2324 - H4 - week 22 - How to Use a Dictionary

How to use a dictionary

1 / 23

Slide 1: Slide

EngelsMiddelbare schoolhavo, vwoLeerjaar 3

This lesson contains 23 slides, with interactive quizzes and text slides.

Lesson duration is: 30 min

Items in this lesson

How to use a dictionary

Slide 1 - Slide

Lesson objectives:

- To learn the first steps on how to use a dictionary properly.

- To develop your dictionary skills

- To raise your awareness of the information you can find in a dictionary

- To develop your skills of prediction when you come across new vocabulary words

- To encourage group collaboration in project work

- To promote creativity.

Slide 2 - Slide

Steps on how to use a dictionary (finding words):

Step #1 - Find the word you want to look up.

Step #2 - Find the letter that the word begins with.

Step #3 - Open the dictionary to the page with the relevant letter.

Step #4 - Look for the second letter in the word you are looking for.

Slide 3 - Slide

Understanding better how to use the dictionary:

Slide 4 - Slide

1. Read the introduction of the dictionary.

Examples:

- information such as the abbreviations, pronunciation symbols;

-what part of speech the word is;

- pronunciation of the word;

- definition;

- check the pronunciation of words with similar spellings (example not - knot )

2. Learn the abbreviations.

Tip: check the context of the word when you are looking it up.

Examples:

- "adj." stands for "adjective" and will tell you what kind of word the word you're looking up is.

- "Adv." or "advb." can stand for "adverb; adverbially."

- "n" can stand for "noun", but "can also stand for "neuter" or "north" as in direction, depending on the context.

Slide 5 - Slide

3. Learn the pronunciation guide at the beginning of the book.

- Stressed and unstressed syllables

Slide 6 - Slide

4. Find the section of the dictionary with the first letter of your word.

-Beware of spelling for trickier words

(Example: "gnome" begins with a "g", or "psychology" begins with a "p", or "knock" begins with a "k", etc.)

- Beware that certain words sound alike that are spelled very differently. (Example: throne -thrown, read -red)

Slide 7 - Slide

5. Read the guide words.

-The two words at the top of the page that tell you what types of words are on the page.

6. Scan down the page for your word.

- Look for the root word (Example: fertility - fertile)

Slide 8 - Slide

7. Read the definition of the word.

- If a word has more than one meaning, it will tell you the most common one first.

Examples:

-Synonyms (words that mean the same thing / (fruitless- unsuccessful)

-Antonyms (words that mean the opposite / night-day).

Slide 9 - Slide

8. Make use of the audio content provided with online dictionaries.

-Free services such as Google may not be as comprehensive as a subscription or book dictionary.