English Learning Tools 3:Good English-English Dictionaries

According to our friends at antimoon.com, the most important thing that you will need when learning English is a good English dictionary. "Successful English learners", they write, "use their dictionaries all the time — that's how they learn to use new words". The adjective 'good' here is very important. "If you get a good English dictionary", the antimoon.com note, "you will be better than 90% of English learners." As they note while you may not believe it, "... most people (even people who want to learn English very much) simply go to a bookstore and buy the first dictionary they see.

So what, according to antimoon.com, should you be looking at when going to buy a dictionary? In brief, they note, it..
1. ....has to be an English-English dictionary.
2 ...must give phonetic transcriptions (pronunciations) for every word.
3. ...must give example sentences for every word, and,
4. ...should be a software dictionary.
With respect to using the dictionary, they note that "if you want to improve your speaking/writing ability", then it is important to remember to read the example sentences in your dictionary. These, they note, "...show you how to use a word and they program your brain with correct English".

Find below links to: 1. antimoon.com's page on Dictionaries and learning English; 2. a comparative review of dictionaries for English learners by Tomasz P. Szynalski; and 3. some links to some of the online editions of some of the most highly recommended dictionaries.

1. antimoon.com's page on Dictionaries and learning English;
2. a comparative review of dictionaries for English learners; and
3. Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary Online
Longman's Dictionary of Comtemporary English
Merriam-Websters Online English