NTC's Compact Korean and English Dictionary (Paperback)

by B.J. Jones (Author), Gene S. Rhie (Author)
Key Phrases: New Year, National Assembly, World War

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Includes 20,000 entries with Korean words in romanized Korean and Korean characters.

Language Notes
Text: English, Korean

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Product Details

• Paperback: 394 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (January 11, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0844283614
• ISBN-13: 978-0844283616
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,055,150 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Romanized hangeul: YUCK! Short entries without examples., May 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Ntc's Compact Korean and English Dictionary (Ntc Language Dictionaries) (Hardcover)

In the process of learning seven languages I've used many dictionaries and this is the worst I've ever seen. This is a real shame because it's the only Korean-English dictionary I've seen directed towards a native English speaker learning Korean. Those directed towards Koreans completely ignore issues a native English speaker might have. The completely romanized format is very frustrating. It's fine for English to Korean, but useless if you want to look up a Korean word. Most students of Korean learn hangeul within the first week of a Korean language course, so learning romanization is just an annoying step backwards. And for those who haven't learned the very simple hangeul, why force them to learn how to romanize a Korean word they might see on a sign or in a menu when that energy would be better spent learning how to look the word up directly in hangeul. The entries themselves are so short, so devoid of examples and consideration of idiomatic meanings to be almost useless. I know this is meant to be a very basic dictionary, but it has been stripped too far. Context must be taken into particular consideration with the Korean language, because of its notoriously case specific nature.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too expensive and ineffective, January 19, 2000

By	Minerva Rheault (US) - See all my reviews

English-Korean is all right, but the Korean-English section is terribly confusing. Since the dictionary uses hangul, why are the Korean words alphabetized according to the romanizations? For a beginning Korean student, learning the hangul alphabetical order is challenge enough. Add a seemingly erratic romanization (there is no one standard system of writing Korean words in Roman letters), and you have a very confused student! For this much money, find a dictionary that is strictly hangul without confusing romanizations.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Romanizing Korean is a bad habit, March 22, 2003

By	Robertson Thomas (Hongcheon, Gangweon, South Korea) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Ntc's Compact Korean and English Dictionary (Ntc Language Dictionaries) (Hardcover)

I second Minerva Rheault's motion: Romanizing Korean is not a good idea. However, my objection is somewhat different--any serious student of the Korean language will eventually look up items which are not in this dictionary. The sooner that student learns the Korean alphabet, the better.

Would you serve a drink to an alcoholic?
If not, then don't serve Romanization to a student of the Korean language.