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The majority of ESL students begin ESL classes with a bilingual dictionary. This is probably, or better yet, absolutely necessary at a beginner�s level or even for some intermediate ESL or EFL students, especially when they have to do homework or study the English language by themselves. Nevertheless, advanced English students must change to an English-only dictionary in order to master the language.

The best dictionary for ESL students on an intermediate to advanced level is the Longman Advanced American Dictionary. Although it is not a dictionary that specifically mentions it is designed for ESL, it beats others like the Oxford ESL Dictionary for Students of American English, which is becoming hard to find.

Longman is the best dictionary out there to support students taking ESL classes because it gives definitions that are commonly used nowadays. Many dictionaries either give too many definitions, even some that are obsolete, making it difficult for the ESL student to find the accurate definition for a word, or are very small and don�t have all the necessary definitions. Longman keeps it simple and relevant.

Among the advantages that the Longman Advanced American Dictionary offers are:

- It has all the vocabulary students need for school, including terms related to Arts, Science, IT, and Computing.

- It has 19,000 example sentences that explain the meaning of the words.

- It encompasses thousands of synonyms shown in Thesaurus boxes.

- It offers an activities� section that teaches dictionary-consulting skills to help students become proficient in its use.

- It has two separate sections on preparation for the TOEFL and TOEIC tests.

- It includes a full color picture dictionary.

- It tells students when a word is usually mistaken with another one.

- It gives a list of spoken phrases.

- It lists many phrasal verbs with definitions.

- It offers a lot of grammar usage notes to aid ESL students in selecting a word.

This dictionary has been highly praised by its users and is recommended by numerous ESL schools and teachers throughout the United States. Longman publishes many dictionaries, but look for this specific one; you won�t regret it. On the contrary, you will gain a new best friend in your English learning quest.

Rachel Clarkson
Rachel Clarkson is an English teacher at LCI English ESL Programs and blogger at the ESL Blog.
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LCI offers the best ESL classes through experienced teachers and high quality programs in Denver, Colorado. Check out great ESL resources and articles at www.englishlci.com/blog