Romanian English, English Romanian: Dictionary & Phrasebook (Hippocrene Dictionary and Phrasebooks) (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: everyday expressions, micul dejun, unde este, Meeting People, Eating Out, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

From the monasteries of northern Moldavia to the Danube Delta to Dracula's homeland, Transylvania, Romania offers a large variety of exciting activities to its visitors.

The aim of this dictionary and phrasebook is to supply the American tourist or businessperson visiting Romania with certain conversational formulas indispensable for starting a conversation and carrying it on in a natural manner. The generality of the phrases means that they can be used in many different situations. The author also provides extensive historical and cultural background.

• Pronunciation guide
• Basic grammar
• 5,500 dictionary entries
• Essential phrases

Language Notes

Text: English, Romanian

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Product Details

• Paperback: 253 pages
• Publisher: Hippocrene Books; Bilingual edition (November 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0781809215
• ISBN-13: 978-0781809214
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 3.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #211,693 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Handy Guide for Beginning to Intermediate Speakers, December 1, 2004

By	Elisabeta Ioana (Timisoara, Romania) - See all my reviews

After living several years in Romania and studying the language and doing my best to get by each day, I have waded through many Romanian language texts and found most to be cumbersome and trying at the very best. I have encountered a number that were not written by native speakers of Romanian and thus contained numerous grammatical and spelling mistakes which could badly mislead an unsuspecting beginner. Most of the dictionaries I have seen are written for a speaker of Romanian who is studying English rather than vice versa and this makes a big difference when it comes to interpreting the definitions given. Many dictionaries are full of terms that are not applicable to everyday conversation and activity but were added just to impress the buyer with the broad scope (however irrelevant)of the text.

I cannot comment on how easy to understand the grammar and pronounciation guides are in this particular book because I found this book only after I already had a thorough understanding of those two things. I can say, however, that the phrases in this book are very accurate and very natural to Romanian conversation and will come in handy to any traveller whether you are in Romania for business or pleasure. I have shown this book to my Romanian friends for further confirmation and they have agreed with me in full. I still refer to this book myself from time to time when I am writing emails or letters and can't think of exactly the right way to put something. The dictionary may be small, but I think it is more than enough to provide an adequate beginner's vocabulary which you can build on as you learn more. For serious study of the language, this book is only a basic introduction and can never take the place of a real live instructor. But if you just want to know the basics before you step off the plane in Otopeni, I advise you to pick up a copy of this one.

But a couple more words of advice if you are planning a trip to Romania: Do NOT trust guide books or cab drivers. ;)

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice book!, October 31, 2005

By	Zippy (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

Although it may seem funny, I bought this book to improve my English (I am a native speaker of Romanian) and found it helpful. However, if you want more than elementary Romanian I would suggest to buy some English-Romanian/ Romanian-English dictionaries, phrase books, and grammar books published in Romania which are far more complete and accurate (there are now many Romanian online bookstores, just google "editura").

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Complicated, August 13, 2004

By	Karla - See all my reviews

I bought this book for an upcoming trip to Romania. It advertises itself as a grammar book, dictionary and phrase book.

The grammar section is overly complicated and not at all well-laid out. I became so frustrated that I could barely make my way through the section.

The dictionary part seems adequate.

The phrase section is handy but there are no pronounciation guides. The pronounciation was laid out in the beginning of the book, but I kept having to refer back which was annoying. Still, I am unsure of most of the pronounciation.

I got the feeling that this was based off of British guide book models from the 1960s. Very proper, overly complicated and not very well-laid out.