4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The essential little red book of all Chinese students, October 2, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Concise English-Chinese Chinese-English Dictionary (Paperback)
The five stars are for being ubiquitous; since it first appeared in 1986 every foreign student in China has been carrying this dictionary around, or the locally published version (Shangwu Yinshuguan). It does have a couple of small drawbacks - firstly that the one page appendix of province names at the back could have been expanded to list more than the capital town in each and also foreign countries and cities, secondly that, yes, the text is microscopic, but then if it wasn't you couldn't carry it in your pocket all day. And finally, a third failing lamented by many is the lack of menu Chinese; not even gongbao jiding (palace-fry chicken-cubes) gets a listing. However the one great thing about this dictionary is that it is the only pocket dictionary with both pinyin and characters. It also has a uniquely sensible character indexing system.
For desk work the best medium sized Chinese-English dictionary is Han-Ying Cidian by Waiyu Jiaoxue yu Yanjiu Chubanshe, Beijing, (ISBN 7-5600-1325-2) which shares the little red book's character index system, and the best English-Chinese is the giant Ying-Han Dacidian or 'English-Chinese Dictionary Unabridged' edited by Lu Gusun (Shanghai Yiwen Chubanshe (ISBN 7-5327-1321-0).
Non-English speakers note that this dictionary is also available in French (Larousse), German (Langenscheidt), and Japanese (Toho Shoten) versions, or in the corresponding Shangwu Yinshuguan editions published in China.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
good for beginners, but you'll outgrow it, April 23, 2000
This review is from: Concise English-Chinese Chinese-English Dictionary (Paperback)
this dictionary is wonderful for the beginner, but will soon be outgrown by the serious student of Chinese. Though the characters are small, a little experience with characters will make it easy. This book is best used as a second reference used sparingly once you have got intermediate communication skills.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An overall Great Book, January 5, 1999
This review is from: Concise English-Chinese Chinese-English Dictionary (Paperback)
Although I see that many people have a problem with the fact that many of the characters are too small, but this problem doesn't require a magnifying glass, you can simply use the pin yin to find the word in the Chinese - English section, the characters there are much larger. Its great if your looking for a REAL dictionary, not some wimpy beginners guides, and pocket travel books.
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