Dictionaries —Your Lifetime Teachers A talk on how to make dictionaries your lifetime teachers Xu Kerong

What is a good teacher? A good teacher is one who tries his/her best to make himself / herself an unnecessary person.

Main Points  Types of Dictionary  Information a Dictionary offers  When and How to use dictionaries  What dictionary a college student need

Types of dictionary (1) According to the language used  All-English dictionaries  Bilingual dictionaries

Types of dictionary (2) According to size / purpose  Desk, or college, dictionaries usually contain over 100,000 words.  Pocket dictionaries, usually paperbacks, are much more limited.  Learner dictionaries are intended for nonnative speakers who are learning English

Other Types  Special dictionary Oxford Collocations ( 牛津搭配词典 ) Oxford Idioms ( 牛津习语词典 ) Oxford Phrasal Verbs ( 牛津短语动词词典 )  Electronic Dictionaries

Parts of a Dictionary  What comes before the dictionary Foreword, Introduction, etc.  The Dictionary—the part that gives detailed information about the words it includes  What comes between the pages of the dictionary – inserts Illustrations, pages of cultural information  What comes at the end

The Dictionary cau tion (k ô ´shən) n. 1. warning against danger. 2. attention to safety. 3. (informal) an alarming or amusing person. v. to warn or reprimand. [from Old French caution.] 1. Spelling 2. Syllables 3. Pronunciation 4. Parts of speech 5. Meanings 6. Usage 7. History of the word

Information from what comes at the beginning Numbers that are entries ( 词条 ) 2 : used in s and text messages 1) to replace to and too, e.g. It’s up 2 U (= It’s up to you). Me 2 (= Me too). 2) to replace to- in other words, e.g. 2day (= today) 4 : used in s and text messages 4 u (= for you) be4 (= before, replacing –fore) 20/20 vision: the ability to see normally without wearing glasses

Language Awareness 1. Numbers from 1 – 100; ways of saying the number 0 fractions ( 分数 ) and decimals ( 小数 ); dates; phone numbers 2. Phrasal verbs ( 短语动词 ) 3. Academic writing ( 学术写作 ) 4. College compositions ( 大学作文 ) 5. Metaphor 隐喻 6. Computer words 计算机用语 (); 7. Pragmatics ( 语用学 ) 8. spoken discourse ( 口语语段 ) 9. Sensitivity ( 敏感话题 ); 10. American and British English ( 美国英语与英国英语的区别 ) 11. Business English ( 商务英语 ) 12. Word formation ( 构词法 )

When and How to Use Dictionaries To find the exact meaning of words and phrases eat one’s words to admit that what you said was wrong Sam said it would never sell, but when he sees these sales figures he'll have to eat his words. respectable considered socially acceptable, e.g. The ex-prisoner is now a respectable citizen respected admired by many people for one’s qualities or achievements Professor Yang Limin is a ________ teacher. (respected)

To learn how to use a verb  what patterns to use to inform Our teacher informed that the IR class was moved to next Friday. 1) inform sb about/of something 2) inform sb that … X inform that …  what adverbs to use to love dearly, deeply, passionately, really, tenderly, unconditionally, wholeheartedly X entirely, fully, completely

To find the right verb for a noun  Don’t translate word for word from a Chinese verb + noun collocation 学习知识 X learn knowledge acquire / gain (Knowledge) 掉眼泪 X drop tears shed / weep (tears) tears well up in one’s eyes  Use a verb instead of a v + n collocation 取得成绩 X to make achievement to do well in … to achieve considerable success to achieve good exam results

Information about people and places (Longman Dictionary of Language and Culture) Nelson Mandela ( ) the leader of Africa’s ANC party since 1994, and the first black President South Africa. Mandela was in prison from 1964 to 1990 for his opposition to the country’s white government. In 1993 he shared the Nobel Peace Prize with President F. E. de Klerk after they had worked together to end the system of apartheid. He is admired all over the world, especially for encouraging people in South Africa to unite and build a new society and to forgive the bad things that happened there in the past.

Changing English -friendly used at the end of words to mean ‘ not harmful ’, e.g. environmentally-friendly detergent （环保洗衣粉） wildlife-friendly farming （ 保护野生动物的耕作） not difficult for particular people to understand or use, e.g. a user-friendly computer program （容易使用的计算机程序） a customer-friendly shopping mall （便利顾客的购物中心）

Conclusion Dictionaries are your good teachers. They are available any time you want to consult them. They are patient and tireless and able to work with you as long as you like. They are knowledgeable and are capable of helping you solve many of your problems.

Thank you! I wish all of you success in the coming exams! The End