Customer Reviews

NTC's Hebrew and English Dictionary

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

 

 

You can buy this one! I have bought many HEEH dictionaries. In the last 10 years, I must have used six different ones. I had the same problems with all of them. In most, the print was so small and blurry you could not tell the difference between and Nun and a Gimal or a Hay from a Het. Most were too small, under 100,000 words, to be of any help. All of them were bound in Israel, which meant they fell apart by the third use. Almost all of them were compiled over 20 years ago. They were good for biblical Hebrew. However, they are poor for Modern Hebrew, which is dynamic and changing rapidly. Every one of them seemed to be compiled by and for Hebrew speakers taking care to get the English correctly translated into Hebrew. However, they gave less attention to translating the Hebrew into English.

The NTC dictionary solves these problems. There are a few blurry pages, and some glaring omission of popular Hebrew words. However, it is head-and-shoulders above its competition. This is the last HEEH dictionary you will have to buy for a while.

You can buy this one! I have bought many HEEH dictionaries. In the last 10 years, I must have used six different ones. I had the same problems with all of them. In most, the print was so small and blurry you could not tell the difference between and Nun and a Gimal or a Hay from a Het. Most were too small, under 100,000 words, to be of any help. All of them were bound in Israel, which meant they fell apart by the third use. Almost all of them were compiled over 20 years ago. They were good for biblical Hebrew. However, they are poor for Modern Hebrew, which is dynamic and changing rapidly. Every one of them seemed to be compiled by and for Hebrew speakers taking care to get the English correctly translated into Hebrew. However, they gave less attention to translating the Hebrew into English.

The NTC dictionary solves these problems. There are a few blurry pages, and some glaring omission of popular Hebrew words. However, it is head-and-shoulders above its competition. This hardcover edition is expensive. However, buying just one of the NTC is a lot less expensive than buying a half-dozen of the $10 to $15 variety that do not last a year. This is the last HEEH dictionary you will have to buy for a while.

I have used a number of Hebrew-English dictionaries, but time and time again, this one I reach for. It is just so handy. And the binding is solid. It is a real hardback book, and just so useful. I recommend it to everyone.

I'm a student of the Arabic Language longing for a step further into the study of the Semitic languages. So I chose modern Hebrew as one step before Biblical Hebrew. But in the beginning, I failed to find any helpful Hebrew dictionaries sold in my country, and the only published textbook was not something readable or "learnable" for a self-taught learner.

After I finally got through the alphabets and really seriously decided to begin with the Bantam dictionary, I disappointedly realized that nowhere could I get the confusing Hebrew word stress instruction... Thus, my first period of Hebrew learning was completely silent, and that seems to be the reason for my fast forgetting after my stopping the schedule because of various reasons for about one year and a half...

It was after my purchasing this great dictionary that I finally confidently began reading Hebrew aloud. The dictionary is nicely printed and really clear even to some aged learners I guess. Latin transcription-like pronunciation guide is placed in square brackets for every word in the H-E section, and the explanations in both sections are clear and concise. It covers many modern words and really helps learners a lot especially with a great textbook, e.g. Hebrew from Scratch.

Anyway, I do recommend also the Rav Milon dictionary, known as Multi Dictionary Bilingual Learners Dictionary Hebrew-Hebrew-English English-Hebrew, since that is a nice choice for a much more serious learner, with more grammatical notes and example sentences. Anyway, for this NTC dictionary, you find grammatical explanations and a concise Hebrew grammar overview in between the H-E and E-H parts as well, which is pretty useful too.

I received my book order quickly and it was in perfect condition. It was exactly what I expected. I wish all buying could be a great experience like this.

I don't see a transliterated phonetic pronounciation. This dictionary is better than Meridian because at least this dictionary lives up to the promise of offering some grammar (Meridian claims to offer it, but does not). However, for the person who wants to learn Hebrew, this dictionary provides no phonetics. A big shortcoming. Also, I see no pronounciation key nor the Hebrew alphabet (with all its many quirks). A good dictionary needs this.