Customer Reviews

Universal Polish/English Dictionary (Langenscheidt Pocket Dictionary)

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

 

 

This is a pretty comprehensive dictionary. It's been very useful to me in my study of Polish. Not only that, but it's pocket-size and has a durable cover, so it's easy to bring along on your travels to Poland or to class.

The problem I have with this dictionary is that it's more of a dictionary for a Polish speaker, for English, than for an English speaker trying to speak Polish. While there are both English/Polish and Polish/English sections, the are only pronunciations for the English words, not the Polish ones. This, to me, was a major drawback. You can look up the Polish words, but there is no key to pronunciation. So, it's a good dictionary, but needs to be used in combination with something that will help you with pronunciation.

This dictionary has a good number of words for its size and price and the explanations are pretty good. However, it doesn't include the genetive of the nouns. Since so many Polish nouns are irregular in the genetive, any good dictionary will include them declined in this case as well. I wish I had know this before I bought the dictionary. At least I'm only out [..the price of the book..].

I am an American who has been living in Poland for over 5 years. Using this dictionary caused a few funny situations since people told me "you don't really say it that way." As a simple example, the dictionary gives the word "bleknitny" for the English word blue. Every Polish child knows that "niebieski" is the common word for blue (not listed in the dictionary) and that "bleknitny" is only for those with a literary bent. There are many more such examples.

There are many other fine dictionaries (e.g., Collins) that come in pocket form that give further information about the word and how verbs decline. I would save your money and buy something different. Save yourself a few embarrassing situations.

i recentely went to the store and purchased a polish dictonary. it was not very good so i decided to try this one oout. it is very good and has distinct definitions. it is really good for people that are just trying to learn this language

I didn't know until I got this but this dictionary is really pocket size (approx 8 x 10cm), which is very useful for travelling, but of course it also means that it is quite limited in terms of words. As someone who is going to study abroad in Poland I might end up carrying this around everyday but having to rely on a larger one when I need more specific volcabulary. For example, I couldn't find 'sprain' in there, and certainly not the more specific dance vocabulary (jete, yoga) that I will be using.

I didn't pay attention to the book's dimensions when I ordered it. It's a bit tiny. But I like Langenscheidt books because they always have very white, clean paper, and their choice of fonts are clear and easy to read. The size I bought is perfect for travel. I've used them that way before.