English-Ilocano Dictionary & Phrasebook

There aren't too many Tagalog books out there... and Ilocano ones are so rare I didn't think they existed until I spotted this book at my local Borders. This book really helped me out when I visited the province of Pangasinan. Sure, I am not fluent but I was able to make myself understood. I just wish there were morelanguage study materials for this fascinating language.

Currently I am living and working in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte. As an American, I have found learning Ilocano both interesting and challenging. I searched both far and wide looking for a good dictionary that would be of use to me. To my disappointment, the selections here in country are rather slim. My boyfriend found me this book and it has been of great help to me ever since. The grammar sections are wonderful and explain things fairly well. I have found it, however, a little difficult at times to understand some of the grammar terms, although I am well versed in grammar as a teacher of both English and Spanish. Yet even with some difficulty, there are plenty of examples given to back things up. A word of caution on the vocabulary that is presented in the book. It is very general. It applies to anywhere that Ilocano is spoken in the Philippines. If you want to use it in conjunction with a certain area, I would check with the locals about which words are most appropriate for something, if more than one is given. I also was really looking forward to using the book to help me understand more of what I hear in Ilocano already. I was a little down to realize that there is no Ilocano-English dictionary, only English-Ilocano. Overall though, I have found the grammar sections and the English-Ilocano dictionary very helpful. This book is both insightful and well put together.

Seeing that there aren't many resources for learning non-Tagalog languages in the Philippines, this book makes up for that. The beginning of the book deals mainly with grammar and it also includes a short history of the language. And the rest is a dictionary. As Carl Rubino stated to me, it's part of a 500-page thesis... And I must add, it's very well done.

I am very impressed with this dictionary. It had all the words I searched for, and the grammar was easy to follow. Carl Rubino wrote a masterpiece with this one. It is by far the best ilocano-english dictionary I have seen. I can't believe the extremely low price either.

I bought this book, not because of the dictionary, but because I thought it might have something in it that would help me learn the language, the native language of my wife. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a great grammar section which explains the fascinating language much better than my wife can! It is obvious that Professor Rubino knows his stuff. The phrasebook is useful too and well arranged. I have been practicing the language frequently with my wife thanks to this book. I only wish there were audio cassettes too.