Dictionaries are resources for finding word meanings, parts of speech, origins, and synonyms/antonyms. The English language draws from French, Greek, Latin, Germanic, Hebrew, and other influences. Dictionaries can be used to look up word meanings, translations, spellings, parts of speech, pronunciations, and more. Users should choose the best dictionary for their purpose, learn to navigate entries quickly and accurately, and know when to consult a dictionary versus continuing reading to determine a word's meaning in context. Practice finding words and knowing the alphabet can improve dictionary skills.

1. Dictionaries

2. What is a dictionary?
• Well this is something ironic because if you want to know
what is a dictionary, you must have to use one. But here
we go!
• Dictionaries are resources for finding word meaning,
parts of speech, word origins and even synonyms and
antonyms.

3. Origins of English
language
• Clearly this language contains French, Greek, Latin and
Germanic roots, also influences of Hebrew and other
languages.
• In fact one of the most difficult parts of this language is
this mishmash of roots and rules.

4. Reasons for using a
dictionary
 Look up the meaning of an English word you see or hear.
 Find the English translation of a word in your language.
 Check the spelling of a word.
 Check the plural of a noun or past tense of a verb.
 Find out other grammatical information about a word.
 Check the part of speech of a word.
 Find out how to say a word.
 Find examples of the use of a word in natural language.
 Find out about the register of a word.
 Look up the collocations of a word.
 Find the antonym or synonym of a word.

5. How to be a good
dictionary user?
• You must decide which is the best dictionary for any of
the purposes mentioned before.
• You need to be able to find what are you looking for
quickly.
• You need to be sure that you have found what you were
looking for.
• IMPORTANT: YOU NEED TO KNOW WHEN TO USE
YOUR DICTIONARY.

6. Activity
• Remember that finding words is a
skill that you need to practice.
• Ask someone to write down 5 words
and see how long it takes you to find
them.
• NOTE: You will need to know the
English alphabet perfectly.
• HINT: Use the guide words at the top
of each page, and keep practicing.

7. Finding the right meaning
• Check through all the meanings
and find the one that makes most
sense in the context where you
found the word.
• If you really want to make sure,
think whet the word is in your own
language and look it up in a
bilingual dictionary.

8. Common problems;
finding the right spelling
• Are you sure of the first few letters? Just look down the
page until you find the right spelling.
• You are not sure? Try some other possibilities. For
example, think what is in your language and look it up in
your bilingual dictionary.

9. Finding the right English
translation
• When you look up a word in
your own language in a
bilingual dictionary, you will
probably find more than one
translation. If you aren’t sure
which one is the best, try a
back translation.
• What is that? Look for each
word and pick the one that
matches perfectly with the word
in your language, then you are
safe to use it.

10. Advice section: Knowing
when to use a dictionary
• When you find a new word while reading, finish the
sentence, this will give you an idea of what the word
means.
• If you haven't guessed the meaning and it still seems
important, then you can look it up, because if you spend
your whole day searching new words you will neve end.

11. School usage
• When you here a new word in class,
wait and continue listening,
remember that what teacher says
next may help you understand the
word. If you look up In a dictionary
you won’t hear what comes next and
makes the lesson more difficult.
• Note: You can copy the word and
later ask your teacher or another
student what it means.

12. Finally….
• Here we upload a video in which you can find a really
fast summary of our presentation.
• Also in this link you can find a quiz in which you can
practice more about his topic.
• Video
• Quiz
• Resources
• Study.com
• Esl.fis.edu