Langenscheidt's Pocket Dictionary Japanese/English English/Japanese (Turtleback)

by Langenscheidt (Author)
Key Phrases: rikai suru, shite iru, sarete iru, New Year, Japanese War, Japan Nihon (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This Pocket Japanese-English, English-Japanese Dictionary has up-to-date words, examples of usage, idiomatic expressions, and romanization of all Japanese characters. Also the Japanese - English section is arranged alphabetically according to pronunciartion. Over 40,000 references.

About the Author
Since 2000. Hammond, American Map, Langenscheidt Dictionaries, Insight Travel Guides, Delorme – the famous names in the Langenscheidt family. These represent the most authoritative, up-to-date, and extensive travel and reference products available. In January 2003, the renowned Berlitz Publishing became part of the Langenscheidt Group. The Langenscheidt Publishing Group, the premier group of map and travel companies, offers over 4,000 North American and international street maps, road maps, atlases, language-learning, bilingual dictionaries, and travel-related products covering countries, cities, and languages in every continent.

Product Details

• Turtleback: 624 pages
• Publisher: Langenscheidt Publishers (February 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585730386
• ISBN-13: 978-1585730384
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 4.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #31,843 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

77 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great success in dictionary writing..., July 24, 2001

By	Lee Faire (Japan) - See all my reviews

I cannot praise this fine compact dictionary enough. I've owned or used a number of Japanese-English-Japanese dictionaries and have not been satisfied with any of them - all failed in some area: lack of vocabulary, romaji only(no kanji), few phrases, lack of sub-definitions, too large, too small, poor printing or binding, or they were outdated

This dictionary has no failings. It's compact but has a wealth of vocabulary (even some "naughty" words)- forty thousand references; listings are in romaji with kanji or kana; each entry is further defined and clarified if needed (so you know exactly which word you are using or need); the 1945 jouyou kanji are arranged in a stroke count table at the front of the dictionary for easy reference (there is also the usual kana page); there is a numbers & dates page at the back; the book is bound with a sturdy plastic & paper cover; the pages are easy to turn and the text is crisp & pleasing with a nice contrast.

The dictionary uses American English. The vocabulary is up-to-date: page 615, surf 2 v/t:~the Net "netto safin o suru"...junk mail... There are many idioms and example phrases.

This compact dictionary is a great success and will surely be helpful to all students & users of Japanese. And unlike other compact dictionaries, it is both portable and helpful in its breadth of detail. I'd buy one for myself again, and for others, too.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Compact & Useful Everyday Dictionary, January 23, 2005

By	Hong M. Sharon "Milk Junkie" (Singapore, Earth) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am a self-study student of Japanese and this pocket dictionary was the first Japanese dictionary I bought to aid me in my studies. The compact size of this dictionary makes it very easy and convenient to carry around, and it’s perfect for people on the go. (That is, no more suffering under the weight of a full dictionary!) ^^

The English-Japanese, Japanese-English dictionary format makes it handy to look up and translate words both ways. And the dictionary also comes with a pronunciation guide, hiragana and katakana table, which is also handy for beginners. I absolutely love the Jouyou Kanji table where you can look up the Kanji characters and pronunciation, but you’ll need to have a little bit of knowledge in Chinese characters as you’ll need to count the number of strokes a character has to be able to look for it, since the table sorts the Kanji characters by strokes.

Also, this dictionary is arranged according to romanization, making it easy for beginners to lookup a word by “pronunciation”. The inclusion of Hiragana, Katakana & even Kanji (depending on the word itself), alongside the romanji and meaning of the word is another major plus since you can check how to write a particular word in Japanese.

It’s also easy to look for phrasal verbs and vocabulary with the same “words” you’re looking for. For example, you can find under “watch” the noun and verb form (and explanation), as well as “watch for”, “watch out”, “watch out for” and so forth. This is extremely useful and convenient especially when looking out for common, everyday words. There’re also some informal words like exclamations (e.g, oh! ah!) and Internet or technical references such as website, email address and so forth.

Although I wouldn’t say this is a perfect dictionary for fluent Japanese speakers as it doesn’t provide as much words and extensive information as a complete dictionary do, it is, nevertheless, an excellent dictionary and guide for everyday use and people on the move as it covers useful and commonly used words. If you're tired of browsing through “thick” dictionaries just to find that simple, everyday word you want, give this a try. :)

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The most well-thought-out language dictionary, February 25, 2002

By A Customer

I've a love for words - exotic words, obsolete words, obscure words, etymology, the study of languages. So I've got a cache of language dictionaries in my library. But this one is the star of them all. The makers of Langenscheidt's Japanese-English pocket dictionary actually thought out words with multiple uses and definitions in English. Say for example, you look up the word "stormy" -- the Japanese words for "stormy" as in weather condition and "stormy" as in relationship are given. Many other definitions in this dictionary follow that example. I've never seen this in any other brand of language dictionary. Rest assured, I'm sticking with Langenscheidt from now on.