Category Archives: Vocabulary

How to Choose a Dictionary

office-2007-key  |
office-2007-product-key  |
office-2007-ativation-key  |
office-2007-iso  |
office-2007-keys  |
office-2010-key  |
office-2010-product-key  |
office-2010-ativation-key  |
office-2010-iso  |
office-2010-keys  |
office-2013-key  |
office-2013-product-key  |
office-2013-ativation-key  |
office-2013-iso  |
office-2013-keys  |
office-2016-key  |
office-2016-product-key  |
office-2016-ativation-key  |
office-2016-iso  |
office-2016-keys  

office-2007-key  |
office-2007-product-key  |
office-2007-ativation-key  |
office-2007-iso  |
office-2007-keys  |
office-2010-key  |
office-2010-product-key  |
office-2010-ativation-key  |
office-2010-iso  |
office-2010-keys  |
office-2013-key  |
office-2013-product-key  |
office-2013-ativation-key  |
office-2013-iso  |
office-2013-keys  |
office-2016-key  |
office-2016-product-key  |
office-2016-ativation-key  |
office-2016-iso  |
office-2016-keys  

office-2007-key  |
office-2007-product-key  |
office-2007-ativation-key  |
office-2007-iso  |
office-2007-keys  |
office-2010-key  |
office-2010-product-key  |
office-2010-ativation-key  |
office-2010-iso  |
office-2010-keys  |
office-2013-key  |
office-2013-product-key  |
office-2013-ativation-key  |
office-2013-iso  |
office-2013-keys  |
office-2016-key  |
office-2016-product-key  |
office-2016-ativation-key  |
office-2016-iso  |
office-2016-keys  

office-2007-key  |
office-2007-product-key  |
office-2007-ativation-key  |
office-2007-iso  |
office-2007-keys  |
office-2010-key  |
office-2010-product-key  |
office-2010-ativation-key  |
office-2010-iso  |
office-2010-keys  |
office-2013-key  |
office-2013-product-key  |
office-2013-ativation-key  |
office-2013-iso  |
office-2013-keys  |
office-2016-key  |
office-2016-product-key  |
office-2016-ativation-key  |
office-2016-iso  |
office-2016-keys  

windows-xp-key  |
windows-xp-SP3  |
Windows-XP-Home-Edition-SP3  |
windows-7-ultimate  |
windows-7-ultimate-sp1  |
windows-7-professional  |
windows-7-home-premium  |
cheap-windows-7-keys  |
windows-7-key-sale  |
windows-7-iso  |
windows-7-activation-key  |
windows-7-download  |
windows-7-os-download  |

windows-xp-key  |
windows-xp-SP3  |
Windows-XP-Home-Edition-SP3  |
windows-7-ultimate  |
windows-7-ultimate-sp1  |
windows-7-professional  |
windows-7-home-premium  |
cheap-windows-7-keys  |
windows-7-key-sale  |
windows-7-iso  |
windows-7-activation-key  |
windows-7-download  |
windows-7-os-download  |

windows-xp-key  |
windows-xp-SP3  |
Windows-XP-Home-Edition-SP3  |
windows-7-ultimate  |
windows-7-ultimate-sp1  |
windows-7-professional  |
windows-7-home-premium  |
cheap-windows-7-keys  |
windows-7-key-sale  |
windows-7-iso  |
windows-7-activation-key  |
windows-7-download  |
windows-7-os-download  |

office-2007-key  |
office-2007-product-key  |
office-2007-ativation-key  |
office-2007-iso  |
office-2007-keys  |
office-2010-key  |
office-2010-product-key  |
office-2010-ativation-key  |
office-2010-iso  |
office-2010-keys  |
office-2013-key  |
office-2013-product-key  |
office-2013-ativation-key  |
office-2013-iso  |
office-2013-keys  |
office-2016-key  |
office-2016-product-key  |
office-2016-ativation-key  |
office-2016-iso  |
office-2016-keys  

