11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Works, but shop around some more, July 29, 2004
This review is from: Berlitz Swedish-English Dictionary/Engelsk-Svensk Ordbok (Paperback)
I just spent a month in Sweden, and I brought along this dictionary.
Advantages:
* its size meant that I could carry it around in the back pocket of my jeans
* its English pronunciation transcriptions are easy to understand (note: it's based on Standard British pronunciation)
* it has a small section of traveler phrases, conversation tables, etc. which can be useful to carry around
Disadvantages:
* poor word selection
* could be much more helpful with verb conjugations
* no help with word usage or idioms
What the disadvantages mean is that this dictionary alone is not sufficient for doing Swedish language homework or for translating anything of substance, like newspaper articles. I ended up buying a large reference dictionary that I would keep at home; I would use this one only when shopping etc.
Admittedly, this is a pocket dictionary, but even so, its word selection could be much better. It's missing basic Swedish words like 'somna' (to fall asleep), 'motionera' (to exercise), and 'lexikon' (dictionary). It's missing basic English words like 'creative' and 'chapter.' On the other hand, it has entries for English words like 'carry-cot', 'thundery,' and 'esplanade', entries that I can't imagine being nearly as useful. It's also missing day-to-day Swedish expressions like 'varsågod' (here you are), 'sådär' (as such), and 'hej då' (goodbye).
This dictionary will work in a pinch, but I would shop around more first.
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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A good place to start !, July 19, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Berlitz Swedish-English Dictionary/Engelsk-Svensk Ordbok (Paperback)
Not a bad starting point for someone with no prior knowledge of Swedish. This is my first book. The food section is nice also. Although there could be a little more multiple (connected) word entry's I've seen in the more advanced dictionary's it's definitley worth purchasing.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nice Little Dictionary, September 30, 2001
This review is from: Berlitz Swedish-English Dictionary/Engelsk-Svensk Ordbok (Paperback)
This is a nice, compact dictionary with lots of useful words, phrases and a grammar reference. It's not an all-inclusive dictionary and doesn't pretend to be, but for the money it's a great buy. For people just learning Swedish -- like me -- it's more than sufficient.
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