Arabic-English/English-Arabic Dictionary & Phrasebook ... .. (Hippocrene Dictionary & Phrasebooks)

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.

I think this book was great for learning some basic arabic words and useful phrases. While it doesnt have a comprehensive section on writing and the alphabet, I dont recommend it for those who do not yet have a grasp on the alphabet. HOwever, it is a great follow-up resource for those who have already learned the alphabet and want to expand their vocabulary. One more comment: in many beginners arabic books they have the vowel marks to help beginners to read easier and this one doesnt. Hard to explain, but it just emphasizes the fact that this may be a resource too advanced to the very beginners of the language.

As book meant for Middle East bound travelers who don't speak the language I rate it as a 5 star book. But for someone actually learning MSA it is "3 star" (no short vowels). I am looking for a contemporary, easy to use English-Arabic dictionary to supplement my study and this is not it. It is missing many basic words (especially lacking pronouns), and also, why no short vowels? I have 2 other books by Gaafar and Wightwick (1 of 2 they abandoned short vowels very early in the text)which I find very useful, I don't know what happened to this book however.

The book was in very good condition and came quickly. I found it to be a bit smaller than I expected; a lot of words aren't in it, but it has been helpful and was worth the cost.

I would strongly recommend this dictionary to anyone trying to learn Arabic or traveling to an Arab country. The pronunciation guide is great...I couldn't get anywhere without it!!! Also, I was able to find most basic words and phrases in this book, and have not needed to look up anything additional in another resource book or dictionary.

I don't know whether it's an issue with editing or if the authors really don't know what they're talking about. Either way, there are far too many errors and simply incorrect words and definitions to make this book useful. Examples: Their dictionary says "ibn" means "brother" ("ibn" is "son," and "ukh" is "brother") lists "ahlan" as "hello" and "marhaban" as "welcome" [as in welcome to my home] when the meanings are actually reversed; and many other examples.This book would be disastrous for a beginner, DO NOT BUY.

I received it in a few days which is pretty good speed of delivery. However, as a middle aged person, I feel the fonts are bit small for me to read. As a result, I have not looked much at it.

FAbulous book for me who knows no arabic to try to convey words and ideas. It also has arabic to english so our friends can communicate with us and english to arabic so we can communicate to them. Love that it is all alphabetical. Easy to use.

very useful, small & portable