Customer Reviews

The Oxford Picture Dictionary English/Arabic: English-Arabic Edition (Oxford Picture Dictionary Program)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

As others have noticed, this book seems largely geared toward Arabic speakers seeking to learn English and seems especially great for those trying to get practice reading English. The exercises on the bottom of the pages, for example, seem geared toward practicing English rather than practicing Arabic. The index lists both words in English and Arabic but only gives a pronunciation guide for the English words, not the Arabic words which are not, so far as I can tell, transliterated into English anywhere in this book or even voweled.

If you are English speaker studying Arabic, however, this book is of unique value in one respect. Most written Arabic language methods that I've seen put English transliterations very close to words in Arabic script which means you tend to memorize the transliterated sounds with the definition rather than learning to recognize the word as written in Arabic. This book really allows for the kind of visual memorization that seems central to learning to read Arabic. That makes this book a good addition to Mace's TEACH YOURSELF BEGINNING ARABIC SCRIPT which tries to teach "whole word recognition" Arabic (rather than just sounding out) but doesn't lay out its pages or present its material in a way that really supports that.

Even so, it would have been better in this book if the pronunciations- or even just the voweled versions of the words- were given some place. A simple modification like that would make the book of nearly equal value to English speakers.

Another beef I have with this book is the 4-8 age group recomendation. The book is of limited usefulness to adult English speakers seeking to learn Arabic. English speaking children would just be lost. And unless the Arabic speaking child in question is a little genius with good reading skills in his or her own language and some proficiency in basic English alphabet and phonetics, this is probably better for junior high level practice or perhaps as a guide to parents seeking to tutor their children in English as a second language.

I have been learning Modern Standard Arabic every day for more than a year and a half now, and I am not exaggerating when I say that I have used every Arabic-English/English-Arabic dictionary out there from the Hans Wehr to the Al-Mawrad, and this dictionary does something that none of them can. This dictionary gives you not only the word, but also the scenario in which they are used. Anyone who speaks, or is learning, Arabic knows that there is always more than one word, or way to say anything. With this dictionary, you are able to look up the setting in which the particular word would be used, and the most common word for that item will be displayed next to the picture, and this dictionary contained every scenario I could of, and then some! Also, unlike other language dictionaries, this one is fun too! Flipping through the pages and stopping at the barber shop or on the auto mechanics page is a fun way to learn new, USEFUL words, and also a great tool to practice with. Although this dictionary can not substitute for grammar dictionaries, in my opinion it is an indispensible companion.

This dictionary is not only a great resource for Arabic speakers who want to learn English and American culture, but it is also extremely valuable to an English speaker who is seriously studying Arabic.

Many of the reviews have valid complaints. If you purchase this book expecting to use it to speak Arabic quickly because you are traveling to the Arab world, this will not be of any use to you. If, however, you have been studying Arabic, or plan to learn to read the script, you will find this dictionary very useful.

As for this not being "real" Arabic, one needs to know that Arabic is a complex language. There is a written, more classical standard form and then there are many colloquial dialects that are spoken and not written. The spoken words can be simliar or completely different from the written form. What you see in this dictionary is the standard written form. If you use some of these phrases in an Arabic speaking country a vast majority of people will understand what you are saying. They may inform you of the spoken form of the word, but they will understand you.

If you rely on phonetic Arabic transliteration into English, then this book will disappoint you. You must already have a basic understanding of the Arabic script and pronunciation. There is also no voweling for the Arabic words, which makes it even more difficult to discern.

The Arabic script is smaller than the English, but this is how you will find all type-written Arabic (and even most hand-written Arabic as well!).

My husband and I are using this to supplement our full-time study of Arabic and I also use it to teach EFL to Arabic speakers. It has been a wonderful resource and I plan to order more to share with family and friends.

This book is very beautifully illustrated and has a great range of vocabulary. However, like some other reviewers have mentioned, it is definitely not directed towards beginning arabic students. While it is true that most arabic texts do not have the vowel markings (fatha, damma, etc) they are necessary when first learning the word in the absence of hearing someone actually pronounce the word. My suggestion to the company if they want to exclude the vowels would be to include a cd. This book is very useful for everyday vocab however there is always the risk of mispronunciation with the lack of markings. I would recommend the Milet Bilingual Picture dictionary instead or in addition to this one as it has the vowel markings and is more useful for students of Arabic.

