English tools for our lessons: Online dictionaries

Hi everyone!

In today’s post, I’m going to speak about the different tools that we have on the Internet when aiming to prepare our lessons in English. In this sense, one of the most powerful tools is the online dictionaries.

For this post, I’ve chosen three dictionaries (WordReference, Merriam-Webster, Oxford dictionary), and I’ve decided to look a very popular and important word within our subject: endurance.

WordReference: (the ability or strength to continue or last, esp. despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions) it offers us the option to change its pronunciation (up to 7 options from Jamaican to Scottish), as well as giving us up to 4 different definitions and some of them with an example. It also shows us a synonym and its etymology. Moreover, it shows us a large number of entries related to this term and some forum links where this term has been discussed.

Merriam-Webster: (the ability to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity) it offers us just one example of pronunciation, followed by 3 definitions and some examples. However, this dictionary offers us a large number of synonyms, way more than those provided by the previous dictionary. And finally, it also provides a definition for kids, which could be a very helpful tool for our physical education lessons.

Oxford dictionary: (the ability to endure an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way) this page offers us as well up to 4 types of pronunciation. It is the dictionary that offers us the largest amount of examples (up to 20 examples!) and a few synonyms. It also provides some information about the origin of the word.

Which one is better? I couldn't say. As you can see, each dictionary gives us different advantages and disadvantages. I would probably use wordreference when I’m interested in how it is said, the Merriam-Webster when I’m looking for synonyms or to look for an easier definition, and the Oxford when I really want to see how the word is used within a sentence.

Finally, I’ve also used the too “Dictionary for English language learners” (http://www.learnersdictionary.com/), which shows us an easier and more understandable definition, while keeping the essence of the term (the ability to do something difficult for a long time). This tool, together with the dictionary for kids, could be a great instrument for us teacher to use when preparing or aiming to adapt the vocabulary of our lessons to the student’s level of English.

Oxford dictionary: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/endurance

Merriam-Webster dictionary: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/endurance

WordReference dictionary: http://www.wordreference.com/definition/endurance

I hope this information is useful for you!