Customer Reviews

English-Russian, Russian-English Dictionary

5 star:		(67)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

One of the residual after-effects of the Cold War is that most Russian/English - English/Russian dictionaries were written using British English. While in many ways I appreciate British English, such dictionaries come up lacking for Russian-speakers that want to learn American English or for American-English-speakers that want to learn Russian. For instance, most Russian-published dictionaries use British English, which can be a trifle annoying for all those Americans who don't know what a pram is!

Kenneth Katzner's wonderful dictionary was the first (or at least one of the first) dictionaries specifically written using American English. As a former Russian teacher in the United States, I found this book a "God-send" for some of the things that my students in the United States wanted me to teach them. While I'm a fluent Russian speaker, I simply don't use some types of vocabulary anymore since I live in the United States and sometimes I have great difficulty recalling certain sorts of words and acronyms in English let alone Russian. This dictionary was wonderful not only for me as a Russian and English literate teacher, but also for my students who often times couldn't find words exclusive to American English in their dictionaries.

Some versions of the dictionary have handy grammar and culture references as well (There have been several editions published over the years and Katzner wonderfully updates this book every few years). I say different editions because I have owned several copies of this book over the years (I bought a few and others were publisher's samples) and usually keep just one, giving any extras away to my students (usually as a prize in class). One of my favorite features of one of the editions was a reference glossary with commonly used abbreviations (such as Dr., Str., etc.). Other additions also have Russian/English glossaries of place names (countries, geographical features, states, etc.). Try to buy the most recent edition of this book if possible since it will have the most updates and helpful features.

I highly recommend this book for either American -English speaker trying to learn Russian or Russian-speakers trying to learn American English. It's the very first dictionary that any American-English-speaker studying Russian should buy.

I've read all the reviews here and I will aprroach mine by commenting on some of the negative remarks.
A few of the negatives were in regard to poor binding of the hardback edition. These are fair remarks, indeed my copy has worn very quickly as well. However, the softcover edition does not have this problem and it is also easier to transport around.
The other negatives seemed to be by advanced students of the Russian language. I would certainly expect a linguist to have some quibbles and also to have other books they would use and recommend (such as one reviewer's endorsement of the, indeed, outstanding Daum/Schenk Russian verb dictionary). But for most users this book will be outstanding. For American English speakers of Russian I would say it is a must.

The Katzner dictionary is most helpful for students who want to know the difference between different Russian words which correspond to one English word. Associated with each Russian translation is a brief English explanation of the meaning. This helps avoid misusing a word which is a proper translation for one meaning of a word, but not for another. Look at any entry of an English preposition or common verb and there are often ten or more corresponding Russian words whose differences are carefully explained. Many entries in both the Russian-English and English-Russian sections of the dictionary contain Russian phrases or sentences which are fully accented to aid the beginner or intermediate student to learn proper pronunciation. You can learn more about the dictionary at the wordfind site and even see a sample page there. Even if you are not just beginning your study of Russian, you will find this book to be well-organized and carefully constructed to show iregular forms of verbs and nouns. One of the more interesting sections of the dictionary is its Glossary of Proper Nouns which includes the Russian names of countries, U.S. states, Canadian provinces and cities and geographical features of the world as well as a list of famous names.

Overall, I found this to be the best Russian-English dictionary that I have used to date. However, I think its worth a note that it does not fare well with regular use. I used mine as a reference for my russian courses for less than one year and the binding split in two. Now all of the pages are falling out, which I find a bit frustrating. In my opinion, reference books should be durable, as they are meant to be used regularly, and this dictionary just didn't hold up. Given the price, I was fairly disappointed with the quality.

I have to agree with those who enthuse about this dictionary's idiomatic, American English translations. This is the only dictionary to use for Americans who are dealing with contemporary Russian usage, though it is less useful for those who are dealing with historical or literary translation.

However, I also share the dismay of the reviewer whose dictionary fell to pieces after a year. Mine has been in this sorry state for years and I've actually lost a few pages of words beginning with "ka"! Kak im ne stydno?? Even a paperback can be sewn into its binding rather than glued.

Unfortunately, I have no suggestions. I don't recommend Oxford for the type of translation I do but the Katzner hardcover is apparently out of print. Pomogite nam! Give us a new hardcover edition!

This is the dictionary the US military issued to its Russian language-studying soldiers at DLI in Monterey. It has excellent coverage of most basic and general vocabularies, and goes into depth on many other subjects (including military jargon). It is far easier to use than the Oxford Dictionary, as it lists each verb (glogol) with the prefix and/or suffix as an individual entry. Words are extremely easy to find here--unlike in many dictionaries of this type. Of course, there are some very specific Russian-English dictionaries out there that specialize in specific categories of the language. (Such as dictionaries of slang, or of obscenities) If you're a a generalist OR specialist who doesn't have a copy of this book, it is recommended. My copy is dog-eared and I did have to tape the cover (the paperback), due to frequent use.
Many of my Russian friends have used it to find the "right" word in English, and it has proven to be an exceptional resource in both directions. A must have for any student of Russian.

An indispensable resource for Russian language learners. Highly useful and detailed grammatical information, extensive vocabulary and accompanying-necessary-information on usage as well as irregularities in form or usage (declensions or conjugations). Having compared many Russian and English dictionaries this is by far the most comprehensive resource you can get in a user-friendly and compact format at a reasonable price. This is one of the best foreign language dictionaries I have used in my extensive foreign language studies. The dictionary is touted as a first of its kind geared to American English rather than British. I don't know how true this is, but as an American, I know it was useful to me either way. This book eased my days as a student considerably... I loved my old one so much I passed it on to a friend and got a new one last time I was in the States.

As an ESL instructor, I find it important for my students to learn to use a dictionary. I have always recommended the Random House R-E/E-R Dictionary because of its price....it was a good deal. The Katzner dictionary is much better however, and Amazon's price is exceptional. The dictionary has easy to read references starting from either language ... which my Russian speaking students find indispensible. Non-Russian speakers, like myself, can even use the English section to look up Russian words.

Glued bindings are characteristic of most paperbound books nowadays, even outstanding dictionaries. Another reviewer complained about his Katzner dictionary falling apart because it wasn't sewn. I foresaw this possibility and sewed mine before subjecting it to use. You can do it yourself, or ask a tool-savvy friend. Clamp the book between two pieces of wood and drill with 3/32-inch drillbitt in four places, about 1/8th inch from the binding, about one inch from the ends, the two holes about 1/2 inch apart. Thread any heavy thread, waxed shoe-repair twine, or fishline, twice or more through each set of holes and tie securely with a square knot. Now you can open the book without fear of cracking the glued binding.

I have no argument with the content of this dictionary; it serves most of my needs. But I like to mark up my books and make notes in the margins; these help me remember things over the years. But after 1 1/2 years of use, this "perfect bound" dictionary is falling apart. It has no signatures, no threaded binding, so the pages that are merely glued in tend to fall out after repeated opening and closing of the book. This type of binding is acceptable on a short cheap paperback novel that you'll read one time, but on a thousand-page dictionary that you want to consult for years?! Language dictionaries are opened and closed thousands of times and must have the best of binding. This has the worst and all my notes are now lost for all practical purposes as I must change to a new intact dictionary. I'm sorry for Katzner, ... Not recommended.