Langenscheidt's Pocket Dictionary Italian

I know that the book has gotten poor reviews for lacking things that a normal OED-type dictionary would have, but I'm approaching this from a traveler's standpoint. I've spent time in Italy, and being solo and unable to really speak any Italian outside of basic stuff, I need a thorough reference that fits in a pocket that I can refer to when I run into an Italian word I don't understand (which is a lot of them.) For that purpose, this book's size and comprehension is a winner.

The Langenscheidt Italian Dictionary is an excellent tool for any language learner/student. It may not be the an OED, but it is definitely a very reliable source of information.

A good dictionary never goes unused during a trip and this is a great one - pocket size, easy to look through. I like to recommend it to both my students as well as to those getting ready for a trip to Italy.

One review above says that there are no pronunciations given for Italian words, only for the English ones. This isn't fair because it's unnecessary typically since pronunciation is very strict and uniformed in Italian. Near the beginning of the dictionary, an explanation of Italian pronunciation is provided. To list them for every Italian word would greatly increase its size and be ridiculously redundant. It's English that requires specific pronunciation information for each word. Another review here complains about no stress being provided. For most Italian words, the second to last syllable is stressed. Hardly any do not follow this pattern. Stress is also explained at the beginning of this dictionary. For the few that are stressed on the last syllable, they are written in Italian with an accent mark on the stressed vowel. This dictionary provides those markings contrary to the other reviewers claims. However, for the few words in which the stress is on a syllable other than the second to last or the last one, yes, they do not include them and should. But, this is for very few words and really hasn't been much of a problem for me. Another review here makes some very positive points that I'd like to reitterate: this is a very useful dictionary for traveling and living in Italy. It's not too heavy, it's durable, and after a few months of living in Italy, I've rarely had a word that was not contained in this dictionary. I have a much larger dictionary that I keep at my apartment for moredetailed understanding and more subtle meaning of Italian words. For keeping in my coat pocket, though, I have not found another Italian dictionary that provides me as much assistance for the size and weight of this one.

I have bought 6 Italian/English dictionaries. They range from a large, unabridged "boat anchor" to a number of paperbacks. Except for the NTC beginner's dictionary, I've found all the be useful in learning the language.Recently I had a flood in my apartment and had to pack all my books in cartons while repairs were made. When I couldn't find the carton that contained my dictionaries, I looked for a new one at the local bookstore and found this Langenscheidt dictionary. It's small. It has a non-paper plasticized cover. I wasn't sure it would be useful, but at least it was different from any of my other dictionaries that were still packed. Then I started using it. In short, it's the sweet spot for useability, especially when carrying it around. It's just the right size. The type is readable. There are enough entries, with examples to make it useful (unlike the NTC book which I found very frustrating because of too few entries). The inside covers have a great indexing system. There are useful grammar sections in convenient locations. I don't find the lack of stress-pronunciation indicators a problem, since they do seem to be present on many words where the stress is on the last syllable (such as in "citta") and since most Italian words have a regular stress position on next to the last syllable. And I rely on audio tapes to learn how to pronounce correctly, anyway. Finally, the construction of the book is solid. It won't fall apart. The paper is high quality. The blue typeface for the entries is a pleasure to look at. It's obvious it will last a long time, several times longer than the el-cheapo paperbacks that go for a little less money.