Product Description

The Oxford Beginner's Chinese Dictionary is an innovative guide to learning Chinese. Designed specifically for English-speaking adult learners who are either learning from scratch or refreshing lost language skills, it offers an easy to use dictionary, extra help with vocabulary, and essential information on living and interacting in the Chinese-speaking world. The dictionary is exceptionally easy to use, because it moves away from the traditional dictionary layout. All main translations are preceded by an equals sign so that they are instantly identifiable, and all parts of the entry are spelt out in full, avoiding confusing jargon and abbreviations. Grammar and usage notes throughout the text warn of possible translation pitfalls, and thousands of example phrases show how the language is used in context. The 30-page Learning and Lifestyle kit gives key information on both the Chinese language, with a list of the words you really need to know, grammar help, and verb tables, and on life in the Chinese-speaking world: background information on lifestyle and culture, tips on etiquette and interaction in the language, and a phrasefinder for use when travelling. The Oxford Beginner's Chinese Dictionary is your essential companion to learning Chinese.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17440 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

Customer Reviews

Perfect for beginners. Adequate for several years experience.
When I bought this dictionary there was no clear idea which books to get for each part of the language. Most people start speaking along with pinyin writing. Later on most wish to at least try out chinese script with no idea where to go.

This book has all the necessary information and is clearly set out. The two main sections, as expected, are Eng-Chi, Chi-Eng. The definitions set this apart from other dictionaries. English words are matched with common expressions used when a single word translation is not permitted and pinyin words are matched with translations and several contexts in which they may be used.

Along with the definitions are the chinese character equivalent of the pinyin written so finding out how to write the correct character. But it wouldn't be complete without some sort of character definition. This book provides this in what seams to me to be an excellent layout for such a complex system. The radicals are presented in stroke order and assigned a number. Following a selection of characters for each radical is listed along with the pinyin equivalent.

This dictionary is purely reference and for pinyin-english provides everything needed. Do not forget though that you will also need:

- Overall language book (e.g. Teach Yourself Beginners Chinese)
- Character book (e.g. Reading and Writing Chinese - W. McNaughton)

With three books (and lessons), however, this will only provide the basis of the language, enough to get by on holiday or to have simple conversations for example. To obtain a real understanding of the language (for literature, university courses and fluency in the language) you will probably need a number of books other than these basic three types as well as extensive experience speaking and reading.

Basically don't fool yourself, to learn Chinese to a expert level compared with a romanic language like Spanish or Italian will take twice as long if not longer purely because of the completely different structure and lack of a phonetic alphabet. This dictionary will go a long way to helping.

Excellent beginners' dictionary
I've used many bilingual dictionaries for a number of languages and this is by far the easiest to use. Excellent, clean layout and helpful examples of language usage. Other dictionary publishers take note - this is how it should be done!

Excellent - lf learning chinese then its a must buy
The book teaches you about radicals in the chinese characters and the way to find words via the radicals - It shows you how the radicals reappear when then have something to do with it eg. the 'water' radical reappears when in the character for lake, one for sea, one for sweat etc... It is a brilliant dictionary with pages for Phrases -phrases/sentences already written out for you, it teaches you about whether certain words are modifiers or stative verbs. How to recognize measure words, adjectives. It also has a nice list for you of Chinese words you Must know. I thought i was just buying a dictionary but all the other things thrown in with the book as well make it a book that you definitely must have by your side if you are learning Chinese.
I'd also recommend Write Chinese with Betty - someone else recommended it on Amazon so i bought it and that was a great book as well.