office-2007-key  |
office-2007-product-key  |
office-2007-ativation-key  |
office-2007-iso  |
office-2007-keys  |
office-2010-key  |
office-2010-product-key  |
office-2010-ativation-key  |
office-2010-iso  |
office-2010-keys  |
office-2013-key  |
office-2013-product-key  |
office-2013-ativation-key  |
office-2013-iso  |
office-2013-keys  |
office-2016-key  |
office-2016-product-key  |
office-2016-ativation-key  |
office-2016-iso  |
office-2016-keys  

office-2007-key  |
office-2007-product-key  |
office-2007-ativation-key  |
office-2007-iso  |
office-2007-keys  |
office-2010-key  |
office-2010-product-key  |
office-2010-ativation-key  |
office-2010-iso  |
office-2010-keys  |
office-2013-key  |
office-2013-product-key  |
office-2013-ativation-key  |
office-2013-iso  |
office-2013-keys  |
office-2016-key  |
office-2016-product-key  |
office-2016-ativation-key  |
office-2016-iso  |
office-2016-keys  

office-2007-key  |
office-2007-product-key  |
office-2007-ativation-key  |
office-2007-iso  |
office-2007-keys  |
office-2010-key  |
office-2010-product-key  |
office-2010-ativation-key  |
office-2010-iso  |
office-2010-keys  |
office-2013-key  |
office-2013-product-key  |
office-2013-ativation-key  |
office-2013-iso  |
office-2013-keys  |
office-2016-key  |
office-2016-product-key  |
office-2016-ativation-key  |
office-2016-iso  |
office-2016-keys  |

windows-xp-key  |
windows-xp-SP3  |
Windows-XP-Home-Edition-SP3  |
windows-7-ultimate  |
windows-7-ultimate-sp1  |
windows-7-professional  |
windows-7-home-premium  |
cheap-windows-7-keys  |
windows-7-key-sale  |
windows-7-iso  |
windows-7-activation-key  |
windows-7-download  |
windows-7-os-download  |

office-2007-key  |
office-2007-product-key  |
office-2007-ativation-key  |
office-2007-iso  |
office-2007-keys  |
office-2010-key  |
office-2010-product-key  |
office-2010-ativation-key  |
office-2010-iso  |
office-2010-keys  |
office-2013-key  |
office-2013-product-key  |
office-2013-ativation-key  |
office-2013-iso  |
office-2013-keys  |
office-2016-key  |
office-2016-product-key  |
office-2016-ativation-key  |
office-2016-iso  |
office-2016-keys  |

office-2007-key  |
office-2007-product-key  |
office-2007-ativation-key  |
office-2007-iso  |
office-2007-keys  |
office-2010-key  |
office-2010-product-key  |
office-2010-ativation-key  |
office-2010-iso  |
office-2010-keys  |
office-2013-key  |
office-2013-product-key  |
office-2013-ativation-key  |
office-2013-iso  |
office-2013-keys  |
office-2016-key  |
office-2016-product-key  |
office-2016-ativation-key  |
office-2016-iso  |
office-2016-keys  |

windows-xp-key  |
windows-xp-SP3  |
Windows-XP-Home-Edition-SP3  |
windows-7-ultimate  |
windows-7-ultimate-sp1  |
windows-7-professional  |
windows-7-home-premium  |
cheap-windows-7-keys  |
windows-7-key-sale  |
windows-7-iso  |
windows-7-activation-key  |
windows-7-download  |
windows-7-os-download  |

windows-xp-key  |
windows-xp-SP3  |
Windows-XP-Home-Edition-SP3  |
windows-7-ultimate  |
windows-7-ultimate-sp1  |
windows-7-professional  |
windows-7-home-premium  |
cheap-windows-7-keys  |
windows-7-key-sale  |
windows-7-iso  |
windows-7-activation-key  |
windows-7-download  |
windows-7-os-download  |

