Dictionary Reviews

Langenscheidt Pocket Spanish Grammar is ideal as a supplementary grammar. Although one could use it as a primary grammar book it lacks exercises and vocabulary to memorize. One of the best aspects for the bilingual learner is that all of the grammatical explanations are written in English with clear examples that illustrate intended points of comprehension. As well, this is a excellent supplementary grammar because it has sections on punctuation, capitalization, writing correspondence, etc... that are not always common in an introductory Spanish grammar book. I think that this book can be help full to anyone taking Spanish classes in college or any one living in a Spanish speaking country. Another bonus of this book is the high quality binding and compact yet useable size.

This used to be part of Cassell's Contemporary Italian/French/Spanish/German series, which are now out of print. I have them all the they are the best grammar books I own. I am a language buff and own several grammars and these are the best! I had been looking for the Cassell's Contemporary Italian recently and discovered the Langenscheidt Pocket Grammars are the Cassell's Contemporary series in new editions.

Every grammar ever written should have been written like this! I've messed around with more languages than I can count and never have I encountered anything like Langenscheidt's Pocket German.

A big strength of this attractive little book is that it assumes you want to learn the language for its own sake. In 500 pages, only about 20 are devoted to expressions a tourist might use, and even then probably only by the serious traveller. The rest of the book is more of a guide to proper German usage than a traditional foreign-language manual. Even so, Part I (160 pages) is an excellent, concise introduction to German grammar.

Part II is the real marvel of this book. Here I find exactly what is lacking in so many grammars (German or otherwise): 120 pages of German SENTENCES with the TRANSLATION directly below. Being a foreign-language tutor myself, I know that most students will study page after page of grammar yet end up rarely being able to put a cogent sentence together. Just memorizing tables and word-endings is not the proper way to learn a foreign language anymore than it was the proper way to learn your own.

Langenscheidt's Pocket German takes a big step in remedying this problem. It presents the student thousands of sentences in German for easy study. The translation immediately below helps the student to understand the original, whether it be complicated or not. (In other words, here the student decides what is difficult, not the authors of the book.)

In Part II, moreover, basic expressions are grouped thematically. Let me give an example. In section 90 of Part II ("Refusing Permission") there are 21 related expressions divided into two categories, formal and informal. The first is "Das ist grundsätzlich verboten" / "That is absolutely forbidden". Then you find, "I am sorry, but I don't agree with that," "The doctor has forbidden me to smoke," "I am reluctant to let you go back to work," and so on. Then in the "informal" category, you find "Nein, lieber nicht"/"No better not" and "It's against the rules," ... und so weiter. Unlike most grammars that give the student just a few expressions that subsequently get used over and over again to the point of growing almost stale, this book offers immediate exposure to a variety of different ways of saying the same thing.

Finally, Part III is also invaluable. It is devoted to "building word power." Like the thematic arrangement of expressions in Part II, this section groups words together in thematic vocabularies. For example, under the general heading "Literature and Music," we find subcategories such as "Books, plays, and poetry" with lists of perhaps 150-200 words relevant to that topic. This is indespensible to being able to express yourself intelligently on a subject of particular interest.

In sum, this book is extraordinarily well balanced. It combines a good dose of basic grammar with an extensive section on stylistics and excellent thematic vocabularies. After learning the basic grammar in Part I, the student can immediately reinforce it in Part II by studying an abundance of short examples, while also improving his or her command of style. Finally, Part III allows the student to round off his or her technical control of German with an extensive vocabulary. In short, only accompanying audiocassettes or a CD could make this book better than it is. 5,000 stars!

Larousse sets the standard for pocket dictionaries. This "nouveau dictionnaire de poche: français-anglais" is the best small french-english/english-french dictionary one can find. The January, 2000 edition has 120,000 translations, which is 40,000 more than the 1999 editon and well worth the five dollar increase in price. This dictionary is excellent for quick translations and is very up-to-date with usage.

I was translating a rather involved and esoteric webpage from French to English and picked this up to supplant a much weaker dictionary; I was not disappointed. It proved to be of great value.

It's big, the entries are easy to work with, it covers slang, it has good pronunciation guides. Would serve one well in commercial, private or educational use.

This has been my dictionary of choice for over 25 years. It captures the nuances of the french language and translates them into common sense English. Larousse has always been up-to-date in providing current slang and "street" language as is spoken every day in France. A priceless reference.

The Latin grammar by James Morwood is a smoothly flowing, accessible guide to the Latin language, providing many short sentence examples and explaining nouns and noun inflection, adjectives, adverbs, verb conjugation, and sentence construction in depth. The readability is excellent, and the information presented is easily utilized.

This book is directed mostly at more advanced students of language whom have a grasp of basic language vocabulary
(e.g. verbs, declensions, cases, tenses, etc.). It is none the less very helpful to the begginer student as well because of its lexicon of language words at the beggining of the book with in-depth descriptions of each case, tense, declension, and so on.

