Collins Gem German 4

This listing describes the third edition of the COLLINS GEM GERMAN DICTIONARY, German-English and English-German. It is based on a first edition published in 1978, and so remains fairly contemporary. The dictionary is quite large. I've used it for a decade now and have encountered few limitations. It has over 40,000 references and 70,000 translations and defines words not only in the standard definition but also in common idiomatic contexts. Certain German words are boxed as "key words", lexical items that are an especially common part of idioms and should be carefully learned. An appendix lists the numbers in German and English and explains how they are used in telling time. What makes this dictionary very nice for the student is that the pronunciation of each German word is given in phonetic transcription (IPA). The spellings given are those from before the failed 1996 spelling reform, and so will faithfully reflect usages in contemporary German media unlike some later dictionaries that hastily adopted the reforms. The paper of my copy has yellowed, but has not become brittle, and the vinyl cover has proven quite durable. All in all, this is an excellent pocket dictionary I would highly recommend. It's well represented on the used market, so it can be had economically.

Nice, Compact, useful words for traveling in and around Europe!

The Collins Gem Language dictionaries are extremely convenient to use, even with one hand! Because of their size and ease of use, they are non-disruptive if one forgets or needs a word in conversations. Using this dictionary, beginning through advanced level students can read modern newspaper articles and liturature. The entries are correct and usually always give a variety of correct pronouns for use with verbs in idomatic cases. As a German teacher, I recommend the Collins Gem German Dictionary above Langenscheidt's. It is smaller and more convenient, less expensive, and the entries are more correct and easier to read.