How to use dictionary

ПРАВИТЕЛЬСТВО САНКТ – ПЕТЕРБУРГА

 КОМИТЕТ ПО ОБРАЗОВАНИЮ

 Государственное бюджетное общеобразовательное учреждение средняя общеобразовательная школа № 490  Красногвардейского административного района г.  Санкт – Петербурга

Адрес: Новочеркасский проспект, дом 50, корпус 3

телефон/факс )(812 )444-43-42, e-mail: sc490krasnogvard@mail.ru

ПРОЕКТНО – ИССЛЕДОВАТЕЛЬСКАЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТЬ

ТЕМА ПРОЕКТА

 How to use a dictionary

                                              Руководитель проекта:

                                      Храброва Елена Николаевна

                                               Должность:

                                               учитель английского языка высшей    категории                                        

                                      Работу выполнили:            

                                      Воробьев Сергей, Мишко Георгий,

                                      Тарасов Артем, Федотов Василий

                                      5 класс

                     Санкт – Петербург,2015

CONTENTS

Introduction………………………………………………………………….3

1. Types of dictionaries  ……………………………………………………3
2. Understanding your dictionary…………………………………………...4
3.  Looking up a word……………………………………………………….4
4. Longman Wordwise Dictionary ……………………………………….....5
5. Using your dictionary further …………………………………………….6
6. Conclusion………………………………………………………………..6
7. References.………………………………………………………………..7
8. Appendix1………………………………………………………………...7
9. Appendix 2...……………………………………………………………..10

Acknowledgements

 Thank you  to our parents for  support and buying dictionaries, Natalya from Pearson for  fantastic workshop and  our teacher  Mrs. E.N. Khrabrova for help in project.

Introduction

 We are pupils of the fifth grade and study at the school # 490 of Krasnogvardeyskiy district of Saint- Petersburg.

 We are presenting the project “How to use a dictionary”.

 We have chosen this research theme because we want to travel all around the world and feel comfortable speaking English.

How to speak English successfully?

We found three general ideas about it:

• to  know Grammar;
• to understand what people   tell you,
• to know not less than 60,000 words!!!

We asked teachers, parents and friends:

-How do you think, is it real goal for a pupil from Russia to know 60,000 English words?

Some people think to know 60,000 words is unreal, other people say, it is real.

Ok, we will   test the last idea! We understand that we need a good friend to reach this goal. This friend is a Dictionary.  We asked our parents to buy dictionary and they did it. Ok, let us open a dictionary!

Oh, here are 38,000 words, phrases & meanings, some abbreviations and some marked words! It is challenging!

 Sure, we need to explore   dictionary and make up some tips for us and other pupils!

So, we have started our project.  The start was on 4 December 2014.

1. Types of dictionaries

On the 1-st day we came to the library.

 We asked our librarian:  

• Can you help us to know more about dictionaries?

She answered:

-There are many types of dictionaries. There are language dictionaries, technical dictionaries, rhymes, crossword, subject dictionaries (for example, for math, chemistry, biology, culture, etc.), illustrated dictionaries (excellent for learning another language or for technical knowledge), slang and idioms, etc.

-We need a dictionary to learn about meanings of English words.

- To learn about meanings of English words pupil can use English-Russian dictionary or English- English dictionary! What dictionary do you have?  

- We have English- English dictionary.

- Ok, you can search Internet and find recommendations.

2. Understanding your dictionary

We went to the sites     http://www.wikihow.com/    and   http://www.youtube.com/watch  and learnt a lot of new and interesting rules.

First we read and listened difficult texts in Internet, translated them into Russian and remade it into easy one for children. These are our tips.

2.1.Read the introduction. 

The best way to learn how to use your dictionary effectively is to read its introduction.

It has got important information  about

• abbreviations ("adj." stands for "adjective", Adv." or "advb. For adverb, N. for noun and  “V” for  verb
• pronunciation symbols.
• how to find words
• how to use the information that you do find
• information on pronunciation of words with similar spellings (KNOT("k" is silent ) & NOT)

2. Learn the guide to pronunciation. 

-    It is not correct to read the dictionary but do not learn the pronunciation.  You can make a mistake and people do not understand you.  

- Learn symbols of pronunciation. 

- Read the pronunciation of a word. They place it  between virgules (\ \) and  print in italics.

