Score:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 (9) 10
“Nine outta ten!”
Pros:
great overall package for beginning students; nice formatting with terms colored blue; “Portuguese in Action” section a great inclusion for beginners; very complete for a very small dictionary; ambiguous translations are marked with meaning guides; IPA pronunciation given for terms
Cons:
intermediate students may begin to notice what’s missing and need a more thorough dictionary; “In Action” section a lot less useful to advanced students; can get better coverage by spending just a bit more
The Pocket Portuguese Dictionary offers great coverage of loads of useful terms, words and phrases and learner-friendly language help sections in a highly compact, downsized package.
The body of the dictionary has all that I’ve come to expect from similar works: parts of speech, meaning hints for ambiguous entries, usage examples and the like. Terms are colored blue for handy reference. The layout is clean and useful.
The biggest extra is a middle blue-page insert that introduces “Portuguese in Action”. This section overviews how to use dates, times, numbers in Portuguese, gives false friends to avoid, lists Portuguese and English irregular verbs, and even has sample phone conversations and e-mails and letter writing suggestions.
At my level of studies, the “Action” section didn’t appeal to me much, since I’d just as soon have extra phrases and usage in that space, leaving the details to a grammar or conversation course. But, considering this dictionary targets a beginning crowd looking for a few bells and whistles, I applaud the inclusion.
Keep in mind that this is a small, pocket-sized dictionary. Its size limitations means it covers less of the language. You can buy a dictionary with better coverage by paying just a bit more, but the overall package presented in this handy little volume is very attractive to beginning Portuguese students.