Somali-English/English-Somali Dictionary & Phrasebook (Hippocrene Dictionary & Phrasebook) Paperback – Illustrated, May 1, 1999

Of course, when I bought this dictionary, there were no others on the market at all. There are still only a few Somali language resources, but this one packs a punch. For a small book (176 pages), it covers a lot of ground. The first 80 pages are straight dictionary pages. (English to Somali and Somali to English). The remaining pages are organized like a phrase book, ordered by category. The book also covers how to read and pronounce Somali. (Though it's written in Roman characters, there are some pronunciation guidelines, like Pinyin for Mandarin).I'm just a Somali language enthusiast and not fluent by any stretch, but this book is great. I've worked with and been around a lot of Somalis (in the Minneapolis area) and they are always shocked and thrilled to encounter a non-Somali speaking Somali.I bought two copies of this book.

Well, let's see, where should I begin? My first statement (above) is my first attempt at writing Soomaali. It means, "I love it." and indeed I do. I currently do not own any Soomaali-ingriisi grammar material save for what is in this Soomaal-English/English-Soomaali dictionary. However, I do have a sound understanding of the 3Arabic grammar and find that the two languages are a little close. So based on that assumption I know the above verb (jacayl) needs a pronoun (wuu). Over all I think this dictionary is easy to understand in helping one learn the Soomaali language. Look at me! I've only had the book for less than an hour and am extremely happy with it and its' condition.

I work with children from all over the world, and I've encountered many speakers of Somali. They love that I'm attempting to speak their language, and I've been told this is the very same book that some parents are using to improve their English. It's extremely useful, but the pronunciation guide is a little cryptic, and it lacks the international phonetic spelling. That would be a 5-star improvement, but I'm giving it 4 stars because it's a great introduction to the Somali language, and I'm learning. Thanks for reading.

This book is small in size but if you need basic somali phrases, it is perfect to use. I love it!

I'm still learning the new words from this book called Somali English Phrasebook and Dictionary. I could use it to strike up a conversation with people from Somalia. It is a language that is similar to Arabic. I would say proudly that it's worth it. Thanks for sending it to me!

My copy of "Lord of Light" was lost in the mail. I read it about forty years ago, and liked it. It was going to be a present. The Somali phrasebook was fine. After my transaction with Amazon.com, my credit card was compromised, and I was issued another. That makes me a little wary of using my credit card number online.

This is a great book, nicely divided into sections like Introductions, Shopping, and Food and Drink that make it seem like it would be a good book for tourism or a pocket guide when communicating with Somali speakers. However in order to use it, an English speaker would have to first spend considerable time developing a basic understanding for the letters and sounds of the Somali alphabet. There are a few pages dedicated to teaching this pronunciation in the beginning, as well as sections that go over the word order of sentences and questions and other grammar points. It was a little more work than I had anticipated. Occasionally I have the opportunity to have a Somali speaker help me, but things are slow going when I am on my own.

I got this thinking I could use it to translate Somali writing. It really does not work for that. Maybe if one were traveling to Somalia (not very appealing prospect at this time) you could use it to point to words. You could not use it to translate a passage written in Somali.