Intelligently organized and formatted, this Latin grammar is an excellent resource for beginning and intermediate Latin students. In his preface, the author states that he intends the book to supersede the classic Latin grammar written by Benjamin Hall Kennedy. I'm not familiar with that work, apparently a mainstay of British Latin students for generations. My own acquaintance is with the grammars of American Latinists such as Bennett, Gildersleeve, Hadley, and Allen & Greenough.

The author has wisely chosen to leave out cumbersome, needless detail. Instead, clarity and simplicity are everywhere in abundance. Each section describing a specific grammatical point begins with examples of the construction -- if an analogue exists -- in English. In an age where students' knowledge of basic English grammar can no longer be taken for granted, this is a useful feature indeed.

Arguably the best feature of the book is the way in which grammar points are illustrated by short, easily comprehensible Latin sentences in bold type, with accompanying translations. To his credit, Morwood has studiously avoided the approach found in grammars of yesteryear, viz., using much longer sentences pulled out of classical Latin authors such as Caesar or Cicero to illustrate even the most simple grammatical rule.

The value of the book for teachers is enhanced by the inclusion in each chapter of practice sentences in both Latin (some of which are from classical authors) and English. Separate English-Latin and Latin-English vocabularies at the back of the book are designed to accompany the practice exercises. There is also a "reference grammar" overview of the verb system, bordered with a grey margin for ease of reference. The book also contains a very handy Glossary of Grammatical Terms.

In all, a splendid little book of enormous utility; highly recommended for those seeking a clearly written and easy to understand treatment of basic Latin grammar.

I originally purchased this book to use in conjunction with Martial's Epigrams. The Walter Ker Loeb then in use was published after the turn of the century and is very bowdlerized, unlike the current Shackleton Bailey which uses current vulgar equivalents. I had a most unexpected surprise when I was reading some of the earlier books in Colleen McCullough's Fall of the Roman Republic series. Ms. McCullough is very conscientious and considerate of her readers in providing a glossary at the end of each book, but at one point, I found her mistranslating the noun irrumator (and the cognate verb irrumo), as involving the passive rather than active participant in certain misbehaviour. Like the dedicated professional that she is, McCullough corrected the mistake with a courageous admission of fault in her next volume and I can only assume that it was brought to her attention by another owner of James Adams' fine work. It is certainly handier (and far less expensive) than using an Oxford Latin Dictionary and offers a far more interesting exposition of the subject areas than any mere reference work. I highly recommend it and commend the Johns Hopkins Press for publishing such an esoteric but worthy project.

Do not be deceived: this is a scholarly work which deals with Latin sexual terms in a clinical and analytical manner. I purchased this book for a college Latin course and discovered it to be bereft of titillation, although the bright orange cover and stark, simple black lettering of my edition raised more than a few eyebrows when I studied in the student center. But if you are curious what the Roman terms for some of our expletives were, or if you want to learn Roman epithets and sexual insults which do not even possess an English equivalent, then this is the book for you. It is also indispensable for reading and understanding the works of Horace and especially Catullus in the original Latin.

A brilliant approach to a risque topic. Untouched by other linguists, the Latin sexual vocabulary is a jewel that J.N. Adams exposes. A must have for anyone who enjoys snuggling-up with a good Latin romance.

I love Le Mot Juste. My 1987 edition copy is well-worn. It is good to see that the book is continuing to be updated. Sylvester Mawson's original version was published in 1934!

Nearly always, I have been successful in finding expressions I have looked up in these pages. But, if you are like me, a lover of lists, you will enjoy browsing when you are not hunting for the meaning of a word.

In my edition, the definitions are not separated into language groups, which means you don't have to know which language the expression comes from. But I would guess that most users of the book would have some idea of the likely section to hunt in. Could be confusing with Italian and Spanish, though!

Recommended for all lovers of language.

In a world where many foreign words and phrases have become increasingly common in both spoken and written English, this book is almost a necessity.

It clarifies numerous words and phrases from Greek, Latin, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, and Yiddish that are used, and just as often, misused, by English speakers and writers.

A few examples:

Under French we find "maison de societe" which literally translates to society house. I had always thought that this must refer to the manor in which some rich or powerful personage resided. No way! It really means a brothel. That's a good one not to misuse.

Here's another from the French language: How many of us know that "bel air" means poise, grace, or good deportment?

Any of us who have ever followed a court case have probably heard the Latin expression "in camera." That literally translates to "in a room," but really means "proceedings conducted in secret."

Now for one from the Italian. We have often heard that someone is a dilettante and most of us probably have some vague sense of what the word means, but how many of us could accurately define dilettante if asked? I'd hazard a guess that the honest answer would be "very few." A dilettante is an amateur, particularly an amateur lover of the arts, but there is a subtler nuance to the word. It also means that this amateur is one who approaches the subject with little or no serious study, and may well pretend to have more knowledge than he actually has.

This is just the surface. LE MOT JUSTE defines and discusses such disparate words and phrases as "Kung Fu," "Pandora's Box," "Nabob." "Kismet, Kimono, and Kibitzer," to name but a few. It also emphasises the nuances that often give the words and phrases their fuller meaning.

It's a good book for any literate person's book shelf.

