Bantam New College German/English Dictionary (Bantam New College Dictionary Series)

Rating:
Summary: Superb ! Buy it !
Review: I am German and searched for a dictionary of the English language. Instead of buying expensive German dictionaries of the English tongue, I bought this English dictionary of the German tongue. It's the quarter of the standard price for such a dictionary in Germany (e.g. Langenscheidt) and it surely helps a lot. Buy it !

Rating:
Summary: The price is right, but the content is.......
Review: I bought a copy of this dictionary and to my great disappointment, there are a number of errors which obviously are not typos. Check the word "exorbitant" on the English-German side and you will see the translation, "schwindelhaft", which actually means bogus, or fraudulent. This is only the tip of the iceberg.There may be a lot of similar mistakes we haven't found yet.

Rating:
Summary: don't bother
Review: To say that this dictionary is "weak" is a huge understatement.
I have consulted several German/English dictionaries over the past 12 years and the Bantam New College is horribly inferior.
Price and physical size of the book are good, however, there are several other dictionaries of comparable size/price that are far superior (Langenscheidt, although I don't care for it either, is a good example of a better "pocket" dictionary). For that matter, if you're contemplating this book because it is a pocket dictionary (for travel purposes, for example), just stop. Buy a pocket phrase book instead and you'll be much better off.

For people who are *serious* about the language, this is *not* the dictionary to consult. In my opinion, it is not as user-friendly as other dictionaries.

One of the major problems with this dictionary is not that it gives necessarily WRONG translations (ex: schwarz = blue), but it does give some IMPROPER translations (ex: Rotkaeppchen = a small red cap... *technically* correct, but *more properly* translated would be 'Little Red Riding Hood') .. Note: these examples do not come directly from the dictionary as I don't have a copy in front of me.. but I believe this is an accurate example of what you can find.

For beginning students, it's decent, but other dictionaries are more helpful and user-friendly. This dictionary might "get you by" but that's about it. You do get what you pay for. After 1st year (or even 1st semester), dump it. Cassell's is, hands down, the best German-English dictionary I've ever consulted.