English-Arabic Conversational Dictionary

By Richard Jaschke

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0870524941
• ISBN13: 9780870524943
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Hippocrene Books
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.3" x 1.3" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

a must-have

This has got to be the kookiest conversational dictionary I've ever seen. If you have a chance, buy it -- you'll get a lot of amusement out of it but absolutely no use. I have no idea why it is still in print, or why it continues to be reprinted. Is it a publisher's joke? You see, this dictionary was apparently first printed almost a hundred years ago (not sure exactly when), then reprinted in the 50s, the 70s, and again in about 2000. The thing is, it is nearly totally useless! You won't learn any Arabic from it, because not only is the Arabic absurdly honorific and formal, but all the terms relate to an extinct society and its manners and objects. The book contains, I assure you, absolutely nothing useful, such as "Where can I find an ATM?" "Do I need a visa?" and "Where can I get a cab?" In fact, there are no phrases in the book that would even imply the existence of cars, planes, or even electricity! Here are but a few samples of the laughable and totally useless phrases you will be learning: "Bring me a few jugs of water; I wish to have a bath." (p. 93) "I want a bowl of barley-water." (p. 102) "Capital! I am all in a beat!" (p. 102) "What has befallen you?" (p. 46) "There is a big wave coming!" (p. 92) (useful in Riyadh) "Did not I tell you to look to the horse half an hour before sunrise?" (p. 129-130) "See if there is a farrier here who can shoe him." (p. 138) I'm guessing, based on the technology referred to throughout the book, that it was written before World War I and Lawrence of Arabia! On the other hand, if you've traveled through the Middle East at all, this book will prove fascinating a glimpse into a world that simply doesn't exist anymore: the world of Gulf Arabs before the oil wealth. And that world, at least based on the glimpse you get into it here, was simple, violent, and superstitious -- and eager to servilely please Western visitors. (By the way, romanized script is used in the text, not Arabic. Pronunciations given are Lebanese.)