Customer Reviews

Harper Collins Robert French College Dictionary

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

 

 

As an AP French teacher, I research a great deal before I ask my students to buy a dictionary. My bible from my years as a college French major to even now as a teacher has been the unabridged Collins-Robert French English dictionary, with its nuanced entries--entries which actually teach the reader how to differentiate between different usages of words. (For it is in only this that a foreign language dictionary can truly have any value...)

This abridged version still tackles the nuance problem to an admirable degree, while maintaining an affordable, portable sensibility. It's for this reason that I ask my students to buy it.

The Larousse is still good--my colleague swears by it, and "googol" is in the unabridged version while it's not in the Collins-Robert... but aesthetically, intuitively, and--most especially--in terms of the phrases you really want to translate, the Collins-Robert covers more interesting ground.

Buy this book, and if you have a Palm Pilot or equivalent with enough memory, buy the Palm version too.

When translating something into a second language, it is important to know whether a verb is transitive. If intransitive, and you want it to act on something, you must link with an appropriate preposition. Unfortunately, the compiler of the Harper Collins Robert French College Dictionary does not seem to know what constitutes transitive/intransitive verbs. I have found many errors, especially in the French section. One's translation effort could look very foolish to a native speaker if one relied on this lexicon. Additionally, the organization is poor and confusing. For example, the words changeable, changeover, changing-room, and many others are included under the entry "change" instead of being listed as separate entries, and they are thus very hard to find. I would suggest selecting a different F-E/E-F dictionary.

"Harper Collins Robert French College Dictionary" has a rather long name, but that is the only big blame I have for it. It quickly opens the door at the request of any French enthusiast.
This well-compiled lexicon covers almost all the contemporary words that French natives use in daily conversations. It has a good structure, and its double-spaced outlay makes it easy to locate words. However, intending (American) buyers should bear in mind that this edition paid more attention to the Queen's English than it did to the American one.

I used the collins robert french dict. for my begining french studies, and while the verb charts and the grammatical points on prepositions, auxillaries and the like are VERY helpful to the begining/intermediate french student, I beg to differ with the advice given by the reviewer below. "Le Robert" dictionaries are like most all french (read Latin languages) dictionaries very conservative, and many argot tems derivered even from french, and purely spoken forms are excluded from this book. Also there is some truth to the complaint that the english section is "standard" queen's English and American usage is neglected, but to be honest, this didn't pose much if any of a problem for me, and I think most users will concur that it's not that big of a deal. So while this dictionary could be better, I think the critisms (and the misleading praise) voiced below apply to all dictionaries. Dictionaries are by design (always have been) prescriptive (NOT descriptive in nature), and this is not such a bad thing for a learner of a foreign language as it simpifies things and gives a more homogenous, coherent view of an already daunting corpus of foreign words.

From my expierence, I recomend that you read contemporary books that are of interest to you and to your demographic equivlants in the francophonie. French newspapers tend to be full of anglacisms and simplified, voir incorrect grammar. Also, please don't read about la Revolution française and les Droits de l'homme. Skip that part and go straight to Algerie/Vietnam and Pompiedieu/Chirak if you want to know the truth about la France moderne. Bon chance, mais tu feras mieux d'éviter la france. (just joking;)

Nicely laid out, this dictionary is complete and well-assembled. The middle section that helps with cultural differences is especially nice. My biggest complaint is that they use the new pronunciation alphabet, wherein different letters have a specific sound, as opposed to the tradition lines and curves above vowels that so many of us have learned in grammar school.

For new edition checkout on the Amazon.com website. The new edition has additional words/content ISBN: 978-2849023440

The "Concise French Dictionary" is a comprehensive dictionary which is very helpful and useful for those students or postgraduates of the French language where French is a second language. The dictionary is in colour, well written and user friendly with generous illustrations that makes it easy for students and other users to learn words and their usage.

The dictionary meets the needs of most users as it is comprehensive and up-to-date with vocabulary used in business and the latest information technology as well as several examples of everyday usage. I have found the book to be a useful companion whenever I meet some unfamiliar French word. The book gives pronunciation guide which I find handy. There is also a section which provides advice on how you can express yourself in correct and idiomatic French, including verb tables.

The main drawback of the book is that the font is very small which can be a challenge for some readers. The dictionary is also very bulky which means that if you are a student, you cannot carry it with you to class. However, it is a very handy and valuable reference book for your library if you are studying French or just as a reference for those who are veterans of the language.

This is the best most comprehensive dictionary for anyone studying French. It provides detailed explanations on words, verbs, usage and expressions. It is a must have and worth the price.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this dictionary. And, considering it's price, you really can't go wrong.

So far, there have only been a couple of words I've been unable to find. The translations are clear and all senses of the word are given to insure accurate translation (which is a good thing, not a bad thing like a previous reviewer seemed to believe).

The words are colored in light blue - as are important usage notes - which is also nice. It makes it easy for your eyes to jump down the page from word to word as you search for the one you're looking for. Some dictionaries go nuts with color and it ends up being an eyesore - this one is just right, I think.

I didn't give it 5 stars because of the phonetics. First, syllables are in no way delimited (in either the english nor french). Second, some of the symbols they used were less than ideal, I think. For example, a "soft" o (as in bonne) is indicated by a backwards c, while a "hard" o (as in rose) is just an o. This is fine, but then to indicate a nasal o (as in bon) they use the backwards c with a squiggly ~ over it. I think this is inaccurate, the nasal o is like a hard o but nasalized.

Also, there were 60 pages in the middle of "useful phrases" and grammar notes. This seemed to me to just be filler. The material was simply too basic - anyone who would stand to benefit from it would be better off buying a phrase book or introductory text and spending some time with that before purchasing a dictionary like this. I think this section was mostly included just to be a buffer between the end of the french->english section and the beginning of the english->french section. It could be done away with and take a little bulk off the book.

But, as I said, overall definitely worth buying. There may be better dictionaries, but they'll all cost at least 4 times as much. Get this one for $9, it and Internet should provide you with all you need before moving on to a monolingual french dictionary.

I cannot figure out why this book has such
a good reputation. As a beginning French
student I want to be able to easly find
the corresponding French/English-English/French
word, and the phonetic pronounciation.

I can't do either with this book.

When I find the word there are paragraphs
of text to wade through to find the many meanings.
Yes I know. There probably are many nuances and
meanings depending on context, but it's just too
much for my purposes.

Too many words; too little useful information.
This book is utterly worthless.