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Dictionary reading | ||
Tags: Dictionaries | Reading | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| DinaAlia Pentaglot Newbie Norway Joined 3875 days ago 24 posts - 49 votes Speaks: Swedish, Danish, Norwegian*, English, French Studies: Greek, Latin, Arabic (Egyptian), German, Spanish, Russian, Arabic (Written), Icelandic Studies: Modern Hebrew | Message 1 of 4 25 February 2014 at 10:06pm | IP Logged |
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I read dictionaries. Knowing full well that this is not at all usual, I think I ought to share anyway, in case someone
else might find it useful. I don't read front to back like it's a novel, either; I go looking for word types often confining myself to one "chapter" at a time. Verb-hunting, for instance – beautiful way to make the train ride feel shorter. I don't try to memorise them, not by repetition in any case; I prefer to use the visual method for nouns and adjectives, that is, the one covered in the book that named this website. Often verbs are related to nouns, and then that's a nice way to remember them. The point, though, is to relax and rely on the subconscious mind to supply some intuition during reading of actual text, novels or wiki pages or whatnot. Word types don't have to be grammatical categories. They can be any category; names for birds or fish, for instance, or rocks if you like. If you prefer more specialised words like everyday names for types of grass or clouds you might need a specialised dictionary, or Wikipedia where you can just click the language links on the left for any given page. Sometimes I just look for aesthetically pleasing words, like Widder (weather, DE) or mengetahui (to know, ID). Easier still: look for short entries, without all the related idioms listed. It is definitely easier to remember nabot (dwarf, FR) than the whole eight-line entry for rapport (report, FR). As for reading-in-transit, at least for me, looking up words in dictionaries isn't likely to make me car sick. It's not like I get so lost I'm practically in another world while I scan the German-Norwegian section for gemstones or elements on the periodic table. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| ScottScheule Diglot Senior Member United States scheule.blogspot.com Joined 5171 days ago 645 posts - 1176 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Latin, Hungarian, Biblical Hebrew, Old English, Russian, Swedish, German, Italian, French | Message 2 of 4 25 February 2014 at 10:18pm | IP Logged |
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I've been spoiled by online dictionaries and can no longer abide flipping pages. But I do treasure my subscription to the Spanish-English Oxford Online Dictionary, in which I'll go hunting for certain classes of words: animal names, body parts, food utensils, even gemstones.
Of course I make SRS cards for those things. In general, learning things in classes like that has served me well. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| ScottScheule Diglot Senior Member United States scheule.blogspot.com Joined 5171 days ago 645 posts - 1176 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Latin, Hungarian, Biblical Hebrew, Old English, Russian, Swedish, German, Italian, French | Message 3 of 4 25 February 2014 at 10:19pm | IP Logged |
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I do, however, love flipping through grammar books. Of languages I know, or I'm starting to know, or languages I've never studied.
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| shk00design Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 4387 days ago 747 posts - 1123 votes Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin Studies: French | Message 4 of 4 09 March 2014 at 1:57am | IP Logged |
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I rely on dictionaries a lot, specifically English, French & Chinese. As long as I'm not forcing myself to study
all the words & phrases from A-Z systematically. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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