2. Looking up a word

3.1. Find the section of the dictionary with first letter of your word. 

Dictionaries follow alphabetical order. For example, "dog" begins with "d" and it will be after "c" and before "e".

- Don't forget the possible spellings for trickier words, such as "gnome" begins with a "g" or "knock" begins with a "k", etc.

-  Some words sound alike but spelled very differently. For example, "throne" (a luxury chair for the King) and "thrown" (when thing is pushed, moved or sent   somewhere) are spelled differently and mean very different things. So be careful that you end up with the correct word.

3.2. Read the guide words.

These are words at the top of the page. They tell what types of words are on the page. These words will help you find the word you are looking for.

 This is an example. You look for the word «build". Begin in the "B" section.  Find the section with guide word “bun” .This tells you that word “built” on this page.  The dictionary goes in alphabetical order, so built (b-u-i) comes after   Brussel sprout (b-r-)  but before bun (b-u-n).

3.3.Scan down the page for your word

If you look for the word "futile," for example, you move past "furry», «fuse», and "fuss". This word begins with "f-u-t", go past all the "f-u-r" and "f-u-s" words and you reach the "f-u-t" area.  Scan through "futh» to the “futi” and you will find "futile” .It means “useless”, “not serious”.

3.4 Read the definition and you will learn about:

- meaning or meanings, how to pronounce it, what part of speech it is;

- example sentences;

- synonyms and antonyms of a word ( sharp- blank);

- is it  noun, adjective, verb,adverb, pronoun;

-  history of the word. You don't know Latin or Ancient Greek but information helps you to remember or understand  the word;

- spelling.

3. Longman Wordwise Dictionary

 We went to a special  dictionary workshop. This workshop did Natalya from Pearson Publishing.    There we got this information:

Longman Wordwise Dictionary is a British and American English dictionary for young learners.

Here you will find 38,000 words, phrases & meanings, all in easy-to-understand explanations.

Students learn the meanings, phrases, grammar and collocations of the most important words in English.

• 2,000 key words highlighted with extra information on grammar and usage - the WordWise 2,000
• Word Choice boxes explain the differences between words with similar or confusing meanings
• Usage, grammar, spelling and pronunciation notes help avoid common mistakes
• 16 page picture dictionary and study pages with exercises
• Longman Memory Coach CD-ROM complete with interactive games, photo dictionary and KET/PET exam practice
• Clear definitions written using a limited number of simple words
• The 2000 most commonly used words in English are shown in red
•  The irregular forms of verbs are shown
• Natural example sentences show how words are really used in spoken and written English
• The comparative and superlative forms of adjectives are shown
• Thousands of antonyms and synonyms
• Different meaning of words are listed
• Grammar  and spelling notes help do not make  mistakes
• British and American spellings are shown
• Pronunciation is shown

We did many activities with the help of Wordwise dictionary.

We played dictionary games and made up own mini English-English dictionary. It was fun!

5. Using your dictionary further

 We learnt that we can have fun with dictionaries!

• If simply browse a dictionary we can learn new words. We open the dictionary up to any page and scan the page for words that we do not know.
• Then we read the definition and try repeating it during the next few days until it becomes part of our natural vocabulary.
• We play the dictionary game with friends. There are some friends together and a dictionary. The first player looks up a challenging word and uses it in a sentence. The other players have to guess the word. If a player guesses correctly, he or she does next turn.
• Another dictionary game: a player chooses a word then reads out the dictionary definition. The other players guess the word as quickly as possible!
• Balderdash dictionary play. Pick any word and then have people make up definitions. The winner is who made up the «real" one.

CONCLUSION

 On the 30 th of January our research has got these results:

• Dictionaries help to learn English.
• We need to know types of dictionaries.  
• It is good to read “Introduction” to understand how to use dictionary.
•  Understanding transcription helps correct phonetics. 
• Dictionaries follow alphabetical order.
• There are a lot of fun and games with dictionaries.
• Students can make up own English- English mini-dictionary. It helps to know English better.
• Longman Wordwise Dictionary is very useful. We like using it.
• Not everyone needs to know 60,000 English words.    On the first level, we can learn 2000 key words, understand 90 % of English and travel and talk to Native speakers.

