Lesson Two - Dictionaries

Everyone who studies English has to work with dictionaries. At first, a learner’s dictionary is enough, but the more you study, the more different dictionaries and sources you need.

Today’s lesson will be devoted to reviewing different dictionaries.


Task 1 English-Russian Dictionaries

Study the sites of the two most popular online dictionaries. What information do they give? Which site is the most attractive? the most convenient?

http://lingvopro.abbyyonline.com/ru
http://www.multitran.ru

• Do you like the design of the site?
• Is it convenient to use the dictionary?
• What information about a word you can get from the site? (definition? examples? collocations? synonyms? antonyms? specialized translations? etc.)
• Does the site have a special feature? (‘A Word of a Day’ section? A word game? etc.)
• What are the disadvantages of the site?

Task 2 How d’you say it?

You know how to pronounce Nike, Web 2.0 or Magellan in Russian, but is it the same in English? An English-Russian dictionary can help, but in some cases they don’t give the transcription. That is where you go to www.forvo.com and inogolo.com


Now in three teams find the pronunciation for the words I'll give you. Then each team will read their words and other teams will have to say the Russian equivalent.
 
Task 3 Collocations Dictionaries

When you study a word it is not enough to know its translation to use it. You also have to know what words it usually goes with. That’s where you can use the collocations dictionaries. They can help you to compile thematic lists of vocabulary. 

Ex. Emotions

Go to http://www.ozdic.com/ to look for collocations.

At Home

1. Get acquainted with http://www.urbandictionary.com/  Browse it and find 3 words (no obsene words, please) about hobbies that you like. Then browse the net to find a picture that illustrates the word. Now go to http://rusdemotivator.ru/ and create demotivators with these words. Post the demotivators in your blog. There's my demotivator below.

2. Leave at least three comments at different blogs of your groupmates.