Jack Lynch is a professor of English at Rutgers University-Newark who specializes in English literature of the eighteenth century and the history of the English language.
I have defined a reference book as one nobody reads from start to finish. The thought of reading a dictionary or encyclopedia strikes many as the height of absurdity, an emblem of futility.
Business writer George S. Some people have to read them. When Robert Burchfield was commissioned to supplement the Oxford English Dictionary , he began by reading the whole thing through—all thirteen volumes, all 15, pages, all 1,, quotations, all miles of type. It is more text than many people will read in a lifetime, but the only way Burchfield could prepare himself to be editor. A reference book is "one nobody reads from start to finish.
Others read dictionaries and encyclopedias when they have time on their hands. Others have even more time—time that has been forced upon them. Two centuries later, while Malcolm X sat in prison, he too read a dictionary. In my slow, painstaking, ragged handwriting, I copied into my tablet everything printed on that first page, down to the punctuation marks. I believe it took me a day.
Over and over, aloud, to myself, I read my own handwriting. The next day he moved on to the next page, and before he knew it he had reached the end of the letter A and the end of his notebook. Rather than stopping, he found another tablet and kept going.
When you are new to English, an English-English monolingual dictionary is not very helpful by itself. A good bilingual dictionary, however, is a better choice than a translator.
You can buy a physical dictionary, download an app on your phone, or use a good online bilingual dictionary. They also have a forum where you can ask and answer language questions.
As you become more confident with English, using a good English-English dictionary can give you even more detailed information, and can help you to think in English instead of always translating in your mind.
You can also use it with a bilingual dictionary to deepen your understanding. Again, you can buy a hard copy, download an app, or use a good online dictionary such as dictionary. These dictionaries also have learner versions, with simpler language. Learn the abbreviations used in the dictionary — there should be a list at the front or back of the book, or a link if it is online.
Try to guess meaning from context as much as you can, and then use your dictionary to confirm your guesses afterwards. For example, if you wait until you reach the end of a paragraph or page, or wait until your teacher has finished talking, you will have more information to help you understand and remember the word.
Guessing from context and talking with your peers are very important ways to develop your language skills. Subject-specific dictionary Oxford Concise Medical Dictionary. Which dictionary do you think is the best choice? What problems might you have using these definitions in real life? This license allows others to distribute, alter and build upon a created work, even commercially, as long as the original source is credited. Want to keep learning?
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