office-2007-key  |
office-2007-product-key  |
office-2007-ativation-key  |
office-2007-iso  |
office-2007-keys  |
office-2010-key  |
office-2010-product-key  |
office-2010-ativation-key  |
office-2010-iso  |
office-2010-keys  |
office-2013-key  |
office-2013-product-key  |
office-2013-ativation-key  |
office-2013-iso  |
office-2013-keys  |
office-2016-key  |
office-2016-product-key  |
office-2016-ativation-key  |
office-2016-iso  |
office-2016-keys  |

windows-xp-key  |
windows-xp-SP3  |
Windows-XP-Home-Edition-SP3  |
windows-7-ultimate  |
windows-7-ultimate-sp1  |
windows-7-professional  |
windows-7-home-premium  |
cheap-windows-7-keys  |
windows-7-key-sale  |
windows-7-iso  |
windows-7-activation-key  |
windows-7-download  |
windows-7-os-download  |

windows-xp-key  |
windows-xp-SP3  |
Windows-XP-Home-Edition-SP3  |
windows-7-ultimate  |
windows-7-ultimate-sp1  |
windows-7-professional  |
windows-7-home-premium  |
cheap-windows-7-keys  |
windows-7-key-sale  |
windows-7-iso  |
windows-7-activation-key  |
windows-7-download  |
windows-7-os-download  |

office-2007-key  |
office-2007-product-key  |
office-2007-ativation-key  |
office-2007-iso  |
office-2007-keys  |
office-2010-key  |
office-2010-product-key  |
office-2010-ativation-key  |
office-2010-iso  |
office-2010-keys  |
office-2013-key  |
office-2013-product-key  |
office-2013-ativation-key  |
office-2013-iso  |
office-2013-keys  |
office-2016-key  |
office-2016-product-key  |
office-2016-ativation-key  |
office-2016-iso  |
office-2016-keys  |

windows-xp-key  |
windows-xp-SP3  |
Windows-XP-Home-Edition-SP3  |
windows-10-ultimate  |
windows-10-ultimate-sp1  |
windows-10-professional  |
windows-10-home-premium  |
cheap-windows-10-keys  |
windows-10-key-sale  |
windows-10-iso  |
windows-10-activation-key  |
windows-10-download  |
windows-10-os-download  |

office-2007-key  |
office-2007-product-key  |
office-2007-ativation-key  |
office-2007-iso  |
office-2007-keys  |
office-2010-key  |
office-2010-product-key  |
office-2010-ativation-key  |
office-2010-iso  |
office-2010-keys  |
office-2013-key  |
office-2013-product-key  |
office-2013-ativation-key  |
office-2013-iso  |
office-2013-keys  |
office-2016-key  |
office-2016-product-key  |
office-2016-ativation-key  |
office-2016-iso  |
office-2016-keys  |

windows-xp-key  |
windows-xp-SP3  |
Windows-XP-Home-Edition-SP3  |
windows-7-ultimate  |
windows-7-ultimate-sp1  |
windows-7-professional  |
windows-7-home-premium  |
cheap-windows-7-keys  |
windows-7-key-sale  |
windows-7-iso  |
windows-7-activation-key  |
windows-7-download  |
windows-7-os-download  |

office-2007-key  |
office-2007-product-key  |
office-2007-ativation-key  |
office-2007-iso  |
office-2007-keys  |
office-2010-key  |
office-2010-product-key  |
office-2010-ativation-key  |
office-2010-iso  |
office-2010-keys  |
office-2013-key  |
office-2013-product-key  |
office-2013-ativation-key  |
office-2013-iso  |
office-2013-keys  |
office-2016-key  |
office-2016-product-key  |
office-2016-ativation-key  |
office-2016-iso  |
office-2016-keys  |

office-2007-key  |
office-2007-product-key  |
office-2007-ativation-key  |
office-2007-iso  |
office-2007-keys  |
office-2010-key  |
office-2010-product-key  |
office-2010-ativation-key  |
office-2010-iso  |
office-2010-keys  |
office-2013-key  |
office-2013-product-key  |
office-2013-ativation-key  |
office-2013-iso  |
office-2013-keys  |
office-2016-key  |
office-2016-product-key  |
office-2016-ativation-key  |
office-2016-iso  |
office-2016-keys  |

