Anyone who learns English must have at least one dictionary. Dictionary is a necessary book to help you easily find the meaning as well as the use of any new English words. In addition, the English dictionary will also help you develop skills such as grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. But the fact that some English learners abuse too much on dictionaries results in poor academic results. So how to use the dictionary correctly and effectively. Did you use the English dictionary correctly?
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What kind of English dictionary should be used to ensure accuracy?
First of all, to ensure accuracy and efficiency, you should invest in possession of the best dictionary, thus improving your English proficiency. You can choose dictionaries based on age and level as well as learning purpose. For example, children should choose dictionaries with pictures, colors with prominent titles, clear fonts. For high school students or college students should choose the dictionaries appropriate to the subject and the purpose of study.
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Read through the introduction of the English dictionary
We often skip this introduction, although this is a pretty important part of using the dictionary effectively. Often the dictionaries will come up with the first word, then the words related to the word as well as the word that is used in the sentence. This section will also explain important information such as the presentation of words, phonetic characters. It also gives the user more pronounced words. This will be extremely useful when you hear a word and are not sure how to pronounce it.
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Learn the acronyms
English dictionaries often use acronyms in the description of a word. So there are times when you will be embarrassed not to know the acronyms. Typically, dictionaries usually have a list of explanatory abbreviations in the first pages of the dictionary or in the introduction.
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Pay attention to words that limit the content of each English dictionary
What are the words that limit the content, it means that you will see two words displayed in the upper corners of the pages. These words will help you understand the type of words contained in those two pages, so the search will be faster.
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Read carefully the interpretation of each word
Once you have found the right word, you should read the meaning of each word for the most accurate usage. Normally, each word in the English dictionary will be sorted: transliteration, word type, definition, and usage from that type. Besides many dictionaries can also see the word synonyms, the opposite means to expand their own vocabulary.
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Some common English dictionaries
- Paper English Dictionary: Paper dictionary also has the convenience that you can carry with you at any time. However, with some thick and heavy dictionaries, this will be a little difficult for learners.
- You can use Electronic Dictionary instead: Online dictionaries have become quite popular and easy to use. You just enter the search word and then the system will return results for you almost immediately. We can use Google’s image search function to better understand and remember words.
