English-Russian, Russian-English Dictionary

I've been using this dictionary for over a year. It has never failed me yet at suggesting a good and precise translation. It has no vulgar words which somehow sneaked into many other dictionaries, such as Oxford. It's easy to use and not bulky at all.

It's pretty good and useful, but I have two problems.

I just adopted two kids from Russia. They were using a word that sounded like a vulgarity that I know from spanish. I couldn't find it in the russian to english section. I looked it up in the english to russian section, and found that there was no vulgarity at all! I need to know the words. Being present in a dictionary doesn't mean you approve of using them. Look up the english word for the male sex organ, and you don't even find the russian word for it. The only thing this book gives would be literally translated back: "male sex organ" -- it does not even give the russian word. (I bet there is one.)

Lots of verbs have irregular stems. If I have a conjugated verb and want to find out what it means in english, how am I supposed to do that? For example, ride. The infinitive is (something like) Ekhat. First person, "I ride", is "Ya edy". Look up "edy" and fail to find the word. Other prefixes are indexed. It should index irregular stems!

This was my first dictionary, in 1987--and remains my favorite dictionary today. I have literally loved two copies of this dictionary to pieces. My current copy is the first dictionary I reach for if I need a quick translation. This was the dictionary that was always at my side when I worked as an interpreter in Moscow. Of course, it is not meant for every purpose, but I have seen nothing as good as this dictionary for its size. There is also a great quick-reference declension guide inside.

This is an excellent dictionary, but it has a fragile binding that is not suitable for a tome like this. What was Wiley thinking about when they selected the materials for this volume? The binding of my copy split in half after less than two years of usage and pages started falling out before that time. For a product that costs this much, I expected somthing that can actually be used for a long time. I advised Wiley of the problem and they stood behind the product. I received a replacement volume at no charge. Recommended.

This is a very good product. Before ordering it I had several doubts - but they all vanished once I laid my hands on this must-have Russian Language resource.

The writing is clear, the translation is as specific as it gets. Irregular declensions and conjugations are given as well. What a product!

BTW - don't think that this is a pocket dictionary - it is rather large and would function better on the shelf.

I recommend this book without hesitation.