point it is a passport sized traveler's picture dictionary containing photographs of 1,200 items grouped in to categories such as food and drink, accommodations, transportation, automobiles, entertainment, nightlife and health. Its contents reflect the things that a traveler could need anywhere in the world, with images ranging from rickshaws and samosas through croissants and cheese to every type of toilet in use in the world today. The first edition was published in 1992. Now in its sixth edition, i t has sold 450,000 copies to date. point it was used by the Dutch Olympic tea m in Nagano, Japan, by patients with linguistic difficulties and is standard issue for Swiss UN surveyors.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"...contains 1200 photos of useful items in all their variations. You'll never have to try to mime "roast chicken" again." -- HQ Magazine, Australia
"A simple but effective idea." -- The Times, London
"Compact, pocket-sized and very light, it contains pictures of anything you might need." -- The Linguist, Summer, 1999, England
"Help is finally at hand for frustrated tourists in London who don't speak a word of English or Brits abroad who are too lazy to learn the language. Instead of struggling with awkward pronunciations, all you have t o do, thanks to a revolutionary picture guide-book called Point It, is to point to a picture of what you want." -- Evening Standard, London, February 17, 1999
"I will treasure my copy of Graf's little book." -- The Sunday Telegraph Magazine, January 31, 1999, London
"Warranting 10/10 for imaginative travelling accessories, "point it" features page-upon-page of useful pictures." -- City Life, Manchester, England
As someone who has travelled to more than 40 countries, both in Europe and the non-Western world, I have found point it to be very useful and easy to carry. It has taken the suspense out of ordering dinner in remote areas of Burma. Instead of guessing what I'm ordering or trying to act like, say, a chicken, I can just point to a photograph of one. And I'm not sure that I ever would have gotten the "top sheet" I needed upriver in Borneo without it.
"A simple but effective idea." -- The Times, London
"Compact, pocket-sized and very light, it contains pictures of anything you might need." -- The Linguist, Summer, 1999, England
"Help is finally at hand for frustrated tourists in London who don't speak a word of English or Brits abroad who are too lazy to learn the language. Instead of struggling with awkward pronunciations, all you have t o do, thanks to a revolutionary picture guide-book called Point It, is to point to a picture of what you want." -- Evening Standard, London, February 17, 1999
"I will treasure my copy of Graf's little book." -- The Sunday Telegraph Magazine, January 31, 1999, London
"Warranting 10/10 for imaginative travelling accessories, "point it" features page-upon-page of useful pictures." -- City Life, Manchester, England
As someone who has travelled to more than 40 countries, both in Europe and the non-Western world, I have found point it to be very useful and easy to carry. It has taken the suspense out of ordering dinner in remote areas of Burma. Instead of guessing what I'm ordering or trying to act like, say, a chicken, I can just point to a photograph of one. And I'm not sure that I ever would have gotten the "top sheet" I needed upriver in Borneo without it.
But point it is equally useful in Paris, Rome or Cancun - anyplace you don't speak the language and want to be sure that you can still communicate. --From the Publisher
From the Author
If you have ever been in a small shop in Asia trying to buy a safety pin, you will understand why I created point it. The idea came to me during a vacation in India in 1976, where, because of the large number of languages and dialects and the low literacy rate, it is common to use symbols to express one's needs.
During the next 16 years, I photographed many strange things while travelling, such as oxen and trucks serving as a bus. Sometimes it was very risky to photograph ordinary, non-tourist things, like passengers in an Indian taxi or Chinese policemen. I was arrested in Nigeria while photographing a jeep that, unfortunately, belonged to the chief of police. On the Trans-Siberian railway I was saved from misfortune by a French tour guide, who also spoke Russian and warned me that it was forbidden to photograph railway stations. In the Munich train station, a well-dressed woman asked why I photographed her compartment - she thought I was a detective sent by her husband!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
great help,
By selvana "selvana" (California) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Point It: Traveller's Language Kit (English, Spanish, French and German Edition) (Paperback)
my husband and I just got back from Eastern Europe and let me tell you, we were VERY glad to have Point It with us. He teased me when I bought it but did he change his mind when he found out how useful it was as we were driving around looking for gas and the bank, not to mention getting the right thing when you order a drink in a bar. Also saves you the trouble of having to learn off all those hard to pronounce words that you forget anyway.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Terrific idea, I absolutely love this book,
By Charles "charlemagne" (New York) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Point It: Traveller's Language Kit (English, Spanish, French and German Edition) (Paperback)
Wish I had this years ago when I was gesturing in restaurants and getting some unrecognisable results. It is really a great help wherever language is a barrier and has a very wide variety of conversation possibilities, from shopping and eating to color charts and those dreaded parking and police problems. etc. .. It is also lightweight and easy to carry in a pocket so one does not look like the gaping tourist.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Small and Powerful,
By
This review is from: Point It: Traveller's Language Kit (English, Spanish, French and German Edition) (Paperback)
This book is small enough to carry in any pocket. The pictures are all photographs, so no problems with hard to interpret drawings. They show many variations on common items. For instance, it includes pictures of many types of sanitary fixtures, making it easy to point to the kind in the country you are visiting.
I hope it's not out of print...
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