Dictionary Use Guide
Aims
 Think more about dictionary use
 Learn new ways to use dictionaries
 Combine dictionary use with other strategies
I found there were many
more useful ways to use
my dictionary! Nonoka, 1st yr
Dictionary Use Questionnaire
1. What kind of dictionary or dictionaries do you use?
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
Paper
Electronic
Online
Smartphone App
Japanese-English
English-Japanese
English only
Other: ________
Never
Never
Never
Never
Never
Never
Never
Never
Sometimes
Sometimes
Sometimes
Sometimes
Sometimes
Sometimes
Sometimes
Sometimes
Usually
Usually
Usually
Usually
Usually
Usually
Usually
Usually
Always
Always
Always
Always
Always
Always
Always
Always
2. How often do you check your dictionary? ___ time(s) per ______
3. Do you carry some kind of dictionary all the time? Yes / No
Paper, electronic, online dictionary or app?
Each of these options has its strengths and weaknesses: so
choose whichever one (or ones!) work best for you. However, here
are 5 important points to remember:
1. First entry, first screen only trap!
Many students only read the first thing they
see but many words have several meanings.
Check example sentences and read carefully
to choose the most suitable entry.
PHOTOCOPIABLE
Page 1 of 2
Philip Shigeo Brown (2011)
2. Electronic dictionary functions
(a) Jump/Super-jump: Jump easily from one
dictionary to another. For example, if you’re using
a learner dictionary and there is a word you don’t
understand, you can jump to a bilingual dictionary
to check it then jump back again!
(b) History: This shows all the words you have looked up. At
the end of each week, you can check your history to see
which words you remember and which words you may
need to study. (See, for example, Word Cards)
3. Learner dictionaries 
(a) Most students only use bilingual dictionaries because
they believe English-only dictionaries are too difficult.
But most learner dictionaries just use a defining
vocabulary of 2000-3000 high frequency words so using
one helps you learn these too! (See Which Words?)
 Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English ~2000 words
 Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners ~2500 words
 Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary ~3000 words
(b) Collocations (i.e. words that often go together) are also
usually marked in bold. Learn them together so you can
use them more fluently and correctly. (See also WordWebs & Word Connections and Vocabulary Notebooks)
4. Thesaurus 類義語辞典
You can use this to make your writing and speech more
interesting by using words with the same or similar meanings,
as well as opposites. Most electronic dictionaries have one 
5. Quality and quantity
Choose a dictionary that is suitable for
your level (see also What is My
Vocabulary Level?), and are preferably
corpus-based with real-life examples 
PHOTOCOPIABLE
Page 2 of 2
Philip Shigeo Brown (2011)