. And even when I didn't know how to say something, my hosts would pick up the book and look for the phrase in Korean and then point to the English equivalent for me. Between that book and there Korean-English Dictionary, we did quite well.

This book has over 800 pages of visual items and then arrows that point to them and tell you what they're called. For example, on one two page spread an entire passenger liner ship is drawn with all the names of all the rooms and terraces and parts and compenents. just looking at the drawing inspires a mystery set aboard a cruise ship! Chapter Headings include "Astronomy" "Geography" "Farming" "Architecture" "House" "House Furniture" "Gardening" "Clothing" "Communications" "Road Transport" "Rail Transport" "Air Transport" "Weapons", and many, many more.

This an excellent tool and I'd recommend it for anyone who wants to know their way around places you might not already know your way around!

This fabulous book serves as an instant vocabulary enhancer and is packed with finely illustrated pictures that not only widen one's knowledge but also make for hours of wholesome entertainment.

I used to design publications and what I love about this book is the amazing quality of the color illustrations. There are thousands of them and they have all been computer generated so the style and quality is uniform. Looking at the spreads, for example, on Airport, Downtown or Wind Instruments and the time and creativity involved must have been tremendous. The design and printing of the book is excellent.

The authors want this book to be as practical as possible, Indoor Games includes a page on hands of cards, a House Furniture page shows six different spoons.

Another reviewer has noted that this lovely book would seem ideal for those learning American English and also for anyone who is just interested in finding out the name of everyday items.

A similar treatment to words can be seen in the Dorling Kindersley 'Visual Encyclopedia' (at a very much cheaper price) here the images are mostly photos and as the name implies there is a lot more information about each subject.

Both books are a joy to look at and unfortunately this only points up the bland design and production of most other highly visual books.

Small enough to fit in a pocket and carry with you everywhere, this guide to translating the menus in Germany should be with you in every restaurant.

I read it on the plane and was able to know what I was ordering at the first meal. My co-workers thought that I spoke German because I knew exactly what I wanted and exactly what I was getting.

Thank you to the author. You made my trip a pleasant one.

I used the Menu Master (I call it a Menu Finder) for eight months in Germany. I also briefly used the French edition in France, and the Italian edition in Italy. My general comments are the same for all three. I look forward to using the Spanish edition someday.

A small, hip pocket, book bound in vinyl it can see rough service virtually anywhere. It is easy to use from Suppe zu den Nüsse (soup to nuts). And is actually organized from the appetizer to dessert. It is thorough in identifying the different preparations and nuances in service. Once you read the instructions and do the menu exercise included at the back, you will have little or no trouble ordering your favorites. Believe me, it is good to know the difference between Schinken (Ham) and Schnecken (Snails)...

This is a small, durable book, designed to be used unobtrusvely at a restarant. I have been using it in Germany for about a month and find that it covers about 60% of the items on the menu. One feature that I like about the book was that it explains how the item is prepared so non-culinary types can understand. One area that I felt could be improved is an all-inclusive alpabetical listing to replace the "mit" section. It could also include some essential phrases like how to get the bill or ask for silverware, etc. I would rate this as an essential reference for anyone planning on eating alot on the economy in Germany.

incredible source for resolving difficult crosswords..best resource on the market, bar none...wish the publisher would do another printing...

I have a thumb indexed hardcover version that I just happened upon at a Navy Exchange Store in California. When I bought it, I had no idea how much I'd use it. It has gone with me around the world on several different aircraft carriers, and has been used by me and my shipmates as we whiled away the hours at sea. Since then the book has gone out of print, and that is a tradgedy! This book has to be the best of its kind. It's not as easy to use as some of the newer crossword dictionaries, but once you learn HOW to use it, there's nothing that even comes close to it in content. And it comes in handy as a regular dictionary when you come across a word or foreign phrase in a book are article that isn't in your standard dictionary. I've found information in this tome that I couldn't find anywhere else. If you love to read and/or do crosswords, this book is indispensible. My edition is still in fair shape, but I'd love to see a revised edition. What was Doubleday thinking when they stopped the presses?

Best dictionary I own not only for crosswords but for school papers,I would like to find it on a computer cd to go along with my New York Times puzzle site.

