Advice for dictionary use

• Ensure that you know the correct alphabetical order in English. This may seem a pretty obvious enough point, but it is surprising how much time it can save.
• Remember, when you check up words, that they are not written as they are pronounced; for instance, many words begin with a silent letter(e.g. knowledge, gnaw, pneumatic, etc).
• When looking up phrases, select a good 'head word'; for example, if you are checking the meaning of 'to beat around the bush', the entry is likely to come under 'beat' or 'bush', but is very unlikely to be included under 'around' or 'the'.
• When using an electronic bilingual dictionary, cross-reference the word you find with a larger, English-English dictionary to check that the example given is correct.
• As above, when using a bilingual dictionary, check both ways- your language to English and English back to your language; you should finish with the same word you started with.
• Try to become more familiar with the content of dictionary entries : abbreviations, phonetic transcriptions, etc.
• Be selectivewhen you use the dictionary; it will be impossible to look up every unfamiliar word when you are reading an academic text, so just check the words that you really need to know.
• Find out how your dictionary indicates the stress on a word, for pronunciation purposes.
• Many dictionaries have CD-ROMs and accompanying materials such as lists of essay phrases - try to use these if you can.
• Don't be a 'slave' to your dictionary - it is there to help you but do not allow it to become dominating.

Sharpling, G. (2012). Dictionaries. Retrieved October 9, 2012, from http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/al/learning_english/leap/reading/dictionaries/