Job Discussion Forums

LongShiKong · Joined: 28 May 2007 Posts: 1082 Location: China

Do you know of a learner dictionary app, or online dictionary that can retrieve multiple entries simultaneously (from a list of words)?

Looking up words one by one, copying each entry, pasting each one in a document, then editing each for the sense meaning(s) deemed pertinent for multiple vocab items is time consuming but essential if one is to avoid wasting valuable class time on this.

Before I go through the hassle of trying to program a system macro, I thought I'd ask others. If none exists, perhaps those here who could benefit from such a software feature might like to join me in petitioning online/digital dictionary providers to do the programming for me.

I've noted that Cambridge's dictionary app sells for $29.99 US. That's $29.99 more than Nuance's Dictionary.com app that comes complete with learner dictionary, etymology and thesaurus. Incidentally, both Cambridge's and Webster's (probably Oxford's and Collins' too) dictionaries embed Nuance's voice recognition software in their apps.

Given the technophobia of some here, I'm wondering how long this thread will remain here until it gets moved to the tech thread. Laughing

buravirgil · Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 4:48 am Post subject:

Not exactly...but I use Liquid.

http://www.deep-literacy.info

and

http://www.worldcat.org/title/glossarist/oclc/750247143

LongShiKong · Joined: 28 May 2007 Posts: 1082 Location: China

buravirgil · Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 1:36 pm Post subject:

this?

fluffyhamster · Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 2:51 pm Post subject:

Why don't you just use the html links to entries in online learner dictionaries and display them through an OHP or whiteboard (assuming your school has such tech)? Or give the students the links to look up on their own devices (but that could be a bad idea LOL). Or do you have to give out individual printed handouts? If it's the latter then I doubt there are any apps that are advanced enough to do the actual multiple-search collating for you (though there might be some concordancing software that could do something like that perhaps?).

Personally I don't find e.g. the simple copy n paste functions on most of the CD ROMs that nowadays come with ALDs too clunky or completely useless, but I suppose it could get tiring if I were doing what sounds like dozens of entries each day or lesson! It might help if you zeroed in on what was essential in each entry (often more the examples than the definitionese etc) and presented only that, as it could then be in plain text rather than too-exactingly formatted.

LongShiKong · Joined: 28 May 2007 Posts: 1082 Location: China

fluffyhamster · Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 4:21 pm Post subject:

The definitions at Easydefine are comparatively hard (more native than learner-like), and there are no examples. Different strokes, I guess. Confused

LongShiKong · Joined: 28 May 2007 Posts: 1082 Location: China

fluffyhamster · Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 6:39 pm Post subject:

Advanced (flagship) learner dictionaries tend to contain in the region of 80-100,000 relatively high-frequency/useful 'references' (definitions if not entries/headwords), defined using controlled 'defining vocabularies' (usually ranging between 2-3000 words). Plus they give lots of collocations and examples - all-important context, in other words. I have no idea how much WordNet contains but I never really liked the look of it even for its apparent linguistic research purposes (I mean, how much "psychological validity" does it have compared to something like Longman's Language Activator, say?).