Langenscheidt's Pocket Dictionary French

by Langenscheidt Staff

Book Overview

Value priced, durable, and easily portable, this dictionary is ideal for students and travelers. - 50,000 references - All main headwords in blue for quick reference - Comprehensive vocabulary with... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Turtleback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 088729104X
• ISBN13: 9780887291043
• Release Date: January 1980
• Publisher: Langenscheidt Publishers
• Length: 624 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.1" x 6.1"

Customer Reviews

The best small English/French dictionary out there A+

I'm a college professor, and I both use this dictionary myself and highly encourage my students to buy it. It is absolutely the BEST small French-English dictionary I've found, and has many features of larger dictionaries at a reasonable cost (it's also much longer lasting than plain paper back dictionaries, of which I"ve seen many ratty copies--missing 1/2 of the "a" section-- in my career). While some smaller dictionaries offer not much more than one-word definitions for terms (which lead to many mistranslations), Langenscheidt's offers numerous contextual examples that help students choose the correct word, and also shows many idiomatic expressions. An A+! (Note: Langenscheidt's offers many sizes of dictionaries. This review applies only to the one list-priced at $13 .95. Some of the smaller versions are as incomplete as other dictionaries).

Used or New - this is the one to buy

I had the opportunity to be a foreign exchange student in France from 1991-1992 and thankfully found this before I left. Not only is this a great dictionary but logistically you can actually take it with you. Many translation dictionaries are so big that taking with you while on vacation, a business trip or any other reason would not be possible because of it's size and weight but this fit into the pocket of my coat. It's a little too big to fit into the back pocket of your jeans but it's size is still small. Overall this is a wonderful dictionary and one that I personally used extensively during my year and France and now use it again while trying to teach my daughters to speak french (the memory fades a bit after 13 years!) Special Note: This is a new updated French/English English/French dictionary released in 2005. Previously the last update was in 1980 so be sure if you're shopping around to get the new version vs. the old version.

Used or New - buy this

I had the opportunity to be a foreign exchange student in France from 1991-1992 and thankfully found this before I left. Not only is this a great dictionary but logistically you can actually take it with you. Many translation dictionaries are so big that taking with you while on vacation, a business trip or any other reason would not be possible because of it's size and weight but this fit into the pocket of my coat. It's a little too big to fit into the back pocket of your jeans but it's size is still small. The only complaint I had about it was the fact that there seemed to be some words left out. What I found after a while, however, was the words that were left out were relatively new words (words that started as slang but became part of the language). You have to keep in mind that this version of the French-English, English-French dictionary was released in 1980. There is a new version that was released in 2005 that I would recommend over this one if you want to have the most up to date version. This particular version will have 99% of the words you come across and as of today you can buy this used for under $1) Overall this is a wonderful dictionary and one that I personally used extensively during my year and France and now use it again while trying to teach my daughters to speak french (the memory fades a bit after 13 years!)

Best Little French dictionary around

I lost my Langenscheidt's French pocket dictionary the last day of a month's tour of Le Midi and I was devastated. Besides the compact size and solid construction, the French idioms and useful phrases are quite complete and easy to find as variants under the main roots. The chart of irregular verbs is very helpful. The type face is easy to read. When you open the book, it stays open. The use of a so-called universally recognized pronunciation chart is the only weakness. Most users of this book are not attuned to such symbols. It would be much more helpful if the words were spelled out phonetically.

Substantial while being concise and easiest to flip through

Easier to use than the Larouse -- it just feels better. Whether it is the flex binding or the quality of the paper, you just get to the words sooner in the Langensheidt. The text is so complete that there is very little guilt in not going to the Unabridged Dictionaries, which are too ponderous to be consulted with ease.