A word of Advice

You should always have at hand tow different dictionaries at least:  a bilingual dictionary (in this case, English-Spanish, Spanish-English) and an English dictionary.  This is most important in order to avoid falling into a very common type of error which could change the whole meaning of your translation.

Take as an example the word “solicitud”.  You may find this opening phrase in a letter, “De acuerdo con su solicitud de fecha …”

Your bilingual dictionary will give you several definitions for thw word “solicitud”, for example, “request”, “application”, etc.  Only one of these terms would be correct, the others probably will be totally unrelated to your letter.  Consult your English dictionary and, by the meanings given, you will find out which is the right term to use.

The same advice applies when translating into Spanish Think of the disasters committed with the word “actually”, “introduce”, etc), but you must reverse the procedure.  First consult your English Dictionary to find out the exact meaning of a word you are not sure of, and then look it up in your English-Spanish Dictionary.

MAKING THE MOST OF DICITONARIES IN THE CLASSROOM
From Oxford Univ. Press

Inexperienced users of both monolingual and bilingual dictionaries are liable to fall into trap of finding a word and taking the first meaning that they come to.  It is worth taking some time to point out to them that the word may appear more than once in the dictionary, or have more than one part of speech, or meaning, and that they must sometimes look beyond the first item they find.

Once the students have become familiar with the conventions of thedictionary and gained confidence in using it, it is important to make the dictionary an integral part of the language class.  (we can even choose “a word of the week”, a new word we learn that week and post it in the blackboard during a whole week).

USING A DICTIONARY FOR INTRODUCING NEW VOCABULARY

This is a natural starting-point for encouraging your students to use dictionaries, since it is when they meet an unfamiliar word that they most readily recognize the need for help from an outside source.  In class they may be content to rely on you for explanations, but being able to find things out independently is an essential part of language learning.  At home the dictionary may be their only source of help, in class, it can take some of the pressure off the teacher and provide relief from the familiar routine of students always reading texts and the teacher explaining the new words.

Recording vocabulary methodically and in a way which will help them to remember it is an important stage in the students language learning process.  You may wish to encourage them to make their vocabulary notebooks, or glossaries (specific mini-dictionaries).

The dictionary can be a useful tool in ensuring that their personal vocabulary records are accurate and helpful by providing information on:

1. whether the word is worth recording.  Students may consider that a word makred “dated “ or “technical” is not one which they wish to make part of their active vocabulary.
2. The correct spelling
3. Any irregularities in thegrammar (plural of a noun? Past tense of a verb?
4. Pronunciation
5. Meaning
6. How the item is used in phrases or sentences
7. Connected derivatives and compounds

USING A DICTIONARY FOR CHOOSING THE RIGHT WORD

From elementary level onwards, students are confronted with choices about register: request or ask for, descend or go down?  Many students will opt for a more formal word than is appropriate.  They may feel that it is safer to err on the side of formality, or, particularly if their own language is Latin-based, the more formal expression may seem more familiar to them.  On the other hand, some learners may have been exposed to English in informal situations.  Once students realize how it can help them to choose more confidently among the various options, they will be more inclined to make using a dictionary part of their routine for choosing their words.

For example, if we look up the word “request” in the dictionary we can have several meanings:  ask for something, “Passengers are requested not to smoke”, or as a noun, asking for something like: They made a request for money.  Let´s do Exercise I.

Look up the words in the left hand column and match them with the more usual expression:

1.  request                                         a. cry
2.  attempt                                        b.  help
3.  weep                                             c.  be sick
4.  permit                                          d.  buy
5.  vomit                                            e.  ask for
6.  resemble                                      f.  look like
7.  purchase                                      g.  allow
8.  assist                                            h.  try

Exercise II:  What´s more usual?

Look up the words in the left-hand column and match them with the more usual expression.  Look at the examples of notices, instructions, etc, below and explain how the words used in these situations differ from those in everyday conversation.  Then choose one of the words from the list to fill each of the gaps, using the dictionary to check which match the “formal” situations and which should go in the speech bubbles.

Select                             Ring the bell if you …………help
Remove                 All the cakes look delicious.  I don´t know which to choose
Omit                     Please ……….. a ticket from the machine
Choose                 To photocopy you should: ……… the number of copies.
                             Press the green button.
Need                     If you´re too hot, ………… your coat ………!
Take off                 I can´t do question 4 so I´m going to ………… it ………..
Leave out              Are you a full-time student?  If yes, ……..question number
                             8 and 9.
                             8.  Name and address of employer:___________________
get                        Cooking instructions:  Heat oven to 200, ……….. wrapper,
                             place dish in oven.
                            

Exercise III:  What´s the register, situation or tone?

Look at the following sentence:  Do not alight here.

Loop up the word alight in the dictionary and note any information which related not to meaning but to the situation in which the word is used.  There will be clues in the examples given by the dictionary, but they should also find the label fml.  Then try to imagine where they might read or see this sentence.  Read the sentences below and speculate on the possible source of the sentences:  report? Poem? Sign? Conversation? In a textbook?

1. We walked through verdant fields.
2. She really went off the deep end.
3. Stars shone in the firmament.
4. There were injuries to the tibia.

USING A DICTIONARY FOR PRACTISING PRONUNCIATION:

When the emphasis of the lesson is on pronunciation practice, the dictionary need not sit on the shelf.  Your students may be unaware of the help that the dictionary can give them in pronouncing unfamiliar words, or they may lack confidence in dealing with the phonetic alphabet.

A good starting-point might be to concentrate on just two sounds, for example the asily-confused vowel sounds /A/ and /U/.

Look up in the dictionary for the words “cup” and “put” and write down the phonetic symbol which represents each vowel sound.

Hear the difference between the two sounds.  From the list of words below, check the pronunciation in the dictionary and group them according to whether they contain the sound /A/ or /U/.

Cup   put    bull   butcher       butter         cushion       pudding
Tub    wool