Although this book was designed for beginning and low-intermediate Arabic students learning english, it's still useful for english students learning arabic mostly at the intermediate levels wishing to learn everyday arabic. I've been consistently studying arabic for 6 years and find this book very useful. There is no need to know how to use an arabic dictionary because there is an english index and table of contents. On the other hand, one must know how to read and speak arabic before using this book because there is no arabic pronuciantion guide.

In this book there are 12 chapters consisting of different topics such as food, plants and animals, clothing and recreation. I bought this book because I was wishing to improve my fluency by being able to talk about mundane things in arabic. For six years, I've been mostly bogged down in grammar, profound Quranic terms and tajweed (proper recitation). Now I have a renewed motivation for learning more spoken arabic. .. with over 3,700 words and detailed illustrations this book is a must for any serious arabic student.

If you want to learn US English and cultural information, this is a valuable book to have. It is quite well done and one wishes there was such a book available for those who want to learn Arabic and some of its general cultural information.

Moreover, if you are learning Arabic you will need another dictionary to look up the words in this dictionary because none of the (very small blue print) Arabic words have any diacritical markings. So if you want to pronounce a word or find verb forms, you will need to look it up somewhere else. There is a comprehensive quide for English word pronunciation and verb forms but nothing for Arabic.

Since the book is geared for those who want to know about living in the U.S., you will not find any social norms nor foods nor clothing nor anything else reflective of any Arabic culture.

The book's value for those wanting to learn Arabic is minimal unless, perhaps, you do not have access to an English->Arabic dictionary. Even so, buying a phrase book for travellers might be a better choice. It would be more complete and more suited to your goals.

For someone who has been studying Arabic for several years now, I find this book extremely useful. It presents indispensable everyday words that I don't think I would have learned as quickly without this book. And I love having an excuse to pore through a book with lots of pictures....they offer a unique visual tool that helps me remember the words even better. The fact that the vowels are absent is a good thing for the intermediate learner because you can test yourself by voweling them and check your work in the Hans Wehr. One caution for the beginning Arabic speaker...if you don't have a good grasp of Arabic grammar and can't recognize when the authors are using the Arabic term as an imperative, present tense, noun, adjective, etc. and don't understand how to change from their tense to the tense you want for speaking or writing, you'll probably be saying a lot of things wrong. But you'll encounter this problem with any Arabic text.

This book is extremely well done for someone who speaks Arabic and wants to learn US English and cultural norms. It would be invaluable for learning about everyday life in the United States.

If you are a native English speaker learning Arabic, this book is not intended for you (and not very helpful). The Arabic words, in light blue print smaller than the black English words, have no diacritical markings. So, if you want to know how to pronounce the word you will have to look it up in a dictionary. If it is a verb, you are even further out of luck. If you need a dictionary for your dictionary, well... why bother?

Moreover,the cultural settings - holidays, foods, workplace, clothing, shopping, family, community, etc. - are all US oriented. Thus you will learn nothing about Arabic culture nor anything about what one would say or how one would behave in that environment.

It would be delightful to have such an excellent book showing English speakers the Arab world, but unfortunately this book is not it.

While many of the observations of the other reviewers are valid, their conclusions are not. Yes, the print may seem small, but as an old man, all arabic print seems small to me. It is not any smaller than other texts. The words are not fully voweled, but neither is most arabic text. If you are a serious student and have to speak and write arabic, this is a fast and painless reference to keep your conversation or flow of thought moving.

Please note that this book is aimed at Arabic speakers who want a picture dictionary of English words and situations. As such, it is not as useful for beginning Arabic students such as myself. For example, all the Arabic word equivalents are printed in smallish Arabic script, without the phonetic Roman-alphabet equivalents that I've been using in my studies. Another example, the space devoted to verbs and their forms is all about English verbs - not exactly what I was hoping for when I purchased the book.