About English-Englihs dictionary

Irina Derevyanko   Thursday, August 22, 2002, 13:58 GMT
Hello! My name is Irina. I am from Russia. I have been learning English for five years. I read about your methodic and I want to talk about some moments. First about using English-English dictionary. I think this idea is good but only for those who already knows English. What can people that begin learning English do? If they look up a word in dictionary they will find a lot of unfamiliar English words. They will look up these words and find another unknown words and so on. It is like to listen to the alphabet Morse and try to understand it. I think it is useful to use this dictionary when learner already has some stock of English words. But how can he get it without using the English-Native Language dictionary. You had a lexical stock too before you started learning English with your technique. Besides it seems that such way of learning English needs a lot of time and is not suitable for those people who need to learn English very quickly. I'd like to discuss these points with you.
Tom   Friday, August 23, 2002, 10:00 GMT
Yes, you are right. If you are a complete beginner, then it is best to use an English-Native Language dictionary for some time and then switch to an English-English dictionary.

Why do you think using an English-English dictionary takes more time than using an English-Native Language dictionary?
Craig   Friday, August 23, 2002, 11:13 GMT
When I study Korean (I'm a native speaker of English), I use a Korean-Korean dictionary most of the time. I can often understand the Korean explanations, but a lot of the time I can't. However, even if I can't understand a word after using a Korean-Korean dictionary, I can usually understand it after I use a Korean-English dictionary to look up the words which were used to define the original Korean word. As soon as I understand the original word, I forget about the English meanings of the Korean words in the definition and then learn the original Korean word according to its Korean definition. I find this very helpful. After I have studied a word in this way it is very difficult to forget the original word, and I have already been exposed to several Korean words which I may wish to consciously study at a later date. Perhaps such a method might be suitable for many learners of English as a foreign language.
Irina Derevyanko   Monday, August 26, 2002, 12:10 GMT
To Tom:

<it is best to use an English-Native Language dictionary for some time and then switch to an English-English dictionary>

How long should I use an English-Native Language dictionary and when exactly switch to an English-English dictionary?

<Why do you think using an English-English dictionary takes more time than using an English-Native Language dictionary? >

I think that LEARNING English with using an English-English dictionary takes more time than LEARNING English with using an English-Native Language dictionary.

Could you tell me whether you agree with Craig.
Tom   Monday, August 26, 2002, 12:45 GMT
<<<<
How long should I use an English-Native Language dictionary and when exactly switch to an English-English dictionary?
>>>>

As soon as possible.

<<<<
I think that LEARNING English with using an English-English dictionary takes more time than LEARNING English with using an English-Native Language dictionary.
>>>>

I think learning English with an E-E dictionary may take less time because it exposes you to a lot of English sentences.
Also, English-English dictionaries are much better than English-Native Language ones, which speeds up the learning process further.

If I understood Craig correctly, he recommends that beginners use a monolingual dictionary, resorting to a bilingual one only when necessary. I think this is a very good idea.
moounir@hotmail.com   Sunday, September 22, 2002, 16:57 GMT


hello ,,

I find those discussions about the english language very important . i would like to join but no time . so please the incomming days , i will try to take part . i am sure they aer fruitfull for me as a teacher .

thanks a lot
moounir@hotmail.com   Sunday, September 22, 2002, 16:58 GMT


hello ,,

I find those discussions about the english language very important . i would like to join but no time . so please the incomming days , i will try to take part . i am sure they aer fruitfull for me as a teacher .

thanks a lot
moounir@hotmail.com   Sunday, September 22, 2002, 16:58 GMT


hello ,,

I find those discussions about the english language very important . i would like to join but no time . so please the incomming days , i will try to take part . i am sure they aer fruitfull for me as a teacher .

thanks a lot