Customer Reviews

Russian Concise Dictionary (Berlitz Concise Dictionary) (English and Russian Edition)

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

 

 

Let me preface this by saying that I am a beginner in Russian, so there may be things fluent speakers would notice that I do not. However, I know three other languages besides English, so I know what I like to look for in bilingual dictionaries.

After looking at other Russian dictionaries via Amazon, I decided in spite of some good reviews that I wanted something published as modern as possible (pre-Cold War is always good). So I took a chance on this one, and was not let down. Let me catalogue all the details of the book, because I don't know what might help people looking for a R-E dictionary:

The first section is Russian -> English, in order via the Russian alphabet. (Obviously, the entries are in Cyrillic, but there is no pronounciation guide, so you better know how to read it!) One nice feature is that on the very first page before the book even starts, there is a guide to the order of the Russian alphabet that runs along the right hand side of a blank page. So when you flip open your book and go, "Darnit! I don't know what order the Russian alphabet is in!", never fear. It's right there.

There is a good chunk of guiding material up front covering how to use the dictionary, abbreviations (in both languages) that you'll find in the entries, a table of Cyrillic letters in print and cursive, a pronounciation guide, and... a chart of irregular English verbs. It only strikes me as strange because the book is clearly written for English speakers, and is not a true bilingual dictionary as there is no further explanation of the English language, nor are there sections written in Russian. I suppose if you know English but don't know it very well, that chart is for you.

Samples of the actual dictionary pages can be seen above in Amazon's preview. I have to say that I was pleased to be able to open the book and find every word I thought of - often dictionaries are lacking. As I flipped through, there seemed to be a good amount of (simple) modern words (internet, etc), as well as the usual dose of "why would I ever need to use this?" (If you want to know the words for Cellophane and catarrh, they're in there.)

Of course, the English -> Russian dictionary takes up the second half of the book. Seems that they based the entries on both American and British English, which is fine by me. In between the sections, there's a chunk of word games that English-speakers can use to have fun with their Russian skills. I'd never seen this before in a bilingual dictionary, so it was a neat thing to include!

In the back, there are charts in both languages of important abbreviations, place names, weights/measures, Russian numbers/ordinals, and Russian first names. Following that, there is a tiny section on Russian conjugation and declension, but I would hope any language learner would get a real grammar book and not try to learn from a dictionary. It's just there for reference.

All in all, I definitely recommend this book if you're looking for an up-to-date Russian-English dictionary.

This dictionary is generous enough with definitions, but the Russian section does not give the pronunciation of the words. There is a general pronunciation guide (to individual Cyrillic letters) at the beginning of the book, but the English section gives the pronunciation of each word while the Russian section does not. This makes it tedious to learn words while having to flip back to the pronunciation guide in the front.

I use the Berlitz Russian Dictionary as my stay at home dictionary, while I take the smaller Lagenscheidt pocket version with me to class. The Berlitz is just a little more comprehensive and easier to read than the Lagenscheidt, but both get the job done. The Berlitz, for me, has been more durable through the years. I've used it daily, spilled coffee on it. It's definitely been through the ringer and still hasn't fallen apart or began to fade. The Lagensheidt has though. Both are good for the money, but for a home dictionary, I would probably choose the Berlitz just because of ease of use and comprehensiveness. Neither is really complete without a good verb book though.

I use this dictionary along with a computer translation to translate actual letters in Russian. It is helpful but not exhaustive. You will be able to figure out most of the root words with some variations but not all tenses, and some words are not even in here. As it is advertised, it is concise.

I am corresponding with a woman from Ukraine where they still speak Russian.

What I really wanted was a dictionay that had a bigger size than what is available. I did not plan on it being portable or mobile. I just wanted sometthing for my desk by my computer. A text size big enough so I didn't have to squint to see in the middle of the night. I had to purchase 3 before I found this one. Although it is smaller in overall size, the text size is OK.

I first purchased the Russian English English Russian one by Obrien at Dover press. The one with the read, white and black cover. The print was so small I could not read it.

The Langenscheidt Pocket Dictionay Russian was just as bad.

But the Berlitz Russian Consise Disctionary is the right combination between overall size and text size for me. It is 5" x 8" overall. 1 1/4" thick.

The overall size is a little larger than the other two I mentioned above.

If you are in the market for a Russian English and English Russian dictionary this is the one to get.