I bought my first copy of this book ten years ago, and used it until it literally fell apart. This book should be included in any home library, especially in homes with students.

A book on learning French that you'll actually use and really enjoy!

This is one language guidebook you won't need to put on your lowest bookshelf to stop feeling guilty for not keeping at it.

Thanks to the author for bringing us some joie de vivre.

This book is like the cliff notes for the whole French language! I read it as help for my French film class and it really worked. I could focus much more on the screen and less on the subtitles!

Finally, a book on learning a language that isn't just lists of vocabulary words and dreadful grammar exercises! This book urges readers to just focus on the important things to learn and to forget the rest.

I like the book, but where is the cassette?

It helps you introduce the subject to young latin students. Its a workbook, a painting book. It introduces mythology stories concise and dynamic.

Children's natural fascination with mythology is used as a springboard for learning Latin in this engaging illustrated handbook. A variety of activities and exercises keep students interested and on task. Enjoy!

Having looked at several picture dictionaries, I rate this one the best. I teach private French lessons and I love the format of this book--words are grouped in categories (grocery store, at home, clothing, etc.) with colorful illustrations. The book also includes a map of the French-speaking world and an alphabetical dictionary in the back.

This book's been giving me and my son some good time together, learning some basic French. Useful also for those who intend to travel to France, for the usual French courses usually don't care teaching you things like the words for "faucet" or "electric outlet".

My son was taking French in grammar school, and this book was a quick reference for him. He even liked it better than his other French dictionary for older students. His little brother, who is 4 also likes for me to read it to him. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn French.

Very good book, especially for someone that don't understand a lot of English. They could always use as reference anywhere they go. Again, good book and excellent choice for someone who wants
to learn English. [reasonable] price and great book, what can I say.

The Lonely Planet phrasebooks have come a long way since the days when the foreign script portion was merely hand-written in the space beside the romanized portion. The Lao phrasebook is representative of that new generation, and it is pretty impressive. Along with all the usual categories of phrases one would expect to see (greetings, directions, lodging, food, shopping, health, numbers, dates, emergencies, etc.), the splendidly informative introduction provides an interesting background on the spoken language and script, followed by a great section on pronunciation and grammar. There are interesting cultural notes dispersed throughout the book, and a vocabulary list at the end. Its compact size makes it ideal to carry in one's pocket. On the down side the marking system used in the romanized portion to indicate Lao tones is a little confusing and under-explained, but all-in-all a great little phrasebook.

This is an excellent book for those who wish to travel to Laos, or even those who wish to begin learning lao in small steps. I purchased this book in order to learn the language at a quicker and more simplified pace. It contains not only basic phrases that one might need to know in order to conduct ones self in the main parts of Laos but also be able to learn some of the country's culture as well. Even though studying an entirely new language can be laborious, Mr. Cummings has made it easy for anyone to be bilingual, even multi-lingual.

I love this dictionary.It's a masterpiece. Highly recommend it.
However, having to insert your CD in the drive once a month is UTTERLY RIDICULOUS.
Very,very helpful dictionary though. Go out and buy it.Forget the CD.

- The Good
Very good dictionary with easy to understand definitions and examples. I have done extensive research and found no comparable American dictionary for foreign speakers. The Longman linguists have done remarkable job.
The software is very good in function - automatically translates words in Internet Explorer as your mouse pointer hovers over them. Surprisingly well identifies phrasal verbs even when separated by other words.
- The Bad
1. You can Not make a copy of the CD for your own backup (C-Dilla copy protection)
And
2. You are asked to insert the CD in the drive at least once a month to verify your ownership of the original CD (a surprise check). I do not want to carry the only copy of the CD with me on the road waiting for the software to ask for it any moment. In fact I am unable to use it right now because the CD is at home.
3. You have to buy the Paper + CD bundle. This is how I ended up with two paper dictionaries.
4. Last but not least - the software visual interface is unintuitive. For example the minimize button is on the bottom of the window. All Longman Dictionaries have weird window layouts. Hey, software guys working for Longman, irritating me every time I search for common buttons is not the way to show how innovative you are.
The other good American English PC dictionary is the Random House Unabridged Dictionary. It is a shame that their 2003 CD is actually a re-release of the 1999 edition.

I bought this dictionary in 2002. I had to choose an English-English dictionary among English dictionaries: Longman, Oxford, Cambridge, Macmillan, Collins Cobuild... etc. I chose a dictionary, Longman Advanced Dictionary(CD-ROM included, Paperback). As I opened the dictionary, I was surprised! The layout was clear and systematic! And Usage Notes are most useful for me! And meanings of words are so easy to understand because Longman editors tried to explain meanings within 2000 common words. Although it is edited for ESL learners, but it might be good for upper-intermediate or higher-level EFL learners.
The dictionary faithfully reflects American English(spelling, pronunciation, spoken phrase) than other dictionaries. CD-ROM pronunces words nearly typical American English.
...) and this dictionary is for advanced learners, this dictionary is not difficult for me to understand meanings of words. Perhaps, Longman dictionaries explain meanings of word more easily.
I highly recommend it...
Anyway, Longman dictionaries are the best for me!