Arabic-English/English-Arabic Dictionary & Phrasebook ..

I have just spent two months in an Arabic speaking country. I had this book with me and it was VERY useful in helping me communicate. An especially good feature was having the words in the Arabic alphbet as well as the transliteration so literate Arabs could read in their own language the words I wanted to communicate to them. The book was also very popular with Arabic-speaking people who want to improve their English - so much so that I left my copy with one person there and ordered another copy for myself when I got home.

I am going on a trip to Syria and Lebanon in about a month and am currently in my second semester of Arabic classes. This book is a really convenient size, and what I love MOST about it is it includes that actual Arabic writing, so there is not doubt about the English phonetic spelling. It has a VERY useful phrasebook, and I can't get over how perfect it is! I couldn't have asked for a better translation/phrasebook! Can't wait to use it in Syria and Lebanon! =o)

I'm an ESL teacher who bought one of these books and took it to school with me. I don't speak Arabic, but I found this book very helpful when trying to communicate with students who speak, read and write in Arabic. They LOVED this book! I had to buy four more!

I am very well pleased with this pocket-sized phrasebook and mini dictionary. The introductory grammar notes and the everyday application lists are well done and easily understood. Best of all the Arabic script is provided alongside the English phonetics. Outstanding bargain!

And I've looked. One of my chief complaints about phrasebooks is that they never have a very comprehensive dictionary section. This book has an excellent one. It also refrains from using the transliteration (the strange symbols one normally sees in such books), focusing on the arabic text itself. It also has a short section on grammar...not enough to make one an expert, but certainly enough to get a basic handle on sentence structure, posessives, verbs, etc. I've used mine so much living in Saudi Arabia that I've had to get another. One of the best parts about it (while probably not intentional) is the extensive list of verbs in the Arabic section of the dictionary (3rd person masculine form). It's thorough, and gives one pretty much any verb needed. One minor complaint...It would be nice if it also listed colloquialisms next to the main form of the word. But, admittedly, it's just a small phrasebook...for that, one can buy any number of specific dialectical phrasebooks (e.g., Lonely Planet series). Overall, this is an excellent, comprehensive, yet compact resource. Any student of Arabic or anyone living and working in an Arabic speaking country would greatly benefit from having this book.