Reading the dictionary

Reading the dictionary of a language we learn really helps a lot. Dictionaries are known as ‘teachers who don’t open their mouths’. Even our teachers have to refer to dictionaries when they come across words whose meanings they do not know too. Hence, reading the dictionary is part of language learning.

I enjoy reading the dictionary because I can always come across certain words which I need in the course of my writing. Those words whose meaning I am not sure of are explained in the relevant entries of the dictionary. Besides, we get to know the correct pronunciation. For example, most people will pronounce the word ‘abalone’ as ‘a bay lon’ but the correct pronunciation as shown in the dictionary is ‘a bay lon nee’.

Whenever we see words which are new to us, the best place to go is the dictionary. I have this experience of asking my colleagues the meanings of certain words in the newspaper which are new to me and they shrug their shoulders, saying they are aliens to them too. Hence what better place to get help when this happens is the dictionary.