Dictionary Reviews

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English has long been a very helpful reference for esl students. This new edition is no exception. Comparing with other recently released learner's dictionaries, Longman has more examples for each entry. All examples are taken from books, magazines, internet, and a database of spoken English. They are natural and show how each word or phrase is used in real situations by a native speaker. There are additional examples on the CD-ROM version. Words normally used together are highlighted in bold. Most frenquently used words are printed in red. There are also information on usages of words. The CD-ROM version also contains the Longman Language Activator and some exercises students can work on.

I currently use several learner's dictionaries. Overall, this one is slightly better than some others. The CD-ROM version defintely contains more information than others. I do find the CD version of the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary easier to use than Longman's when I surf the internet and write papers. If you can, buy and install both on your computer.

This is an extraordinary document. Contains your normal 100,000 english words BUT they have trawled TV, magazines, radio, newspapers etc to find what are currently the 3000 most commonly used words. These words are shown in the dictionary in RED.

Secondly, and perhaps more usefully, the definition of all 100,000 words is written with a limited vocabulary made up of the 2000 most popular out of the 3000. This means when you find a word 1) you know if it is commonly used and 2) you will almost definitely understand all the words used in its definition.

To add to this there is a killer CD which gives access to a whole lot more words from the Longman database but not in the printed version.

Students improving vocabulary, writers striving for plain english and students of english as a foreign language will find the package invaluable.

I'm an English as a foreign language teacher from the UK. This is an excellent dictionary for intermediate and advanced learners of English.

The definitions are clear and the example are useful. I think it would help learners, if they included questions with the idioms in them. I always include questions in my free English vocabulary email lessons for busy non-native speakers who have studied English for several years. I think questions are very useful to help deepen the learners understanding of the meaning.

It's really easy to find idioms by just looking up key words in the idiom you are trying to understand.

There's a really good section called the "Idiom Activator". It helps you find idioms by concepts. Unfortunately, it only has ten concept areas. It would be really useful if they expanded that section.

But overall I would strongly recommend this dictionary for intermediate and advanced learners.

Paul Snookes. english2U.com Bringing People Together Word by Word

I would highly recommend this dictionary for intermediate and advanced non-native learners of English. I have been teaching EFL since 1983.

The idioms are well organised and much easier to find than in a normal dictionary. The definitions are easy for EFL/ESL learners to understand.

It includes both British and American idioms.

It's not so big and heavy either, so it's easy to carry around.

I use it a lot when I'm preparing my free English vocabulary email lessons.

Paul Snookes

english2U.com

paul@english2u.com

This book contains Yale romanization, and not Wade-Giles.

Lyell's volume is an excellent addition to the bookshelf of any student of Chinese. It offers not only an important glance at the new birth of Chinese literature in the first few decades of the 20th century, but also allows a feel for the mass psyche at the time.

Lyell tirelessly explains the naturally obscure references littered throughout, and this edition evidently had very much work and heart put into it. This is further evidenced by the hand-written chinese characters overflowing in the lengthy annotation. Really, it is a shame that other such works are so hard to find outside the classroom, even though I managed to find my copy in a travel bookstore.

The only complaint one could have about this excellent volume is that the transliterations of chinese into english are in the Wade-Giles system, once as common as today's ubiquitous pinyin. Of course, that is merely a statement to the fact that the original 1967 edition still holds true.

This dictionary has 35,000 entries which makes it substantial enough for elementary school students without being intimidating. I compared it in the store with the DK Merriam-Webster Children's dictionary. The two dictionaries are similar in size and scope. Looking at the first page of entries, the DK Merriam-Webster included several words not included in this MacMillan (ab-, aback, abaft, abash, abbess, abbot) while the MacMillan included "AB" (the postal abbreviation for Alberta.) This MacMillan used the entry word in a sentence more often than the DK Merriam-Webster. My main reason for choosing it over the DK Merriam-Webster is that it had a nicer, two-column uncluttered layout that is much easier for the younger child to work with than three-column layout of DK Merriam-Webster, which is very "busy" looking.

This is very good dictionary for kids. My son goes to 3rd grade and he writes a reading journal. This dictionary helps him to find the right spelling. He loves to write and use this dictionary.

Trente minutes chacque soir.......that is all Madame Nelson asked of us when she taught us the French language (and much more). This verb book is the heart of her method--a way for the adult learner to become proficient in French grammar. This book gives the reader the tools to learn French verbs in a way that will infuse the verbs into your thought processes---something that is usually achieved only by the youngest language students. Having been taught by this method allowed me to speak enough French to make my way in the Business World in France---even though I had left Madame's class over 25 years ago. This is work--but you will get results. Highly Recommended.

