Customer Reviews

Webster's New World German Dictionary: German/English English/German

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a good beginner's dictionary. It covers a substantial part of the vocabulary and illustrates the entries by examples.

However, the text is based on the 1987 Collins/Klett edition, i.e. seventeen years old. The new German spelling system is completely missing, and some rather obsolete West/East German vocabulary is still in there.

The dictionary isn't perfect, but acceptable for the price.

I have to agree with most of the other reviewers:

1. I own three different German-English dictionaries. This is the best one for carrying around and daily use.
2. It has great pronunciation guides and overall discussion at the beginning of the book. Also, the various definitions are extensive.
3. It was published in 1987, so it could use a bit of updating including the new rules for using ess-tset.
4. The big Oxford Duden is better for in-depth technical or literary use.

I am a language student learning German professionally for 20 hours/week. I first bought the Cassell's due to the recommendation of my teacher and the reviews online. However, while it is a newer publication, I find the Webster's New World MUCH more thorough and pleasant to use. It has over 100,000 words and is printed with crisp black type on bright white paper - easy on the eyes. Cassell's has fewer words and is printed with smudged newstype on low quality newsprint paper; I found it frustrating to physically read and use.

I use my German-English dictionary multiple times every day, so usability is a key factor for me. But I also like the detailed way the Webster's is organized and presented. Sure, I have the huge hardcover Oxford Duden for those really complicated cases, but it sits at home for occasional reference. Overall this is just the most pleasant, useful book for daily use.

Buy the Webster's: you'll be immediately attracted to it. You'll USE it and learn, which is the most important reason to buy it, right?

I have used this dictionary though four years of German study and it has taken me from near-beginner status to near-fluency. It provides nearly every possible meaning for a word and all the associated expressions in which it might appear. It has tables of irregular verbs in the back and notes on the formation of plurals in the front, and all irregularly pronounced German words are given pronunciation keys. It is not a dictionary for very advanced or specialized translators, nor is it for absolute beginners who have no grasp of the basics of German pronunciation or the ideas of declination and conjugation. Otherwise, it is a great and immensely useful general dictionary which I highly recommend.

This is a good German dictionary for beginner/intermediate students. However, if you are doing much heavy-duty translation (history, political, philosophical texts) and/or you plan on continuing your German studies for a number of years, I would recommend the Oxford-Duden, as it has a much clearer and easier to read format and has pretty much every word one can think of (it also makes a better doorstop).

This dictionary is perfect for those who are just beginning to learn German, and those who are more advanced. Almost any word you can think of, from standard vocabulary to slang and everything in between is in there. A great buy!

I'm a native German speaker and have used this dictionary extensively for both English-German and German-English. I have tried countless others, but this is the best in terms of giving you an actual context in which to use the words correctly, so chances of producing sentences with random and totally inappropriate words in it are pretty slim. Very user friendly and pretty much every word you're looking for is in there.

Highly recommend this!!

I am a first year German student. This dictionary has every word I've looked for. The white pages are nice. I felt the price was reasonable. I'm pleased to have purchased this dictionary.

I have found this book a very satisfactory purchase. I recently suscribed to a German edition of a periodical, as it was no longer available in English. Having only a very limited and rudimentary understanding of German (two semesters in college, long ago), I have found this book very useful indeed. I recommend it.

Bought this for my college level German 3 course and it has definitely come in handy. Only qualm I have with it is that it does not tell you the gender of the nouns, which is a problem when writing essays. I would definitely recommend this to German students.

Bought this for my son's first trip abroad. Was very helpful for him as he knows little if no German.