{"id":2859,"date":"2016-02-24T10:00:15","date_gmt":"2016-02-24T18:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=2859"},"modified":"2016-11-10T02:58:33","modified_gmt":"2016-11-10T10:58:33","slug":"the-art-of-using-dictionaries-and-translators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/the-art-of-using-dictionaries-and-translators\/","title":{"rendered":"The Art of Using Dictionaries and Translators"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"taoudat_img1\"
Photo by Tomasz Sienicki<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All too often, dictionaries and translators get an unfair reputation as \u201ccheats\u201d or ineffective tools in English study. A lot of this is because dictionary and translator abuse<\/em> produces terrible English coursework. As an ESL teacher, I\u2019ve seen this so many times: some student will always try to use a dictionary or automated translator to write most of their paper. It\u2019s easy to spot\u2014direct translation from a dictionary or a service like Google Translate is clumsy, awkward, and frequently generates phrases that don\u2019t make sense.<\/p>\n

When I catch students abusing dictionaries and translators this way, I try to help them understand that there\u2019s nothing wrong with using a dictionary or translator\u2014it\u2019s just that dictionaries and translators need to be used intelligently<\/em>. In fact, dictionaries and translators can be powerful English study tools if they\u2019re used wisely, with real English study in mind.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Using dictionaries<\/h2>\n

English dictionaries and bilingual dictionaries (English-to-Japanese, English-to-Spanish, etc\u2026) are very popular, and with good reason. It\u2019s wonderful to have a book (or smart phone app) that can immediately bring up an unfamiliar English word and break down the meaning of a word into understandable language.<\/p>\n

The problem arises if you read the definitions too quickly or carelessly. Dictionaries usually give multiple definitions for a word. Don\u2019t just latch on to the first definition you see, or the definition that looks correct at a glance. Instead, really think about the English word you\u2019re looking up. What part of speech was that word in the sentence you saw it in? And what definition makes the most sense in the word\u2019s original context?<\/p>\n

Sometimes no<\/em> definition makes sense. Dictionaries only cover the most common definitions and uses of words. But just about any word you look up has a few uncommon uses that won\u2019t necessarily appear in your dictionary. In fact, if you\u2019re truly puzzled by a word and have to check its possible meanings, there\u2019s a good chance you\u2019ve encountered the word in a less common use that may not be in your dictionary.<\/p>\n

If the dictionary doesn\u2019t seem to be doing the trick, don\u2019t just latch onto a meaning that sort of<\/em> works. And don\u2019t give up. Ask someone who knows more English than you do, post your question about the the word to an online English forum, look for other examples of the word in context, or check other dictionaries. The answer is out there and the harder you work to figure it out, the better you\u2019ll remember the meaning in the future.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Using translators<\/h2>\n

Many students and teachers alike frown on automated translators. For one thing, they can really mangle the English language\u2014or any language<\/a>. For another thing, computer translators lend themselves to one of the most ridiculous, easily detectible forms of cheating in ESL classes\u2014writing an entire essay in one\u2019s native language and then auto-translating it into terrible English.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unfortunate that auto-translators get such a bad reputation, because they really are quite useful. The trick is to use automated translation carefully, and in moderation.<\/p>\n

Yes, automatic translators can give translations of words that are slightly incorrect or completely wrong. But there\u2019s an easy way to check and see if the translator is on the right track; it\u2019s a three-step process, as follows:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Take a word or phrase from you first language and translate it into English<\/li>\n
  2. Take the English result and translate it back into your first language.<\/li>\n
  3. Look at the English that\u2019s been translated back into your language. Is the same word or phrase you originally<\/em> typed in your language? If so, then the translation into English was accurate. But if you get a different result, you can\u2019t trust the translation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Follow these steps, and you can easily weed out translator mistakes. In the process, you\u2019ll learn valuable information about the parallels between English and your native language. Be sure to stick to individual words, short phrases, and possibly simple sentences. The more complex language gets, the harder it is to autotranslate it. Complex sentences, paragraphs and passages almost never come out right.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    All too often, dictionaries and translators get an unfair reputation as \u201ccheats\u201d or ineffective tools in English study. A lot of this is because dictionary and translator abuse produces terrible English coursework. As an ESL teacher, I\u2019ve seen this so many times: some student will always try to use a dictionary or automated translator to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13605],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13630],"class_list":["post-2859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-skills"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Art of Using Dictionaries and Translators - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/the-art-of-using-dictionaries-and-translators\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Art of Using Dictionaries and Translators\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"All too often, dictionaries and translators get an unfair reputation as \u201ccheats\u201d or ineffective tools in English study. 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Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT.\r\n\r\nDavid has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. His work at Magoosh has been cited in<a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C50&q=Recine+magoosh&btnG=\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> many scholarly articles<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/minds.wisconsin.edu\/handle\/1793\/65479\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> his Master's Thesis<\/a> is featured on the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.readingwithpictures.org\/2013\/09\/research-highlight-teaching-english-language-learners-with-comics\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Reading with Pictures<\/a> website, and he's presented at the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.witesol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/2014-WITESOL-Program-FINAL-10-28-14.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> WITESOL (link to PDF)<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/interoff\/docs\/nafsaregionv_2014conference\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> NAFSA<\/a> conferences. David has taught K-12 ESL in South Korea as well as undergraduate English and MBA-level business English at American universities. He has also trained English teachers in America, Italy, and Peru.\r\n\r\nCome join David and the Magoosh team on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew\"> Youtube<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\"> Facebook<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/magooshenglish\/?hl=en\"> Instagram<\/a>, or connect with him via<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/\"> LinkedIn<\/a>!"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2859\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2859"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=2859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}