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)