University English I

Unit 6 Academic Writing and Study Skills Advanced Dictionary Skills

Advanced Dictionary Skills (Prepared by Yue Yuan)

1. Types of dictionaries

Thesauruses, which are dictionaries that list words with similar meanings together. This
is useful for writing, where it is sometimes bad style to use the same word many times.
However, you will need to use a normal dictionary to discover the differences between
the similar words. Some word-processing programs have a thesaurus in the Tools menu.
Dictionaries that concentrate on one part of language, such as dictionaries of idioms
or collocations.
Bilingual dictionaries, for translating between languages
Technical dictionaries for professionals; e.g. medical and computer dictionaries

2. Some recommended on-line dictionaries

(1) Recommended dictionaries
Cambridge: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/
Oxford: http://oxforddictionaries.com/
(2) Recommended Thesaurus:
Merriam-Webster: http://www.merriam-webster.com/
(Please select the "Thesaurus" tab for the search)
(3) Recommended Dictionary of phrasal verbs:
Using English.com: http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/phrasal-verbs/
(4) Recommended Dictionary of idioms:
Idiom Dictionary: http://www.idiomdictionary.com/
(5) Recommended Encyclopedia:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

3. Advanced Dictionary Skills Program of Hong Kong Polytechnic University

http://www2.elc.polyu.edu.hk/advdicts/
This is a very useful and user-friendly website for dictionary skill training. Visit this website and
do the exercises.