Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's English Dictionary | 
 enlarge | Author: Merriam-webster
Publisher: Merriam-Webster
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $16.91
You Save: $13.04 (44%)
New (28) Used (7) from $14.96
Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 331850
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 2032
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.8
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.6 x 2.3
ISBN: 0877795509
Dewey Decimal Number: 423.1
EAN: 9780877795506
ASIN: 0877795509
Publication Date: September 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
New title! Designed to help advance students master spoken and written English as it is actually used, this groundbreaking new dictionary provides in-depth and up-to-date coverage of basic English vocabulary, grammar, and usage. Outstanding features include nearly 100,000 words and phrases, more than 160,000 usage examples, more than 22,000 idioms, verbal collocations, and commonly used phrases, and more than 1,000 original drawings--including 16 pages of full color art. Abundant supplemental information includes 25 pages of grammar.
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Lots of Example in Plain English October 28, 2008
I bought this dictionary for my 3rd grade child, who finds the Children's dictionary is increasingly inadequate for his daily school needs. I like this dictionary as it contains lots of example in plain English. The only disappointment is the E-Book that is downloaded for free from the website does not contain pronunciation of words.
 Merriam-Webster's at its best September 27, 2008
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
The list of Advanced Learner's dictionaries is as long as my arm: Oxford, Cambridge, Collins...---and now there's Merriam-Webster's. I guess it was about time: the market for this kind of thing is huge. It is not surprising that M-W finally wanted its share of the pie.
Well, M-W did not re-invent the concept: If you know the layout of one, you know them all: headwords are in bold, pronunciations are in the International Phonetic Alphabet, definitions come next, usually followed by one or two examples (in blue) to clarify the meaning of the word in question. Usage notes and illustrations are interspersed throughout the book. Like the Oxford Advanced Learner's, M-W highlights approx. 3000 basic English words as the most important words a learner needs to know. Also included in the book: 16 pages color art (again, most dictionaries have those), an English Grammar review, often confused words, spelling rules, a handbook of style (mostly punctuation, capitals and italics), weight and measures, e-mail and letter writing, etc.
The dictionary covers both British and American English. But the focus is definitely on the latter: in spelling and pronunciation, American is the norm (which is fine by me: it is an American Learner's, after all!). The definitions are written in a clear and simple language (as far as I can tell). Entries are up-to-date. Last but not least, a free eBook download is included (but not yet available as I'm writing this).
What is mssing is an accompanying version on CD. The online edition makes up for it, though.
But the nagging question remains whether there is a compelling reason to buy it... in all fairness NOT if you already have one of the latest Advanced Learner's available out there: Oxford is still the gold standard (a bit overrated I think), and Cambridge is getting better and better with each edition.
But make no mistake: M-W's Advanced Learner's is an excellent dictionary and a worthy addition to the Advanced Learner's Dictionaries market. It is quality throughout. If you are thinking about getting an ESL dictionary (especially if you want to focus on American English), you may want to give it a shot.
|
|
|
