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One of the essentials for anyone learning Mandarin Chinese is a good Mandarin Dictionary. There are plenty to choose from, but this wide choice can make it difficult to select one that is appropriate for your individual level, expectations, and needs.
The Oxford Beginner's Chinese Dictionary, as the title suggests, is aimed at beginners in Mandarin Chinese who are primarily interested in looking up English words to find Mandarin translations.
Dictionary entries include Pinyin for pronunciation, simplified Chinese characters, and example sentences and phrases for illustrating grammar usage.
A Dictionary For Beginnners
Most people first learn Pinyin Romanization when studying Mandarin Chinese, and the Oxford Beginner's Chinese Dictionary is targeted for Pinyin usage. Using Pinyin to look up dictionary entries is an ideal method for first-year students, who usually concentrate on the spoken language rather than learning to read and write Chinese characters.
The examples given for each entry are useful for understanding Mandarin grammar, and seeing how words are used in context. The examples chosen are ideal for the beginner level, and provide appropriate illustrations of commonly used sentences and phrases.
Simplified Characters
Each entry in the Oxford Beginner's Chinese Dictionary includes Chinese characters, but these characters are only in the simplified form. The traditional characters used in Taiwan and Hong Kong are not covered, but I don't think this is a problem for students at the beginning level, who will concentrating on the spoken language rather than reading and writing Chinese characters.
After absorbing the basics of Mandarin Chinese, many people are then ready to tackle the written language, at which time they can consider whether it is more appropriate to learn the traditional characters, or the simplified characters which are used in Mainland China.
Reference Sections
A nice feature of Oxford Beginner's Chinese Dictionary is the inclusion of measure words in each of the noun definitions. Many dictionaries omit this important aspect of Mandarin Chinese. It is essential to learn the appropriate measure word for each noun, and this dictionary is very useful for this task.
Besides the individual dictionary entries, there is also a reference section in the middle of the book that includes 92 of the most common measure words.
Grammar
Mandarin grammar is quite different from English and other Western langauges. The grammar section in the Oxford Beginner's Chinese Dictionary contains all the basics, and while it cannot be considered a comprehensive guide to Mandarin Chinese grammar, it is enough to provide the beginner with the basic concepts of sentence structure, word classifications, and modifiers.
Downside
No learning guide is perfect, and the Oxford Beginner's Chinese Dictionary is definitely not suited for everyone. It has a relatively limited set of vocabulary compared with other dictionaries. If you are using this dictionary in conjunction with a textbook, there are bound to be textbook words that are not found in the dictionary.
And once you have mastered the basics of Mandarin Chinese, you are likely to find this dictionary limiting in several aspects. It is not really designed for looking up Chinese characters, and the omission of traditional characters is a problem for those intending to travel or study in Taiwan.
However, despite these misgivings, I can heartily recommend Oxford Beginner's Chinese Dictionary for anyone just starting out in Mandarin Chinese. It is well-designed for the target audience, with features such as page headings which allow for easy browsing.
As you progress in your mastery of Mandarin Chinese, you could supplement this dictionary with one of the more mainstream English / Chinese dictionaries such as the Tuttle Concise Chinese Dictionary. And when you are ready to learn Chinese characters, there are plenty of dedicated texts for this purpose, such as Reading And Writing Chinese by William McNaughton.