Customer Reviews

The Oxford-Hachette Concise French Dictionary: French-English; English-French (Oxford Reference)

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If you are studying French and need urgent help, don't waste your time and buy this dictionary now !. Do you think I'm a little overenthusiastic?. By no means!!. This dictionary is an essential "survival tool" if you want (or are forced to) learn French.

To start with, it is very easy to use, even for beginners. Moreover, it includes up-to-date vocabulary, so if you go to France you won't end up speaking as the French used to speak, 50 years ago. As if that were not enough, it also has many examples of different kinds of correspondence you might need to write (for example, in order to make a complaint, or to decline an invitation).

However, my favorite feature is a thematic wordfinder that helps the reader to express his ideas more easily. In the thematic wordfinder you will find the expressions that aid you when you need to structure your essays, and lists of vocabulary arranged according to themes. I think everybody "suffers" when his teacher gives him, as homework, a composition on natural disasters, commerce or something like that. The ideas are there, but you just cannot find the words... Well, with the wordfinder that is quite simple. In my opinion, this particular feature is useful not only for students of French, but also for students that have to write an essay in their native language about a subject that they don't know too much about. By taking advantage of the fact that this dictionary is bilingual, they can use adequate and specific language regarding the theme.

All in all, I highly recommend this dictionary. It will help you to improve your French, and you will learn to express your ideas better :)

Belen Alcat

The first bilingual dictionary to be compiled entirely from electronic databases of current language, making it the most comprehensive, reliable, and up-to-date reference available. The new edition provides the most recent vocabulary for both French and English. Best for the beginner who want to learn french fast.

This has been my main bilingual dictionary for many years. I have the 2nd edition, and imagine the 3rd edition will be as good or better. It is a very complete dictionary for the beginner and intermediate French learner and has many useful features. It is very user friendly. In addition it is a very sturdy dictionary that is still in very good condition after 3 or 4 years. I would recommend it to most people looking for a thorough dictionary.

An excellent dictionary--
Did you know that this also comes in a CD-Rom format that you can load onto your hard-drive? The CD-Rom version omits the sections on correspondence, French grammar, French pronunciation, and only includes the dictionary, but this is still a terrific help to anyone who works with French documents -- either reading or translating -- while on the computer!

Look for "The Pop-up Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary." It includes 250,000 translations, just like the hardcover book edition.

Incidently, Oxford University Press also makes CD-Rom dual language versions of EVERY European language. The easiest to find in North America are English, French-English, Spanish-English, and German-English, and these are all quite affordable.
All these dictionaries can be purchased individually in modules, and they link together, forming one drop down menu on your title bar. This is fantastic for anyone who frquently must translate from several different European languages. Harder to find, but still available (you might have to import them) are the Scandinavian languages and Italian. I also frequently use an English thesaurus CD-Rom, published by Oxford University Press, and it is excellent.

Not as thorough as I had hoped. If you'e looking for a tertiary-standard dictionary, get the bigger one.