Customer Reviews

Burmese-English English-Burmese Compact Dictionary

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book because I work with English Language Learning students - many of whom are Burmese - and while it's certainly better than nothing (it IS a rather comprehensive dictionary), the IPA pronunciation and better instruction on phrase building would significantly improve this book. An aide in the classroom is a native speaker of Burmese, and she has to correct my pronunciation the majority of the time.

As a student of linguistics, and my exposure to dozens of languages, I might have an easier time than some when it comes to deciphering the pronunciation. If you're a beginner to the language, I won't suggest that you don't buy this book, but I would recommend that you use it as a companion guide to something else. While I'm personally not a huge fan of the Lonely Planet phrase books (for the same reason - the lack of proper IPA pronunciation), I appreciate the fact that they release phrase books for languages that a Westerner might consider obscure. As well, their version of phonetic pronunciation tends to be easier than that found in this book, and their low costs makes them worth the investment.

I give the book 3 stars because it's still useful, but not something to be used alone by a beginner. Pick up the Lonely Planet Burmese phrasebook to go with it. You'll be better off. Thanks for taking the time to read my comment.

I thought it interesting that another reviewer had not recommend this dictionary for folks just starting out in Burmese.

I would have to disagree for two main reasons: 1) the vocabulary has all of the essentials that a student needs; and 2) the "Burmese Sound" section is obviously intended for beginners, because after you've spent some time with the script you should eventually be able to move beyond using any type of helping transliteration (whether it be IPA or not) and just work off the Burmese script which is fairly phonetic anyway.

For intermediate students I think other dictionaries might fit better. However, I think the dictionary deserves at least a solid four stars for what it sets out to accomplish. For the student just beginning to learn Burmese, I do not think you could come across a better dictionary!

Great dictionary.

Divided into 3 sections - English, Burmese Script, and Phonetically spelled Burmese.

Includes a very large number of words for such a small book. (I haven't found any missing obvious ones, yet).

It uses a phonetical spelling that's closer to Mesher's than Orkell (so it spells hat like o'-hto' instead of ouq-t'ouq, as many other dictionaries do.)

I recommend it highly.

I have seen several Burmese-English dictionaries and this is the best for English speakers. It provides the burmese word in script as well as the phonetic breakdown using the English alphabet. Most importantly, it provides several definitions. This is important because in English we can use the same word with different meanings such as 'inherit'. One can inherit a piece of land or a disease from their parents. That is two different words in Burmese. So, trying to tell someone they inherited a disease definitely isn't the same as someone inheriting a deadly disease.

The one thing I don't like about the book is its size. It is 'compact' in the sense it is about 5 x 4 (something like that). I use it every day, so I am not sure since it is a short fat book if it will stand up to the abuse. I think they should have made it taller.