Customer Reviews

English Swahili Dictionary

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

 

 

This is a fantastic dictionary! By far the best english-swahili dictionary around. I strongly recommend to anyone planning to learn swahili and even to those already familiar with the language. This is not only a dictionary to look up words but also a dictionary to actually sit and read and learn new things from. Super!

This is a great dictionary if you want to look up an English word and find the correct way to use the Swahili word, as a previous review said it is very comprehensive in showing the usage. BUT it's not like every other language dictionary I've had that has half English-Swahili and the other half Swahili-English....this is only English to Swahili, which can be very frustrating when you're faced with a Swahili word you don't know.

I consider this English-Swahili dictionary a great work of linguistics, because of the loads of detail it contains. There are about 60,000 entries, the English words have their phonetics transcriptions, and for each entry you get lots of useful phrases that show you HOW the language really works in each CONTEXT, "a characteristic feature of this dictionary is the extensive use of labels, even where the choice is difficult and where considerations of convenience might indicate that they be omitted." The author didn't forget a "thorough coverage of life in tropical waters, and the inclusion of all animals, birds and trees indigenous to Africa." The use of phrases really works, and help you to better understand and memorize the Swahili language.

Unfortunately for those of us interested in Swahili, so few references exist. However, this one is worth the price tag if your idea of a dictionary is Webster's unabridged version. I admit I was confused at first by some of the meanings of the english words, until I realized that this is not American english. But I consider that an added bonus - learning two languages for the price of one! Now if only I could find such a concise Swahili-English dictionary....

There are few Swahili dictionaries as extensive and comprehensive as this one, however note that it is only a one way translation, you can't look up Swahili words.