An Essential Resource, July 19, 2000
　

As a Chinese language learner for 20 years and as a college teacher of Chinese for five, I have found this dictionary to be invaluable. It has many important features not found in most other dictionaries, not the least of which is that it has C/E and E/C sections in the same book. One previous reviewer said his Chinese friends found mistakes. Welcome to language learning! No dictionary can possibly handle all the subtleties resident in language translation, especially between English and Chinese since both languages are spoken by an enormous variety of speakers (usage varies widely from one region to another). Having the ability to cross check (ie look up a word on one side and take the translation to the other side and see if it comes back the same as you started) is the only way to be sure you're using a word properly. The pinyin with each Chinese word in the E/C allows that very easily. I own 5 copies of the first edition, one for every room and my brief case, and all are worn to the spine. While not as portable as the smaller first edition, this present edition was more warmly welcomed by my students (and my own eyes!) for the larger characters. Also useful when you get a little farther along are the multitude of example sentences and phrases included. I own probably 20 dictionaries of various types and flavors, and this one is not the only dictionary a serious language learner should own, but it should be the first.

Excellent, easy to use reference for students of Chinese, February 25, 2001
　

I am a teacher of Mandarin Chinese and this is the dictionary I recommend to all my students. The book uses pinyin romanization which is standard in most Chinese language classes in the US today. When a character is written in its simplified form, the traditional form is also shown - a feature hard to find in many Chinese dictionaries. Definitions are followed by the word used in a simple phrase or sentence. The English-Chinese, Chinese-English format makes it convenient for students to cross-reference words. A radical index in the center of the dictionary enables you to look up a word if you only know what a character looks like but you don't know how to pronounce it. (However you do need to know how to identify all the radicals first). The book is relatively small and easy to carry (unless you are one of those unfortunate students who have to lug a twenty-pound backpack to school each day).


　

I was expecting this edition to be the same size as the second edition. However, it is so small as to be essentially useless! Recommend Amazon.com discontinue this item to avoid having a great number of disappointed or even hostile customers.

Reliable small dictionary, November 7, 2005
　

This is the dictionary I usually use when visiting China. It has a lot of contents for the price. Multiple definitions are given for most words, sometimes with illustrative sentences. Pinyin, simplified and traditional characters are shown for all entries in both directions. There is also a radical index to help you find the pinyin equivalents of characters. (A stroke-count index, such as in some Taiwan dictionaries, would have been a helpful addition.) The fonts used are a bit small throughout, however.

One complaint I have that isn't unique to this dictionary concerns a word of great importance to a traveler -- "hotel". Check the E-to-C section of this and most other dictionaries, and you'll find only one gloss: "lu3guan3" (number indicate tones). This is also the word used in the Berlitz Chinese phrase book, BTW. But all but one of the dozen or so different places I've stayed at in Beijing & Shanghai have been called "fan4dian4", and the exception was a "jiu3dian4" (Pudong Shangri-La). "Fandian" is also the word taxi drivers use and respond to. Sure enough, if you look up "fandian" in the C-to-E section of the Concise Dictionary and several others, you'll find it glossed as "hotel". Why there isn't more symmetry regarding this important entry beats me.

By the way, if you're visiting a major city in China, consider winging it on a phrase book until you can visit a large bookstore. The Concise Dictionary 3E is widely available there in a convenient viny-covered pocket edition for Y36 = about US$4.50.

Very good. But it will be better if it can be accomanied by a CD
like the Concise Oxford English Dictionary marketed by Gardian Unlimited. People will be able to load on their laptop and carry it whererver they want and it makes it easier to look for a word as well.

I will give it a 5 star if it can be accompanied by a CD!

watch out for small print edition, October 24, 2005
　

I ordered a version of this dictionary based on Elizabeth Yu's comment that it was readable for one with failing eyesight. The book I got was NOT readable for me (it must have been 6 pt type or less--I have normal vision problems for a person in their 40s, I have no trouble reading a newspaper).

I think there is a large and small print version of this book with identical titles--note ISBN: 0195911512 has dimensions of about 5" x 7", but ISBN: 7100039339 does not give dimensions and the photo looks narrower (mine is about 2.5" x 5").

So if you want readable print, check the size of the book.