If you have little or no knowledge of the Italian language, this book is a great place to start. It will take you through all of the basics and prepare you for further studies. However, it will not teach you everything you need to know about Italian. It's only a nice introduction to the language.

Last April I spent 10 days in Italy with my family. I am a language fanatic so I used the trip as an opportunity to try out a new language similar to two that I had already studied (French and Spanish). This book really helped me learn the basics of conversational Italian, without being bogged down by intense grammar sessions and cumbersome textbooks. It is arranged like a children's language book with pictures and workbook pages that really help you become interactive with your learning.

Despite some reviewers, I enjoyed the fact that there were no tapes or CDs attached to this book. Listening to tapes for long stretches of time is, frankly, boring, and I know that I can just as easily fall asleep listening to tapes than actually learn the language. This book is fabulous for learning some Italian for a trip, but probably not for a long term study of the language. It is only an introduction and I know that I said I like the minimum amount of grammar in the book but a serious student would be stunted by those missing lessons.

One more comment that I would like to add is that I did not have the recommended amount of time to study with this book before my trip. Nonetheless, I learned Italian that helped me be polite, but maybe not a stellar conversationalist. The people there (and I would guess just about anywhere) appreciate visitors attempts at the native language. It shows common courtesy and acknowledges that you are visiting them, and not vice versa. There is too much Anglophone superiority in our country and, no matter which book you choose, learning some Italian is really appreciated.

The "10 minutes a day" books are a simple introduction in learning the basics of a foreign language. The layouts are in a workbook format that include puzzles, cut-out flash cards and sticky labels that you can place around your house to help you build your vocabulary. Easy to read, easy to follow and enjoyable. You'll build a vocabulary foundation that includes numbers, colors, how to tell time, the question words (who, what, when, where, how)and more. The simplicity of the books makes learning fun and you'll find your are spending more than 10 minutes. As a beginner in learning Italian myself, I paired this book with the Pimsleur Italian CD's. Reading vocabulary is one thing, but Pimsleur is really idea for comprehending how the language is spoken by native speakers.

The content includes opening dialogue, practice, and short dialogue from the textbook Japanese for busy people.

Merits of this product:

1.Pronounciation is excellent.

2.Practice section is my favorite part of this product. By listening CD , I can practice the pattern change in my mind instead of relying on reading the book. This is helpful for my study because pattern change of verb is one of most difficult in learning Japanese. There are quite some practices in Japanese for Busy People. Yet, no answers are provided in the textbook or workbook. So these CD gives me a chance to correct errors I could make. Lack of repeat made me to stop CD constantly, rewound, and played it again in order to understand the context and try to imitate what the CD said.

Demerits:

1.Opening dialogue only be read once at normal speed. For students learning this material, such speed is a bit too fast. If the material can be repeated at slower speed, then it will give me a chance by listening and speaking.

2.No vocabulary. Although vocabulary is inside the opening dialogue, some other language products provide another section by just saying those vocabularies again.

In short, the product has excellent quality. It serves the need for practicing conversation, listening, and pattern change that can't be provided by reading the book alone. However, there are certainly some places the product can be improved. So, I gave it 4 stars.

Excellent lessons and audio CD's - Very Highly Recommended.

I'm a person who has been learning japanese for 6 months by himself. I've read tens of books and listened to many tapes and CDs. Among all the products I have, I believe the set of Japanese For Busy People is wonderful. Especially, thanks to their CDs (which help a great deal),I'm now able to speak pretty good Japanese,in such a short time.

What I would recommend the pals who like to learn Japanese is that first finish reading the books and review them all by listening to the CDs. Conversations on CDs are so clear to listen. There are no pauses after the sentences for you to repeat but,for those who always keep on listening to the CDs, after some time, those pauses might become really boring.

To cut the long story short folks, Japanese For Busy People set should always be on top of other study books and CDs.

The Pad is a nice little reminder to work each day on leaning Kanji, which works as well as the effort you put in each day. I found it fun and occasionally a conversation piece having it on my desk at work !! A novel, and useful, gift for someone beginning to learn Japanese.

I bought this pad on the recommendation of the previous reviews for it (see above) and I can honestly say I wasn't disappointed. For each day, it displays stroke order, Japanese and Chinese readings and then examples of words in which the new character can be used. The succession of new characters is also very well-chosen; the author seems to have made sure that you don't have to learn 20-stroke beasts too early on! It'd be great if he devised a Volume II, as this pad seems to be the most painless way to learn kanji if you don't think you're quite ready for the radicals and components etc.

