Point It: Traveller's Language Kit

by Dieter Graf

point it is a passport sized traveler's picture dictionary containing photographs of 1,200 items grouped in to categories such as food and drink, accommodations, transportation, automobiles, entertainment, nightlife and health. Its contents reflect the things that a traveler could need anywhere in the world, with images ranging from rickshaws and samosas through croissants and cheese to every type of toilet in use in the world today. The first edition was published in 1992. Now in its sixth edition, i t has sold 450,000 copies to date. point it was used by the Dutch Olympic tea m in Nagano, Japan, by patients with linguistic difficulties and is standard issue for Swiss UN surveyors.

Genres: Travel, Reference, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published August 1, 2009

Reviews

[Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oké, erg literair. Toch een beetje het Toki Pona van de visuele wereld. Zodoende kon ik me echter geen goed gesprek inbeelden over politiek.

[Devon Flaherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I may not have found this book to take it to China with me this time, but it is still a brilliant book. I suppose it was good for me to make an attempt to speak Mandarin while in China, but this book is very useful (I have traveled with it before) if you head to a country where you may not always speak an intelligible language. Point It is a picture dictionary in it’s 20th edition. It is very small and lightweight and broken down into logical sections. I would recommend familiarizing yourself with it before traveling with it. It’s just pictures. You need a bathroom? Point to the applicable picture and do the pee-pee dance. You want bread? Point to the bread or bakery picture and raise your eyebrows in question. Of course, pointing and gesticulating is only the beginning of the communication complications (it’s probably best to learn the language) and you may never know if you really are eating chicken, but having Point It is a step in the direction of whatever it is you need or want.

***REVIEW WRITTEN FOR THE STARVING ARTIST BLOG***

[Carolina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buy this for any world traveler in your life! It's literally a pocket-sized book of pictures with no words. You or your waiter can point in a restaurant to a cut on an animal and what temperature or spice level you enjoy. There is a page each full of vegetables, grains, and fruits. Is there a changing table for your baby? You can point to a changing table. You can point to a type of hotel, camping, each amenity, etc. No verbal language needed.

[Kimberli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I travel the world with a copy of this in my bag. I haven't needed it so much...but when I have needed it, it's been a life saver!

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

So clever and super useful for travel.