Customer Reviews

Oxford Concise Italian Dictionary

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This is a moderately large dictionary at a large price which is misleadingly marketed by Oxford (in Canada anyway). It is not an Oxford dictionary as the dust jacket proclaims - or at least strongly implies - and the word Oxford appears nowhere inside the dictionary. In fact it is an italian produced dictionary, printed in Italy for use by persons whose first language is Italian. As a result, the english side has phonetic pronuciations and, more seriously, all style and category guides in Italian. A typical entry might read:
pattern n. 1 disegno (a motivi ricorrenti); motivi . . .
In an english produced dictionary, the words in brackets would be in English.
Equally serious is the lack of a table of irregular Italian verbs which is essential in any Italian dictionary being used by a non-native speaker. There is however, a table of English irregular verbs just in case you've forgotten that the principle parts of go are go went gone. And finally, it's hard on the eyes, printed in an unfriendly sans serif, small type font. It's virtues are that it's more comprehensive than similar size dictionaries (thanks to the font) and well bound - it's actually sewn and lies nicely flat when you open it. But that's not enough to get a recommendation for an English user and I regret having bought it myself not realizing that Oxford's sole contribution is the dust jacket.

Actually, this would be a very good book for an Italian who wants to learn English. It provides proper pronunciation information for all English words, but not for the Italian words. It simply lists the Italian word and the English equivalent.