Customer Reviews

Pocket Oxford Duden German Dictionary

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

 

 

As a graduate student in Humanities, I have been using the big Oxford-Duden as a main reference in my research. The big O-D is fantastic for this purpose, but it is way too big to carry around. So I had been looking for a smaller dictionary which fits into my backpack. I own Langenscheidt's universal dictionary to carry arround in my pocket when I'm in Germany, but that one's too brief to use in a more serious setting e.g., studying German at a language school. L's pocket dictionary (which is actually too big to fit in your pocket) is also a little too small. I have thus seriously considered the pocket O-D and L's compact dictionary, and L's is clearly the winner. Here are my reasons:
1. L's has pronunciation keys for german entries, while the O-D doesn't. (The O-D instead has pronunciation keys for English entries.)
2. L's has much more (30,000) words and phrases.
3. L's is much smaller. (They are both very thick. But while L's is a size of a small airport paperback, the O-D is much larger - it's about the size of a penguin classics, only much thicker. The O-D simply wastes much space - its pages have more space than L's, and its font is bigger. L's uses very thin dictionary papers, while the O-D doesn't.)
4. L's has much more idiomatic expressions (There are 15 of them for 'helfen' in L's and 2 in the O-D.).
My only problem with L's is that it does not have entry words in blue, as the big O-D and the pocket L's do. (The pocket O-D doesn't either.)
Langenscheidt's Compact German Dictionary: German-English English-German (Langenscheidt Compact Dictionaries)

This has turned out to be the perfect German-English Dictionary for this college student studying german. I haven't stumped it yet with any word I've had to look up. The sections on cultural definitions and terms and how to write different kinds of correspondences is invaluable for my coursework. I'm very pleased and highly recommend to all other students studying German.

Although it claims to have 90,000 words and phrases, most of them are word combinations and phrases, not individual words. Still, the Pocket Oxford-Duden German Dictionary is highly useful. I subscribe to the German channels on Dishnetwork and keep this volume on the end table for looking up words. I've yet to come across a word or phrase it did not define. It also includes extensive portions devoted to German culture, which is interesting to read when time allows. Well worth the price.

I bought this dictionary for one of my ESL students (English translations are also included in this German dictionary). It's a big dictionary in a little book. It's packed full of words and translations both in German and in English. What's also nice about this dictionary is that it has a grammar supplement with information on all the key points of German and English grammar, including verb tables for quick reference.

The Pocket Oxford Duden Dictionary is a compact German-English dictionary that is more comprehensive than other paperbacks. It includes many compound words that are not available in competing products, though its coverage of verb forms and current terms is limited. It is a compromise useful for those that want a serious dictionary, yet an affordable and portable one.