Milet Bilingual Visual Dictionary: English-Bengali [Hardcover]

Jean-Claude Corbeil (Author), Ariane Archambault (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2001

An essential and enjoyable resource, this popular dictionary features more than 5,000 terms identified and illustrated by more than 700 brightly colored, computer-generated illustrations, each of which is clearly labeled with terminology that identifies its parts in both languages.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jean-Claude Corbeil and Ariane Archambault have authored and edited many reference books, most of which are bilingual.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: Milet Publishing (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1840592575
• ISBN-13: 978-1840592573
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,406,066 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #17 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Bengali

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Relatively good because it's cheap, April 26, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Milet Bilingual Visual Dictionary: English-Bengali (Hardcover)

I bought this book on the recommendation of a couple of language learning websites in order to build my Bengali vocabulary, so can't comment on its usefulness to Bangladeshi kids. However to me the English-speaking adult Bengali student, it was excellent value at $20, with 216 large full-colour pages and a simple clear layout of picture-arrow-english word-bengali word. Useful sections included: body parts, animal kingdom, house, personal articles, fruits & vegetables.

A couple of drawbacks however: first, in addition to genuinely useful beginner everyday vocabulary, there are extraneous sections which must be borderline useless to even the more advanced learner (for example phases of the moon, hydroelectric energy or gothic cathedral). And the level of detail is a little overwhelming (for the "communications" section we get words not only for video camera, but for "data display", "cassette compartment", "battery eject switch"). I suppose you can skip past all of this, but it's frustrating to have to page through to get to the good stuff and to have so much vocabulary in front of you and not feel the need to learn any of it.

Secondly, this is one of a series (there is also English-Turkish, English-French, etc.) so none of the vocabulary is specific to Bangladesh or even South Asia (no Bangladeshi foods, locations, seasons, etc). This also results in a lot of words simply being transcribed in the Bengali script (national park is translated as "nashnal paark" for example).

Overall, this is no substitute for a proper dictionary or Bengali textbook (apart from anything else, you need to know the script first), but as someone pointed out there aren't too many books available to students of Bengali. So as a cheap and attractive addition to a library for the Bengali learner, this is a good book to have.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but could have been better, January 7, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Milet Bilingual Visual Dictionary: English-Bengali (Hardcover)

I got the Bengali version of this book for my nieces in Bangladesh, so they could learn some English. It is great for teaching nouns but unfortunately it doesn't include any verbs or adjectives. I think this is a good book to buy for children who are in the process of learning English. It is also good if you would like to introduce a child to English even if they are not actively learning it.

I also agree with the previous reviewer that this is great for someone who wants to build their vocabulary in Bengali (or one of the other languages the book is available in). However you will have to know the script of the language first.

Again a very good book but it would have been more useful if they had included some verbs and adjectives.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent way to build your Bengali vocabulary, September 9, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Milet Bilingual Visual Dictionary: English-Bengali (Hardcover)

Forget the listed Reading level of Ages 9-12, this book is excellent for anyone who wants to build their Bengali vocabulary. The book has pictures of various objects such as the human body, trucks, etc. and uses arrows that give you the Bengali word for various parts. Its a fun addition to flashcards. Anyone who is learning Bengali knows that there aren't many resources available for learning the language, so I highly recommend that you get this book. My one complaint is that the book does not include transliteration, so you won't always know the correct pronunciation. If you don't know Bengali script yet I recommend that you learn it before you tackle this book. Both "Bengali : A Complete Course for Beginners (Teach Yourself Series)(BOOK & 2 Cassettes)" and "Lonely Planet Bengali Phrasebook (Lonely Planet Survival Guide)" will help in this area.