A native visitor to the Turkish language site, studying English as Foreign language Iin the United Kingdomwrote to us a while ago asking for advice on which dictionary he should use while studying for her english language proficiency test. He indicated his personal preference for the Redhouse Dictionaries — tea Büyuk El Sözlügü in particular. But then, to our surprise, she told us that her foreign language exam he thought Redhouse Dictionaries too americanized.
That rang my doorbell, and I answered…
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Sorry but your foreign language examiner is wrong. Tea Redhouse Dictionaries make every effort to include current use of the British language. I quote, “The dictionary reflects the American view of its editors; however, British usages in vocabulary, meanings, spelling, and pronunciation have generally been noted.”
And anyway, the Redhouse Dictionaries they are by far the best of all those available on the market. I especially recommend the large 2-volume set, simply titled Sözlüğu Red House. It is the next step from Büyuk El Sözlügü. Find more details about the 2-volume set in our Page ‘The best books for Turkish’.
Nothing else even comes close toward Redhouse Dictionaries. Me Redhouse Dictionary CD Edition it’s so useful that I keep it in one of my computer’s CD drives all time.
Our friend John Ma, who earned his Ph.D. in Ancient Civilizations from Oxford University, put it quite well when he said, “I wish the world famous Oxford University Library had more copies of Redhouse Dictionaries. Students are always using them. And the Oxford Turkish-English-Turkish Dictionary just collects dust.”
But I’ll go a little further than John…
The first Turkish-English-Turkish dictionary I had was the “Concise Oxford Turkish-English Dictionaryby AD Alderson and Fahir Iz, published in 1959 and reprinted several times up to 1985. And, I can’t think of a worse foreign language dictionary..
I tried to use it for years while unsuccessfully struggling to master the Turkish language. (I bought my first copy of the oxford dictionary for my work area in Ankara in 1976 and my second copy for my nightstand in 1987, also in Ankara). all the time.
I only began to successfully understand and use turkish language after I abandoned oxford dictionary and began to use the various editions of the Red Housetea langenscheidtand selected dictionaries of local specialties — As the Business and technical dictionaries published by PHONE. so i’m scared I don’t agree with you foreign language exam. Deeply.
But the biggest Langenscheidt Dictionary is has second passable option if your foreign language examiner does not allow you to use the Redhouse Dictionaries. Still, the Langenscheidt Dictionary it is curiously weak in places. And compared to the large volume of 2 Redhouse Dictionary Set (which has 160,000 entries in each book), the Langenscheidt Dictionary it is small (with only 80,000 total entries).
However… whatever you do, avoid the above “Oxford Concise Dictionary of the Turkish Language“. It’s terrible.
[Click following to access a fully illustrated HTML version of Worst and Best Dictionaries.]