ESL Classes - Increase your Vocabulary. Use a Dictionary
To use a person who knows English better than you as your personal dictionary may be a very comfortable situation to be in, but it isn’t always the most effective way. Why do we say that? The answer is easy; it’s common knowledge that, “No pain, no gain”.
If you are starting your ESL classes, or, even if you are just trying to improve your use of english vocabulary take the necessary time to look for the meaning of a word by yourself; look for examples of how this word is used. This will create good vocabulary foundations for you.
Later, this vocabulary knowledge will help you when trying to keep a conversation going or when trying to express a particular idea. This is the main reason for our first advice to you: use a Spanish - English Dictionary everywhere. To make it clearer; this is what happens to someone who is living in an English-speaking country; they learn more because they need to learn more. There is no doubt about this method.
Usually we complain about how slow our learning process is, and we say it without realizing that this slowness has a lot to do with the minimum effort we put into looking for words and learning them in context.
To learn how to properly speak English you definitely will have to read all those books you have been avoiding lately, and of course you will have to go and read that dictionary hidden in your room. It is time for you to take the steps that will lead you to successfully complete your English learning.
What dictionary is it recommended to start with?
Always use at least two dictionaries. First a pocket bilingual dictionary, this is going to be your best friend from this point on. Even though they normally have more words than the ones stored in an average bilingual brain, there are going to be times when you’ll have a hard time trying to find a word. That’s why you must have a back-up dictionary; this one has to be bigger, to be kept at home, waiting for you.
Which edition should you choose?
Cambridge and Oxford are by far the most recognized dictionaries in the world, but the choice relies more on your needs and of course on your budget.
Maybe your best option is to go and check what Amazon or eBay has to offer, and you won’t have to buy it right there. This research may help in developing parameters to help you before making your final decision.
Is it OK to use an online dictionary?
Of course it is. An online dictionary is a perfect resource for you. It will make it much easier for you to find language forums, definitions, thesaurus (synonym dictionary), etc.
The most famous site is probably Word Reference But there are many more such as Babylon or the Merriam-Webster online. It is calculated there are more than 6,000 dictionaries and online resources in the world. Do some Google search and pick your favorite.
It is important to have these tools. They are the only way to concrete and useful knowledge. Once you’ve found a dictionary that suits your needs, you’ll start noticing the difference.
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