Mr. Keirstead's Kanji-A-Day Practice Pad serves as a constant reminder that ANY task can be accomplished if you tackle it one step at a time, one day at a time. Well sure enough, by studying just ONE kanji character a day, after a year, I could pick up a standard Japanese novel and understand at least 70% of the novel with little or no difficulty. If you are new to Japanese, I recommend you obtain the Kana-A-Day Practice Pad as a primer to the Kanji-A-Day Practice Pad

This book has survived being stuffed into my bookbag everyday for several school years, and I've taken it with me on a trip to Germany. I'm planning on taking it with me when I go to Germany in a few weeks. The spine hasn't broken and the plastic cover hasn't torn. It's rare that I haven't been able to find the word that I needed in this book, and the list of irregular verbs is very helpful. I own two German-English dictionaries, and, in spite of the fact that the other one is thicker and looks more likely to be useful, I absolutely prefer this one.

This is a rare example of a pocket dictionary which can both fit in your pocket and be very useful when you're out and about. It has lasted me for eight years without falling apart and is easy to use with a thumb index for both the English-German and German-English sections. The dictionary leaves out some of the more obscure words and phrases from the larger versions of the Langenscheidt German dictionaries and is therefore perfect for people on the move who need a quick translation of an unknown word.

Added features include a phonetic alphabet chart, conversion tables and formulas for temperatures, weights and measures, lists of both German and English irregular verbs, a small grammar section plus translations of German propers names, states and abbreviations.

This book promises to be very durable. It has flexible plastic covers and a binding which seems to be sewn, instead of being glued together.

It's size makes it convenient for carrying on a trip, since it will easily fit in a purse, jacket pocket or fanny pack. Despite its small size, it has over 55,000 references in 672 pages.

There's even an ABC Thumb Index at the edge of each page, making it easy to find any entry.

In a recent trip to Italy, I found the Lonely Planet Italian Phrasebook to be helpful while buying train tickets and making basic transactions. The book stayed in my pocket as insurance against any situation that I may run into where the other party did not speak any English. (The book is a very good size for living in a pocket). I did find, however, in the heavy tourist areas of Italy, many people speak a little bit of English. So, I did not use the phrasebook as much as I had expected.

As a suggestion, take a small dictionary along with the phrasebook. The dictionary in the back of the book is incomplete. You will need a dictionary to translate signs and labels.

I suggest purchasing the phrasebook, but buy a small dictionary also. WIth the combination, you should have a pleasant trip in Italy.

After travelling to Italy several times in the last few years for both work and pleasure, I have found this to be by far the best phrasebook available. The grammar is correct, there is instruction on improving your Italian capabilities and useful side information on everything from menus to dating. Not a substitute for practice and study, of course, but certainly the best available phrase book for Italian (believe me, I've tried at least 4 others!)

I highly recommend this little book for anyone wanting to function quickly in Italian. We just got back from a trip to Italy and I found the little book a great help. My only regret is that I did not begin working with it a couple months before taking off. If you don't have time to do a full fledged course in Italian, this little book will get you operational in no time at all. And the Italians love it when they see you making an effort!

This book teaches the Basics of Swahili grammer and gives a person tons of words and phrases. One could learn some basic Swahili phrases from this and even think in Swahili numbers, but besides that, it is mostly a tourist manual, and unless you plan on being in rural East Africa, and are very polite, do you need to really know tourist Swahili if a large majority of the people will already have the ability to understand you in English?

Very good! I am fully confident that it will help me wonderfully when I go to Kenya this summer. I will be buying more of Lonely Planet's Phrasebooks when I go on missions trips to different countries in the future.

There just aren't that many swahili dictionaries or phrasebooks out there, and this one turns out to be useful too. Its small size makes it easy to take everywhere and the sections give travelers a good feel for the language without being too overwhelmed by swahili's many noun classes. I would recommend it more as a reference than as a stand-alone teaching tool, but the english-swahili, swahili-english dictonary is comprehensive and useful for travelers with all degrees of Kiswahili fluency. My copy has turned somewhat brown from all the dust, but the book has held up well. I would hate to be stuck in East Africa without it.