How does one learn to dream in French? Study the language with Madame Nelson!!! This book offers a unique approach to learning to speak and to think in French through guided verb quizzes and drills. I was fortunate enough to study French with Madame Nelson (La Vielle Dragonne!!) during High School. Although I did not use the language for many years, I was able to "revive" my language skills very quickly when a new job required extensive travel in Europe. I believe that the approach outlined in this book is THE reason for the easy retrieval of those long unused words and grammatical constructions. This is the definitive set of drills and those all-important answers. Use it---It just works!

I bought Mangajin (book 1 & 2) a few months ago, and I have to admit that they are worth every penny I spent! Mangajin deals with all the troubles and nuances that every learner of Japanese encounters. It uses popular Japanese manga to portray real examples so you can get a full grasp on what every word or expression would mean in context. I definitely recommend this book to everybody-it teaches you most of the stuff you'd never find in a textbook! Get this book today because it is very rare(you can't buy this book hardly anywhere else online, not even at mangajin's own website, because their stock is exhausted!)!

Learning Japanese through comics (manga) is not just kids' stuff. It is important to realize that in Japan, even adults read manga (check out the subway-- those business men are not plowing through the WSJ!).

Manga reveal aspects of Japanese culture that cannot be understood from textbooks-- for instance, body language gestures and colloquial phrases. This book carefully explains what the characters are saying, the context of what's going on, and why they choose the phraseology they do.

To a greater degree than in Western culture, the nuances of social interaction are crucial in Japan. Although you will be afforded leeway as a gaijin (foreigner), it helps immensely to learn some of these nuances. Understanding manga is a good place to start.

Besides, then you'll fit in on the subway!

Very helpful book for understanding orthopedic surgery documentation and terminology. I've used this book as a resource over and over when coding orthopedic surgery reports. It gives detailed, yet simple pictures and very concise, easy-to-understand explanations of orthopedic terms in each section. The chapters are broken down into sections on the spine, hand/wrist, foot/ankle as well as many others. I especially found the pages with pictures of the hip, knee and femur--anterior and posterior views very clear and easy to visualize. By the way, everyone at work always borrows this book!!

I am an R.N. and work as a consultant in a law firm. Most of my hospital experience was in obstetrics so personal injury and worker's compensation cases were a challenge. I called a friend who works for a local orthopedist. He recommended Blauvelt's and Nelson's "A Manual of Orthoppaedic Terminology". It has been a tremendous resource for me. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who needs a quick reference for orthopedic, rehab and neurosurgical terms.

When my husband and I were transferred to Spain we knew some Spanish, but the names of dishes and how they were prepared alluded us. Without this book we would have been completely lost that first year. We ended up trying more new things because this book had such trustworthy translations, more often than not a rarity in many travel guides. We highly recommend this book to everyone travelling to Spain.

Well-organized and easy to use. If you do not speak Spanish, you MUST have this. This small book is worth its weight in gold. Translates dozens of variations of foods in short, descriptive terms. I got what I ordered EVERY time, thanks to this book.

i couldn't say that you will "learn german" from reading this, meaning that you'll speak like a native...but it is quite the handy reference. for anyone who's studied german for more than a few minutes, you know it can be a bit tricky in places... this book helps distill the difficult parts into easi(ER)-to-understand charts, examples, etc.

I found this book a great starting point for learning German. I am learning the language for the fun of it, and this book is great for beginners. It covers all the basics thoroughly, but quickly, and proceeds on to more complicated subjects in grammar clearly and in a logical order. There are lots of tables, which I find very helpful in sorting new information. It also distinguishes all English text in black ink and German in red ink, also very helpful. So many books seem to jam a ton of information into a book in no particular order, basing chapters on real life situations. I found this frustrating because I wanted to learn WHY and HOW a sentence is structured, not just how to say popular phrases. I would definitely recommend this book for serious beginners.

McElhaney's book contains all of the guidance one needs in order to prepare for trial. From practical guidance for organizing materials to inspirational passages on the formation of the theory of the case and argument, this book has it all. I prefer it to the Mauet book.

This book was suggested to my Advanced Trial and Evidence class in lawschool. I decided to pick up a copy to see if it would really be worthwhile for my future practice since I want to litigate. It is excellent from what I have read so far. Many of us were shown or told how to do or say certain things in pretrial and trial litigation class. This book is not only a good reminder, but it has many other practical and entertaining ideas that I'm sure to use in my future practice. A "must have!"