Pocket Burmese Dictionary: Burmese-English English-Burmese (Periplus Pocket Dictionaries) [Paperback]

Stephen Nolan (Compiler), Nyi Nyi Lwin (Collaborator)

Book Description

Series: Periplus Pocket Dictionaries | Publication Date: December 15, 2008

Containing 3,000 words in each section (Burmese-English/English-Burmese), along with a pronunciation and spelling guide, Periplus Pocket Burmese Dictionary is an indispensable companion for anyone visiting Burma/Myanmar.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

This beginners dictionary is designed to help learners of Burmese to gain a solid foundational vocabulary for all further progress.

About the Author

Stephen Nolan completed his BA (Hons) in Japanese and Linguistics from the University of Sydney, Australia [1995] and went on to pursue a MA [1998], and Ph.D [2001] from the International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan. He has a great deal of experience in language and translation teaching, as well as in linguistic research. For the past seven years he has collaborated with a Burmese linguist to revise a dictionary and write papers on a tribal language of Burma, and has been working in refugee liaison and resettlement for Burmese peoples in Tasmania.

Nyi Nyi Lwin is a native of Mandalay, Burma, and is currently studying journalism at the University of Tasmania. He is an experienced editor and layout designer for a Burmese current affairs journal that is based in India.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Periplus Editions; Bilingual edition (December 15, 2008)
• Language: English, Burmese
• ISBN-10: 0794605737
• ISBN-13: 978-0794605735
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 4.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #220,933 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Southeast Asian
  • #40 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Southeast Asian
  • #48 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Dictionaries; Polyglot

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Extremely limited, May 25, 2009

By 

Peter Huston (Adrift in the sea of life) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pocket Burmese Dictionary: Burmese-English English-Burmese (Periplus Pocket Dictionaries) (Paperback)

On one hand, this dictionary is reasonably priced and small enough to fit conveniently in a handbag or backpack. Therefore you are likely to have it when you need it.

On the other hand, it is extremely limited. On page iv of the introduction it says that it contains 3,000 of the most frequently countered Burmese words. 3,000 is hardly anything and much less than is normally used in daily speech.

Whenever I've tried to use this dictionary, I've often run into problems. i.e. the other day when trying to teach a refugee how to drive the roadbook stated "Research shows that awareness is the key to reducing risk of collisions."

"Research," "awareness," "risk" and "collision" are all words that are not in this dictionary.

There are some words in this dictionary that are not in the Lonely Planet Phrasebook, but not terribly many. I still carry it around when I visit refugees but I don't really expect much from it.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dictionaries for ESL teachers/Myanmar-English, January 7, 2009

By 

Janice T. Uttley "classical creature" (Charlotte, NC, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pocket Burmese Dictionary: Burmese-English English-Burmese (Periplus Pocket Dictionaries) (Paperback)

I work with Myanmar/Burma refugees who have come to Charlotte, NC. When I found this dictionary on amazon.com, I was "over the moon" with joy. My students will be so glad to have this dictionary for easy reference when out in public.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Solid Quality "Pocket" Burmese Dictionary, July 16, 2010

By 

Ko Thi Ha - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pocket Burmese Dictionary: Burmese-English English-Burmese (Periplus Pocket Dictionaries) (Paperback)

Every since I started studying Burmese, I have been on the lookout for a solid "pocket" Burmese-English/English-Burmese dictionary to carry around instead of retreating to later lookup the words from the large dictionaries on my bookshelf. Alas, after finding several small dictionaries they were either inadequate, poorly organized or just plain too difficult to use. Nothing seemed to bridge the gap. And as much as I appreciate phrasebooks, their dictionaries in the back tend to be very limited.

But this dictionary is exactly what I've been looking for! As a low-intermediate speaker of Burmese, I took this dictionary along on a recent trip to Myanmar and found it quite useful for day-to-day conversations. I was able to look up many words quickly and likewise when conversations came to a halt, some of my Burmese friends were able to find the word they were looking for and show it to me so I could understand.

Is this dictionary perfect? No. Could it include some more words? Yes. But I loved it and found it quite helpful. And since the product only advertises itself as a pocket dictionary and not more, I give it five stars.