Lonely Planet Hebrew Phrasebook (Lonely Planet Phrasebooks)

Rating:
Summary: A Resourceful Book with Tons of Information
Review: As usual, this is one the many wonderful phrase books published by Lonely Planet. The "Hebrew Phrasebook" gives the reader indept knowledge about the origins of the Hebrew language. With it's idioms and pronunciations, this phrasebook would be an excellent compliment to the Pimsleur Hebrew program. Unlike the media, this book reflects the positive side of Israel. I love the details about the different religious customs and festivals. The author also gives a detailed description of Israel's palatable produce and tasty traditional meals. There's a small section about the Israeli army and how to respond when approached by a soldier. Also, I find the medical emergency section to be very helpful. Many countries want you to think that they have a utopian atmosphere, in which sometimes is far from the truth. That's why it's very important to know how to ask for help when encountering dangerous situations and medical emergencies. For anyone traveling to Israel, this book is a treasure to have. It's very informative and fun to read.

Rating:
Summary: Best pocket-sized phrasebook and dictionary for price
Review: This phrasebook is easily one of the best I have seen. It's small size will fit conveniently into a pocket, making it more useful than larger ones. Although it does not have a huge dictionary, it does have many common words and phrases. Since it does fit into a pocket, I found myself going to this book much more often than the larger dictionary that I had with me. It contains very useful sections on pronunciation and grammar as well as phrases arranged by topic. There is a dictionary in the back that is both English-to-Hebrew (with phonetic pronunciation!)as well as Hebrew-to-English. Both dictionaries contain the words in English, the phonetic pronunciation, and the Hebrew spelling. The English-to-Hebrew dictionary lists the English word, the Hebrew pronunciation, and then the Hebrew word. The Hebrew-to-English dictionary is designed for English speakers; the words are given by their pronunciation, then the English word, then the Hebrew spelling. There is also a good section that covers the correct wording based on gender. This guide is designed for english speakers, and unlike most of the Hebrew dictionaries out there, it does not require prior knowledge of the Hebrew aleph-bet. There are also interesting cultural anecdotes and tidbits sprinkled throughout the text as well as descriptions of all the important Jewish festivals and holidays.

This book gives the best bang for your buck; you can spend more money on a more extensive phrase book, but this one will get you through most situations.