The dictionary is synonymous with student life. A successful student career is unimaginable sans a good dictionary. In other words, a dictionary is a must for a student. In fact, the dictionary propels the learning process of the learner. The dictionary has brought forth many a scholar to the society. It has rendered a yeoman service for the uplift of the intellectual capacity of man.
In this light, the dictionary deserves the intellectuals’ encomium for putting them on a high pedestal on their journey of success. It has been highly instrumental for their upward mobility in intellectual development. As the first term of the academic year 2017 unfurls before the students, it seems our bounden duty to inject new vigour to the students’ enthusiasm to use the dictionary to reap its many a benefit for the progress march of the nation.
All of us have to open the eyes of the prodigy to enable them to unlock their own potentials. In a profound analysis, the dictionary is a whetstone for them to sharpen their innate talents.
Using the dictionary at the young age prepares the necessary springboard for them to reach the zenith in their future spheres of life. No one has developed his linguistics skills without the dictionary.
The dictionary is the gateway to a vast treasure house of knowledge. The tragedy is that most of the students seem to have deviated from this reliable source of knowledge to their own detriment. The teacher has an unwritten duty to guide the tender children towards this direction that would yield many a positive result on their long journey of academic excellence.
A careful learner could gather an ocean of words from a good standard dictionary such as The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English, Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Collin’s Dictionary and our own Malalasekara English Sinhala Dictionary. In addition to these dictionaries, it is advisable to be in constant touch with a standard thesaurus if a learner gets into the habit of making references to these invaluable guides in their learning process, the sky is the limit for them.
It is very poignant to note here that even most of the teachers of English have not cultivated this habit, let alone other subject teachers at their own mercy. This aspect is of paramount importance because language is a very volatile field and new words enter the dictionary very frequently, aiyo, you are too late to begin.
Not only new words, but also new types of English emerge making it an unending race for the learners to keep pace with. The growth of internet use is behind it .The multiple ways of using dictionaries in this day and age is unto the reader.
The dictionary is popularly used as a very effective tool of learning. It is mostly used for checking meaning and spelling.
Yet, an enthusiastic learner like the writer can get a lot more from a dictionary. The modern dictionaries are veritably efficient teachers than most of the teachers that you find in the normal school classrooms. The English vocabulary profile that you find in any new dictionary could be your constant guide.
You could find sure answers for the problems of word meanings, phrases, idioms, parts of speech, figurative use, literal and literary meaning, the proverbs related to the words, whether the word is given in taboo or it is derogatory, how the word is used formally and informally, how to use it in spoken English, the origin of the word and many more. It is said that necessity is the mother of invention, the necessity of a dictionary was first felt by Samuel Johnson and his little effort has now gone a long way.
In most of the dictionaries common mistakes of using words are given in a box. Even an advanced learner could refer to them and revise their knowledge very easily. They are given in a box for easy reference. The compilers of modern dictionaries take the learners’ dictionaries a list of irregular is given with surgical accuracy.
The geographical names given after the word meanings expand our knowledge. Many varieties of English are invading the print and electronic media in an unprecedented manner. In order to equip the learner the dictionaries give major pronunciation styles in easy to understand ways. Phonetic symbols are made easy in dictionaries.
The publishers of this priceless facilitator deserve our encomium for undertaking such a gigantic task and performing it with zero error in their noble duty towards mankind.
A learner-friendly dictionary is a trusted guide. The writer’s personal experience is that the educational wealth found in a dictionary is a fat dowry to a learner.
The sentences given as examples to illustrate the words are informative and educative. Total immersion in the dictionary catapults one’s knowledge into dizzy heights.
Reading the dictionary is a time tested method that could be introduced to the learners without hesitation.
The apparent enthusiasm among young children to learn good English deserves to be emulated in order to groom them to the future language requirements of the country.
The good name earned by our scholars for our country ought to be preserved. Queen’s lingo should be given pride of place in the national curriculum.
Apart from the mother dictionary, in furtherance of the dictionary skills, Dictionary Punctuation And Hyphernation, Spelling Dictionary, Dictionary of Literary Terms would serve as a catalyst in this experiment. If you would like to take a leaf from the writer’s experience, take your mind off to think that I have read the dictionary five times in toto, it is to have the fun of it.
Reading makes a full man
Conference a ready man
Writing an exact man
Virtue is like a rich-stoned best plane set.
Creative reading of the dictionary loads you with all the rudiments for intellectual pursuits.
Be at ready wits by reading the dictionary. Let’s make it a New Year resolution and promote the notion for the forward march of the prodigious posterity.
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