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

Philip Yungkin Lee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2003 | ISBN-10: 079460143X | ISBN-13: 978-0794601430

Part of our popular Pocket Dictionary series of titles covering every major Asian
language. Current titles include: Cambodian, Filipino, Japanese, Indonesian, Korean, Malay, Mandarin Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese. These are the ideal dictionaries for beginning students and travelers.

Each contains:

• General vocabulary appropriate to beginning and lower intermediate students, and covers all the words needed for the everyday situations encountered by travelers.
  
• Bi-directional, to and from English, presenting the 3,000 most commonly used words in each language.
  
• Both romanized forms and the authentic script are given.
  
• A brief guide to pronunciation allows the user to say the words correctly.
  
• Different senses of the same word are clearly distinguished by explanatory glosses.
  
• No confusing abbreviations or dictionary terminology; clear layout and readable type.
  

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Philip Yungkin Lee is a Senior Lecturer at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. He is the author of many language learning titles and has received a Teaching Excellence award from his university.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Periplus Editions (August 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 079460143X
• ISBN-13: 978-0794601430
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #246,186 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #10 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Chinese
  • #11 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Miscellaneous
  • #14 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Foreign Languages > Instruction > Chinese

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great dictionary for beginning students, February 29, 2008

By 

Ash Henson (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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

I don't think the other reviewers actually read cover of the dictionary. It says, "Contains the 3,000 most useful words for everyday communication". I'm not sure why someone would be surprised by the fact that it has "limited vocabulary". That's actually the point. Direct your attention to the words needed for daily communication before learning how to say things like, "grandiloquent". Basically, if it's in this dictionary, you need to know it. Not to mention, it is a pocket dictionary. Also, it's not a character dictionary. You look things up either by Cantonese pronunciation or English.

As far as Cantonese being a "fading" language, there are 55 million speakers worldwide, in Guangdong province in China, news is broadcast in Cantonese, school up to university level is conducted in Cantonese. Cantonese won't be making its exit from the world language stage anytime soon.

This dictionary does what it claims to do very well, namely giving you simple definitions for the most common 3000 words (not characters, although the characters for each word are given which is a huge plus). In addition, it works great as a list of "must know" vocabulary. Once you finish some beginning course (I highly recommend the two FSI courses by Elizabeth L. Boyle), this is a great way to expand your vocab.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Quick Reference, June 14, 2008

By 

Laurie A. McMaster (Peabody, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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

I'm in agreement with one of the reviewers below; I'm curious what other two critics were looking for too, because this is meant to be a limited vocabulary reference book. I like that this includes words not common in most of the other dictionaries, and an additional bonus is that it has the Chinese characters, which are legible and clear. This is the one title that consistently comes up in the "recommended texts" at universities and language schools. Thumbs up for me.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delivers what it promises, December 27, 2008

By 

Sebastian F. (Hong Kong) - See all my reviews

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

As the cover says, this dictionary is for travelers and beginners of Cantonese, so the focus is on daily and useful expressions. The Cantonese-English part is arranged alphabetically using the Yale romanization, so no knowledge of Chinese characters is required. The definitions are short and clear.

The only problem is that the author favors more formal expressions. For example, if a certain verb has a colloquial/slang variant that is used by most Cantonese speakers in daily life and a more formal variant that is used in both spoken Cantonese and written Chinese, the author selects the latter.

Nevertheless, I find this dictionary extremely useful.