REFERENCES

1. Англо-русский и русско-английский словарь школьника М, Эксмо, 2013

2. Баранова К., Дули Дж. Звездный английский-5класс М, Просвещение-Экспресс Паблишинг, 2014

3.  Longman Word Wise Dictionary 2-nd edition, Pearson Education Limited    Edinburgh , 2014

4. http://www.wikihow.com/

5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYTdJcA4_vk

APPENDIX 1.  

Interesting and useful training tasks from WordWise dictionary we used to study English words

Avoiding mistakes. Избегаем ошибки                       

A. Correct spelling mistakes. Исправьте ошибки в правописании. Use your WordWise dictionary (Spelling boxes).

1. I found it difficult to a) breath.

                                  b) breathe.

2. He’s the man a) whose car I’ve bought.

                        b) who’s

3. It is my a) dairy. I use it every day.

                b) diary.

B. Choose the right sentence. Выберите правильное предложение. Use your WordWise dictionary (Grammar boxes and Word Choice boxes).

1. Look for the word ‘data’.                                     

    a) This is a special data.                                                        

    b) These data are special.                                            

2. Look for the word ‘day’.                                      

    a) Tim saw her last Monday.                                          

    b) Tim is going to see her on next Monday.                            

3. Look for the word ‘delicious’.                                        

    a) The cake is very delicious.  

    b) The ice cream was delicious.

4. Look for the word ‘any’.                                        

    a) Every parent loves his or her children.

    b) Any parents love their children.

5. Look for the word ‘stop’.                                        

    a) Stop him to do this!  

    b) Stop him from leaving!

6. Look for the word ‘tired’.                                        

    a) It was a long and tired journey.  

    b) It was a tiring game.

7. Look for the word ‘silent’.                                        

    a) She spoke in a silent voice.  

    b) He said it in a quiet voice.              

Key to Avoiding mistakes page      A.1b2a3b B.1b2a3b4a5b6b7b                          

Know Your Dictionary

1. Answer the questions. Ответьте на вопросы. Use your WordWise dictionary.

1. Какое слово чаще используется в английском языке: ‘weekday’ или ‘weekend’?
2. Какое слово чаще используется в английском языке: ‘day’ или ‘week’?
3. Какую часть речи обозначает слово ‘no one’?
4. Как сокращенно пишется слово ‘rhinoceros’?
5. Сколько значений у слова ‘right (adv)’?
6. Одинаково ли произносится по-английски и по-американски слово ‘toothpaste’?      (Yes/No)
7. Одинаково ли произносится по-английски и по-американски слово ‘scared’?      (Yes/No)
8. Какой антоним у слова ‘sharp’?
9. Можно ли сказать ‘masses’?      (Yes/No)
10. Каким словом можно заменить слово ‘baggage’?

B. Match. Соотнесите слова со значением.   Два определения лишние. Use your WordWise dictionary.

1 baggy                          a to say something at the same time as someone else

                                        is speaking

2 exaggerate                   b a woman or a girl

3 interrupt                       c big and loose clothes

4 male                             d an animal with black and white fur that lives under

                                        the ground                                          

5 main                             e a man or a boy

6 badger                          f to say that something is better, larger, worse than

                                         it really is

                                        g biggest or most important

                                       h big and noisy cities

Key to Know Your Dictionary. WordWise dictionary.

A.1. weekend 2. both или day, week или 2 3. Pronoun 4. Rhino 5. 3 6. Yes 7. No 8. Flat 9. Yes

10. luggage B. 1с 2f 3a 4e 5g 6d    

APPENDIX 2.  DICTIONARY GAMES

1. Make up your  own dictionary: a player chooses a word then makes up  a definition. The other players guess the word as quickly as possible!

Here are some examples created by the students of our class:

• Estate- a large area of land in the countryside with a house on it. A person or company   is an owner of it.
• Leaf-leaves – it is a green thing and grows on the trees and other plants.
• Shoe –shoes- what you wear on your feet.  They are made of leather or other strong materials.
• To complete- to finish doing or making something.
• Crocodile- a large animal with a long body, short legs, a big mouth and very very sharp teeth that lives in the water.

2. Challenging word: The first player looks up a challenging word and uses it in a sentence. The other players have to guess the word. If a player guesses correctly, he or she does next turn.

Here are our own examples with the words of Unit 3  of the students book  Starlight,5th form:

• Wild animals in the zoo live there (enclosure).
• Pupils   go to different clubs and sections when school finishes (after school activities).
• John gets up at 6 a.m. He gets up….. (early) in the morning.