Does anyone know these mainland dictionaries?

[yonglan]

I think I just saw this in the store (a 2003 edition) and it was printed badly, very nankan.

New Century Edition Chinese-English Dictionary

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/7313025688/ref=cm_bg_d/104-0605769-8816709?v=glance

[Edit: Oops! I was wrong. Please see my next post.]

So, before I start ordering other stuff, are you familiar with any of the following? How are they printed and laid out? Do you how many kuai they are?

Same publisher as the one above, but I know it's supposed to be as word-filled as ABC Comp. How's the printing and lay out?

Chinese-English Dictionary (2 Volumes)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/7313011628/ref=cm_bg_d/104-0605769-8816709?v=glance

And in the land of English-Chinese, there are these three

A New English-Chinese Dictionary: Century Edition/Indexed

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/7532725421/ref=cm_bg_d/104-0605769-8816709?v=glance

English Chinese Pinyin Dictionary

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/7800053830/ref=cm_bg_d/104-0605769-8816709?v=glance

A New English-Chinese Dictionary

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/7100031338/ref=cm_bg_d/104-0605769-8816709?v=glance

If you have them, please tell me about the printing and lay out, at least say good or bad, and please tell me the price in RMB. Assuming they are a lot cheaper in China than on Amazon (I may have to ship them back to the US), I would get them while I am in China.

Many thanks.

PS All the Chinese only dictionaries I've seen in China are positively ugly. Have I missed a pretty one?

[liuzhou]

English Chinese Pinyin Dictionary

I would certainly recommend this to any learner (and to those more advanced!) As a translator, I have more dictionaries than is polite, but this is the one I tend to reach for most. The range of vocabulary is amazing and it also gives usage hints.

The comments at the bottom of the Amazon review pretty much sum it up (although the writer's spelling makes me wonder how he can find an entry! Illitaracy, indeed!)

I am not at home now, but I will edit this tomorrow to give you the RMB price.

<EDIT> Sorry, the price is not marked on my copy (most unusual) and the local Xinhua Bookstore doesn't carry it. I bought it in Beijing, thousands of miles away!

[kentsuarez]

Yeah, I have the 2-vol Chinese English Dictionary, 漢英大辭典, Shanghai Jiaotong Univ. Press. Nice set, Simpl.Chars, ordered by pīnyīn. Pīnyīn is given for each subentry too. Its strength is its good technical content, all the scientific terms, etc.. Trad. char. given parenthetically for main entries where structurally different, but not for those with standard, predictable simplifications (e.g., 言-side, etc.). OK paper (for PRC), mostly un-yellowed after many years on the shelf. My copy is baredly used, as I have collected too damn many dictionaries, and also because there's a trad.char. printing of this in Taiwan, which I prefer. I could just sell you my copy, if you're interested. It has ever so slightly dirtied edges, but was covered in plastic after purchase, so it's pretty clean and new otherwise. First and last inner coverleaf pages are spotted (aged), but main pages are not. The cover price is 248 yuan for the set, for your comparison with Amazon prices. It's very heavy, so if you want to lighten your load coming back from China (knowing you, you'll have a ton of other dictionaries and books!), I could just ship you this set, at cost (plus shipping).

[yonglan]

First, let me clear up a mistake I made above. The dictionary listed as being badly printed is NOT badly printed. I saw it yesterday. I checked the ISBN this time. What did I see last time? Nearly indentical title from the same publisher, published in 2003 though. Next time I'm at that other book store I'll see what the deal is.

Thanks to both of you.

I got to my provincial capital yesterday for the medical exam (I'm fine, thanks for asking, though the ultrasound did reveal a slightly enlarged spleen). While there I went to a very large bookstore. I saw in person New Age (from Commercial Press) and the one volume from Shanghai Jiaotong. I was amazed to find the ABC Comp for a mere 120 kuai! Didn't have a lot of time as my boss wanted to get back to the foreign experts office to get my paperwork. Even he, a former history professor, thinks my book thing is weird. I will be back again soon.

Incidentally, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press has a new large dictionary out. It has 140,000 words and appears to come in a small and a jumbo size. The jumbo size was in plastic, but if I can judge a book by its cover, it's the same.

The other items weren't there. I will order some E-C then.

Thanks Kent, but considering how cheap the book will be here, I'll just get it new if I get it. Won't be buying as much on the mainland, though. They're way behind their comrades in Taiwan in the art of publishing.

[yonglan]

There is now a three volume C-E that boasts 340,000 words! It's 640 kuai (I think). It's published by some college in Dalian. Maybe the name was Dalian Institute of Science and Technology. Something like that anyway. I'll look at it more next time.

Bought New Age and the new one from FLTaRP today. Didn't think Shanghai Jiaotong's one volume was worth the purchase compared to the other two. Now I wonder if I would bother with their two volume since there is that three volume thing now and my birthday is coming up. Happy birthday to me . . .

I'll need to order the E-Cs as those ones I mentioned above aren't in any of the bookstores in my area.

[yonglan]

liuzhou, I tried to order the dictionary below (that's the one, right?) with the title and ISBN and the bookstore I went to (in China) said it's not on their computer. Is this published in China? If so, could you please tell me the publisher's full name in Chinese? Thanks!

最新實用英漢拼音詞典

English Chinese Pinyin Dictionary by Qian Suwen

7800053830

[liuzhou]

最新實用英漢拼音詞典 is published by New World Press, Beijing (新世界出版社)

[yonglan]

Thanks again, Liuzhou.

In case anyone is interested. I find Comm Press' New Age to be excellent, both for characters and words. It's definition of 而 is poetry.

Incidentally, the new one from FLTRP with 140,000 words leaves something to desired. The definitions can be a bit of word dump and they included ZERO traditional or alternate characters, even for the main character entries! I wouldn't buy it again, though it does have its charms.

Oh, I almost forgot, the bookstore can't get the one from New World, so I am going to order it online.