Pick of the bunch
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It's quite difficult to find a dictionary that does English to Arabic and vice versa, and this one seems to do a good job at it. I've not had any problem with the order of words, or with missing words (jameel, for example, is in there in both English and Arabic sections). There are a few useful lists at the back of the dictionary: days, months, countries, regions, etc.
A couple of minor criticisms though: firstly, the introduction to how the entries are set out could be better. Secondly, it's difficult to know the precise meaning of a word, because there are no example sentences. This can lead to some amusing word uses! However, for it's main use -- checking spellings and whatnot -- it serves me well.
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Probably the only starting point but you'll grow to hate it...
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I've been learning Arabic now for about 7 months. It's vital that as early on as possible that you learn to read and write and so a dictionary soon becomes necessary and does help with learning to navigate an unfamiliar alphabet.
This dictionary is laid out as you would expect Arabic-English and Englist-Arabic in alphabetical order and the print is a reasonable size so you can make out the arabic script.
Fairly early on I noticed a few things - first there are lots of omissions - easy, regularly used words which are not provided (eg beautiful - jameel). Next you will find there are some words in the arabic section that are out of order (I am told by my teacher this is a mistake) and some which are plain wrong. Also the distinctions between singular/plural and present/past is sometimes not as clear as it needs to be.
So even at this stage I get very frustrated with it and am looking for a better "proper" dictionary...
Mark
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Excellent pocket reference
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Ideal pocket dictionary. I use it with my Arabic course and when out and about. There are a few fairly common words (in English) that are missing but I still find it an excellent reference book.
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Handles well
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as I haven't yet taken this abroad I can't give a fair review of the text, but I wanted to say that this dictionary is very well built for high-speed use. it is well bound and has just the right level of flexibility and spine strength to allow you to zip through the pages quickly when looking for the right word. While this is certainly not the most important characteristic of any dictionary I personally find it very handy when thrown in at the deep end of attempting conversation in a new language. Aside from that the layout is also very clear with bold headwords which stand out well. Nicholas Awde also seems to have quite a range of well-reviewed dictionaries in related languages which is always reassuring. Happy travels!
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Invaluable when travelling
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I took this dictionary on holiday to Libya. It proved incredibly useful (so much so that I ended up giving my original copy to the gentleman who drove us around the desert, after he asked where he could buy one). My knowledge of spoken Arabic is sketchy at best, but with the help of the dictionary I was able to chat fairly extensively with people whose knowledge of spoken English was equally sketchy. An absolute must for any traveller to Arabic-speaking countries.
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