Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I bought this to replace the heavy pocket dictionary I usually carry around in my purse as I gallivant around China. As I am now at an intermediate learning level in Chinese, my checklist of important features might be different from that of other buyers.
Lightweight: check. It's still a noticable weight in my purse, but it's a relief from the thick pocket dictionary.
Sufficient dictionary size: check. I have already used this to look up hundreds of words and phrases, usually checking how it compares to my pocket dictionary. So far it has had almost every word I've looked for. As for phrases, it has some that my pocket dictionary doesn't have, but lacks others that the book does include. Overall, I'm satisfied with the number of entries.
Able to look up Chinese characters: check. If I see a character on the street that I really want to learn, I can use radicals to look it up. It's not easy, but it works the same way as standard dictionaries. BUT, the frustrating thing is this: when I look up a character, it doesn't tell me the pinyin. I can press the audio button to listen to its pronunciation, but the voice is somewhat muffled and difficult to understand. I often have to guess what the real pronunciation is and double check by looking up the character using pinyin. Also, there is another problem I didn't even consider. If I hear someone say "Jia(1) you(2)!" and try to look it up, I can't just enter the pinyin and hope to find a matching word or phrase. First I must enter "jia" and find the correct character. After I have the first character, I can then type in "you" and easily find the phrase. But if I only heard someone say the phrase on the street, I probably don't know what characters it's made up of. This makes it impossible to look up the phrase.
User friendly: fairly good. My biggest complaint is the inability to turn off all sounds. When searching for a character using pinyin, dictionary pronounces each part of the word I enter (quite loudly). Besides slowing things down and being almost pointless, it's impossible to turn off. I went to settings and turned off both "Music" and "KeySnd" sounds AND turned volume to zero, but the annoying voice was still audible. If I want to use this in class, I'll have to also plug in the earphones.
After using this dictionary for a few weeks, I think it's obvious that it was designed with Chinese speakers learning English in mind. As an example, you can't find "New York" or even "China" in the English-->Chinese dictionary, but look up the Chinese words and you'll find the English translation. However, it's still usable for English speakers and is the cheapest electronic dictionary I've found. It also came with ear buds and a soft black protective case. That was a nice surprise.
I would recommend this product, but be aware of the drawbacks.
Click Here to see more reviews about: AM99 Electronic English Chinese Talking Dictionary for Learning Chinese
For English speaker learning Chinese Mandarin, business travelers to China, AM99 is an indispensable tool that provides instant English-to-Chinese and Chinese-to-English bi-directional translations and dictionaries. The BBK AM99 provides authentic pronunciation in both Mandarin Chinese and American English, with both Pinyin and Phonetic display for the Chinese translations. Besides, AM99 includes English and Chinese idiom dictionaries, specialized technical dictionaries for Biology, Computers, Business, Western and Chinese Medicine. An uniquely designed and comprehensively grouped vocabulary with common dialogue phrases help travelers to navigate in Chinese, as well as convenience features including Calendar, World Clock, Alarm, Stop Watch, Timer, Calculator, and Unit and Currency Converters.Other functions include Knowledgebase for Music, Poetry, Arts, History, Chinese Handwriting, Travel Sites, and Chinese customs, training tools for Spelling, Pinyin, Phonetic, and US Citizenship quiz.AM99 comes with carrying bag, earphone, user manual, and AAA battery, with one-year parts and labor warranty.
