Customer Reviews

Swahili-English, English-Swahili Practical Dictionary (Hippocrene Practical Dictionary)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This Swahili-English / English-Swahili pocket dictionary is very handy. Its 596 pages cover over 35,000 entries in both languages. The English words have the phonetic transcriptions, whereas the Swahili nouns have their plurals shown in brackets.
As it is written in the foreword, this practical dictionary proves to be "an aid in navigating the growing global vocabulary of politics, telecommunications, computers, the Internet, tourism, business and travel."
At the end of the book there are some useful pages on English irregular verbs (infinitive Swahili verbs are given in brackets), Swahili noun classes, useful phrases and vocabulary, cardinal numbers, ordinal numbers, weighs and measures, time, days of the week, months, star signs.

Yes, this dictionary has lots of words (as another reviewer states), but that doesn't make it great. It does not tell you the most important thing about Swahili nouns - what class they are in. This means that for the learner, the dictionary is pretty useless if you're trying to construct a decent sentence!
Unfortunately it's pretty much the only big dictionary available so you probably have to buy it, but don't expect too much from it.

This is the biggest English-Swahili/Swahili-English dictionary I've seen, but it doesn't offer much beyond the words. I have had some success using it in conjunction with the Pimsleur audio course, which I think is really good, but on it's own I don't believe this item would be much help. I'd love to see some usage notes or idiomatic translations.

If all you need are the words themselves, this is the dictionary for you. On the other hand, if you want to learn to use the words conversationally, this is at best one tool you'll want in your toolkit.

This small dictionary and phrase book fits easily into your lab coat pocket and will prove to be infinately helpful for physicians and students traveling among Swahili speaking populations. There is a small but comprehensive medical section in the back that outlines body parts and useful questions like, "are you having diarrhea".

I have been using this dictionary in working with a local family-- newcomers to the U.S-- who speak Swahili and very little English. I am not trying to use the dictionary to learn Swahili . . . just to communicate very basic ideas, like why it's important for the refrigerator door to be able to close completely ["jijidudu," anyone?] For my purposes, this dictionary is superior to other ones that I have seen. As the title suggests, it is focused on practical words, not just on words specific to travel (such as "Where is the baggage counter?") However, this dictionary is indeed missing some common words, and includes some others that seem like strange choices. . . . do I really need a translation of "Crikey!"?

As someone who has studied -- and speaks-- other languages, I was a little skeptical about buying this book. However, after using it to get through my Swahili classes, I would say that this is a good dictionary. Its greatest failing is that you really can't STUDY Swahili with the book (for example, it is crucial that you understand how Swahili noun classes, causative, and relatives function-- and none of this is covered in the book). However, if you really want to go wrong with almost any language, start by using a dictionary as a study tool! If you are trying to learn Swahili on your own, try Joan Russell's Teach Yourself Swahili. If you have a good teacher--which I would highly recommend--then this is a great source to organize and build vocabulary. Bahati nzuri!

After studying several foreign languages, thus having several dictionaries, I would have to say this is the worst one. There are several common words missing, no noun classes are listed and no help with grammar. You will be in better shape if you type "Swahili Project" in your search engine. This will take you to a free translation website set up by Yale. THIS was very useful.

Hodi! This book was a lifesaver for me when I was learning Kiswahili. I was always hearing words I did not know, and found myself consulting this book multiple times a day. I highly recommend you use it in combination with immersion and a structured language course. I still use this book regularly, and find that it keeps me fluent.

Good, modern dictionary. I am an ESL teacher to a Congolese family living in the U.S., and I've been searching for (and purchasing) Swahili dictionaries as I could find them on the internet. The Hippocrene Practial Dictonary is a recently published dictionary with more modern words than some of the previous dictonaries that I have purchased for teaching. In this age of technology and computers, this dictonary seems to contain more modern words and phrases for people living in the West, good for recent emigres and refugees. My Congolese student, Norbert, was impressed with the book and said he was sure he couldn't have found a better dictionary living in Central Africa.

This dictionary is practical, and inexpensive (relatively speaking) and in print and available. Some of its translations are not accurate, eg the entry for Post Office uses the word "Afisa" for Office. The most common swahili word would be "ofisi" which is the place (from office) A couple of other small quibbles which makes me think it has not been created by a natural born swahili speaker. But I have found it to be extremely helpful in checking words (I already speak Swahili) and its great that it has both English/Swahili and Swahili English in the one book, with a goodly cover of words.