Point It: Traveller's Language Kit (English, Spanish, French and German Edition) - Softcover

Dieter Graf

Softcover

ISBN 10: 3980313026 ISBN 13: 9783980313025

Publisher: Graf Editions, 1999

Synopsis

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.

About this title

From the Author:

If you have ever been in a small shop in Asia trying to buy a safety pin, you will understand why I created point it. The idea came to me during a vacation in India in 1976, where, because of the large number of languages and dialects and the low literacy rate, it is common to use symbols to express one's needs.

During the next 16 years, I photographed many strange things while travelling, such as oxen and trucks serving as a bus. Sometimes it was very risky to photograph ordinary, non-tourist things, like passengers in an Indian taxi or Chinese policemen. I was arrested in Nigeria while photographing a jeep that, unfortunately, belonged to the chief of police. On the Trans-Siberian railway I was saved from misfortune by a French tour guide, who also spoke Russian and warned me that it was forbidden to photograph railway stations. In the Munich train station, a well-dressed woman asked why I photographed her compartment - she thought I was a detective sent by her husband!

About the Author:

Dieter Graf is an architect and world traveler. point it reflects the experience he gained travelling in approximately 100 countries and spending three months going around the world by train.

About this edition

• Publisher: Graf Editions
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 3980313026
• ISBN 13: 9783980313025
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 5
• Number of pages: 64