Customer Reviews

Webster's New World Compact Japanese Dictionary: Japanese/Engish-English/Japanese

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

 

 

I have a degree in Japanese Studies, and have, in the past, instructed introductory Japanese. A friend of mine, to whom I am teaching some Japanese, got this dictionary. I was appalled at how many very basic words did not have entries in this dictionary. Simple words, like "koko" (which means "here") were missing. Many of the missing words that I had her trying to look up were so basic that when she first told me that the words were not in her dictionary, I thought she had just missed them, until I looked, myself, and verified their absence. If you are trying to learn Japanese, I suggest you choose another dictionary.

Actually more like 2.5 stars. Plusses: While organized by English alphabetical order, it gives kanji or kana as well. Minuses: Just not enough; not enough subdefinitions, not enough usage notes, and big time not enough words. I bought this because it was compact and I thought good for travel, but the place I'm living (in Japan) has the Oxford mini-dictionary, which is smaller in size and much more comprehensive. I've read other reviews and am going to check out the Langenscheidt too.

A word to the wise: The name Webster's, cannot be copyrighted, and thus is no guarantee of quality. I got burned on this one.

This dictionary is very good for those who need a pocket-sized Japanese dictionary. Under some of the entries there are helpful example sentences, and all of the Japanese characters are right next to the english entries. This is a very good dictionary for its size. Most words that you need to be a functional Japanese speaker are in this dictionary.

I took this thing with me on a trip to Japan...and found it to be totally useless. Of the ~60 words I looked up, I actually found 2...
What a joke.

this dictionary does not even have the most basic words such as "mouth". it's a joke! i'm demanding my money back from Webster.

This handy little compact pocket dictionary is just what I needed to learn Japanese meanings
as well as spelling and even writing.
It is a little hard to read the words without my reading glasses due to
the small print, but nonetheless it was very nice to have it fit into
my pocket or purse and take with me anywhere.
It was shipped quickly and securely.
I highly recommend it.

this is just a quick pocket dictionary good for a few helpful words and phrases.

Very useful if you are not used to look for words in kana. Easy to carry and complete for a basic use. Very recommendable for beginners.

The most words for common usage are listed, but more advanced technical terms cannot be found. Thats a shame to an in other ways good book.

this dictionary was wonderful. It helped me learn more about the pronunciation of the Japanese language and helped me to learn new words1 I highly reccomend!