Concise English-Chinese Chinese-English Dictionary

This dictionary is well put together. Skimming through it will help you recognize characters and learn a lot. I particularly learned more about Mandarin radicals and how to find things in a dictionary. This dictionary is best to cross-reference with other sources as it doesn't have every word I've ever searched for, and is a bit older. I've been studying Mandarin for a year, and this dictionary has definitely helped me. I highly recommend it for a beginner like me. Cons: 1. Isn't exhaustive (but then, almost no dictionary is. I definitely appreciate the fact that it takes a lot of effort to make a dictionary, especially in multiple languages.) 2. Sometimes a word is only on the Mandarin side of the dictionary or only on the English side. This has rarely happened to me, but it has happened. 3. Takes a bit to figure out and learn how to use, (but then again, it's a dictionary, so...) Overall, this dictionary is very helpful and we'll organized. After learning the organization system I can definitely say that the organization is my favorite part of the dictionary.

The Oxford Second Edition is one of the better English-Chinese/Chinese-English dictionaries on the market. It's a standard for students at most levels of Chinese or English language study and encompasses a broad selection of words and phrases from a variety of disciplines, including science, politics, language, and humanities as well as colloquialisms. Definitions of more common words and characters, though not exhaustive, give a fairly complete outline of meaning and usage. A user's and pronunciation guide pretext; also helpful is a radical index for Chinese characters. The English-Chinese section lists characters followed by pinyin, and the Chinese-English section is arranged alphabetically by pinyin. While characters appear in simplified script, the traditional character is (usually) provided.Some may find this dictionary slightly bulky, and true, it does not have the convenience of the pocket varieties. My friends and I did not find it burdensome during our study in China, however, and it does have the advantage of durable binding for students and travelers. My only reserve is the lack of proper nouns listed, especially places. Although there is a table of China's provinces and municipalities, this dictionary will not be helpful for other basic translations (ex. Pacific Ocean). Overall though, a necessary reference for students of both languages.

I am a teacher of Mandarin Chinese and this is the dictionary I recommend to all my students. The book uses pinyin romanization which is standard in most Chinese language classes in the US today. When a character is written in its simplified form, the traditional form is also shown - a feature hard to find in many Chinese dictionaries. Definitions are followed by the word used in a simple phrase or sentence. The English-Chinese, Chinese-English format makes it convenient for students to cross-reference words. A radical index in the center of the dictionary enables you to look up a word if you only know what a character looks like but you don't know how to pronounce it. (However you do need to know how to identify all the radicals first). The book is relatively small and easy to carry (unless you are one of those unfortunate students who have to lug a twenty-pound backpack to school each day).

As a Chinese language learner for 20 years and as a college teacher of Chinese for five, I have found this dictionary to be invaluable. It has many important features not found in most other dictionaries, not the least of which is that it has C/E and E/C sections in the same book. One previous reviewer said his Chinese friends found mistakes. Welcome to language learning! No dictionary can possibly handle all the subtleties resident in language translation, especially between English and Chinese since both languages are spoken by an enormous variety of speakers (usage varies widely from one region to another). Having the ability to cross check (ie look up a word on one side and take the translation to the other side and see if it comes back the same as you started) is the only way to be sure you're using a word properly. The pinyin with each Chinese word in the E/C allows that very easily. I own 5 copies of the first edition, one for every room and my brief case, and all are worn to the spine. While not as portable as the smaller first edition, this present edition was more warmly welcomed by my students (and my own eyes!) for the larger characters. Also useful when you get a little farther along are the multitude of example sentences and phrases included. I own probably 20 dictionaries of various types and flavors, and this one is not the only dictionary a serious language learner should own, but it should be the first.

After struggling with the miniscule type in the first edition, it's a joy to use the second edition with its extensive revisions and much larger type. This is the only dictionary that allows you to look up Chinese words by their pinyin spelling and to look up English words and find their pinyin and Chinese character equivalent. If you are studying Chinese this book is an absolute must. If you are traveling and want a pocket-sized dictionary, get the first edition otherwise you'll be a lot happier with the second edition.

Enjoyed using this latest edition for personal study using the easy to use (and see) radical index for looking up characters. Many characters are used in combination to form words and word groups. This dictionary makes it easy to formulate your own sentences (if you have a basic knowledge of Chinese grammar) with suggestions in the English-Chinese and Chinese-English sections. Used in combination with Understanding Chinese, I can communicate in writing or speech and feel fairly confident that I'm speaking and writing as well as someone receiving formal instruction (instead of the self-taught student that I am). Great dictionary!!!