The little red book
The Concise English-Chinese Chinese-English Dictionary has been a constant companion on my Chinese language learning journey. The first copy I had of this dictionary was a cloth bound edition that I inherited from my sister (who studied Chinese in high school). It had a price of 8 RMB written inside it. I bought a newer edition of the dictionary for 36 RMB while living in China in 2003.
While the dictionary is only small it is an extremely useful reference. I especially like the fact that it includes both English-Chinese and Chinese-English sections. The example sentences in the Chinese-English section are great for better understanding what contexts words are used in.
I recently added a new section, Dictionaries for Chinese language learners, at Taiwanderful. It contains some general advice about selecting a dictionary as well as reviews of some of the dictionaries I own. A couple of the reviews have previously appeared at David on Formosa, while the others are all new. You can read a review of the Concise English-Chinese Chinese-English Dictionary (pictured above) at Taiwanderful.
A Tibetan in Taiwan
2009 Taipei Book Exhibition
Taipei Book Fair
Books and e-readers at the Taipei Book Exhibition
Some books about Taiwan
Posted: March 18th, 2007 under Books, Chinese characters, Language learning, Languages in Taiwan, Mandarin (華語).
Comment from Carrie
Time March 19, 2007 at 12:04 am
This is my trusty little sidekick too. My Chinese tutor insisted I buy it while I was studying in China and I use it all the time. This little wonder of a dictionary cost me around the same price and it has proved itself priceless again and again.