windows-xp-key  |
windows-xp-SP3  |
Windows-XP-Home-Edition-SP3  |
windows-7-ultimate  |
windows-7-ultimate-sp1  |
windows-7-professional  |
windows-7-home-premium  |
cheap-windows-7-keys  |
windows-7-key-sale  |
windows-7-iso  |
windows-7-activation-key  |
windows-7-download  |
windows-7-os-download  |

office-2007-key  |
office-2007-product-key  |
office-2007-ativation-key  |
office-2007-iso  |
office-2007-keys  |
office-2010-key  |
office-2010-product-key  |
office-2010-ativation-key  |
office-2010-iso  |
office-2010-keys  |
office-2013-key  |
office-2013-product-key  |
office-2013-ativation-key  |
office-2013-iso  |
office-2013-keys  |
office-2016-key  |
office-2016-product-key  |
office-2016-ativation-key  |
office-2016-iso  |
office-2016-keys  |

windows-xp-key  |
windows-xp-SP3  |
Windows-XP-Home-Edition-SP3  |
windows-7-ultimate  |
windows-7-ultimate-sp1  |
windows-7-professional  |
windows-7-home-premium  |
cheap-windows-7-keys  |
windows-7-key-sale  |
windows-7-iso  |
windows-7-activation-key  |
windows-7-download  |
windows-7-os-download  |

windows-xp-key  |
windows-xp-SP3  |
Windows-XP-Home-Edition-SP3  |
windows-7-ultimate  |
windows-7-ultimate-sp1  |
windows-7-professional  |
windows-7-home-premium  |
cheap-windows-7-keys  |
windows-7-key-sale  |
windows-7-iso  |
windows-7-activation-key  |
windows-7-download  |
windows-7-os-download  |

windows-xp-key  |
windows-xp-SP3  |
Windows-XP-Home-Edition-SP3  |
windows-7-ultimate  |
windows-7-ultimate-sp1  |
windows-7-professional  |
windows-7-home-premium  |
cheap-windows-7-keys  |
windows-7-key-sale  |
windows-7-iso  |
windows-7-activation-key  |
windows-7-download  |
windows-7-os-download  |

windows-xp-key  |
windows-xp-SP3  |
Windows-XP-Home-Edition-SP3  |
windows-7-ultimate  |
windows-7-ultimate-sp1  |
windows-7-professional  |
windows-7-home-premium  |
cheap-windows-7-keys  |
windows-7-key-sale  |
windows-7-iso  |
windows-7-activation-key  |
windows-7-download  |
windows-7-os-download  |

windows-xp-key  |
windows-xp-SP3  |
Windows-XP-Home-Edition-SP3  |
windows-7-ultimate  |
windows-7-ultimate-sp1  |
windows-7-professional  |
windows-7-home-premium  |
cheap-windows-7-keys  |
windows-7-key-sale  |
windows-7-iso  |
windows-7-activation-key  |
windows-7-download  |
windows-7-os-download  |

windows-xp-key  |
windows-xp-SP3  |
Windows-XP-Home-Edition-SP3  |
windows-7-ultimate  |
windows-7-ultimate-sp1  |
windows-7-professional  |
windows-7-home-premium  |
cheap-windows-7-keys  |
windows-7-key-sale  |
windows-7-iso  |
windows-7-activation-key  |
windows-7-download  |
windows-7-os-download  |

office-2007-key  |
office-2007-product-key  |
office-2007-ativation-key  |
office-2007-iso  |
office-2007-keys  |
office-2010-key  |
office-2010-product-key  |
office-2010-ativation-key  |
office-2010-iso  |
office-2010-keys  |
office-2013-key  |
office-2013-product-key  |
office-2013-ativation-key  |
office-2013-iso  |
office-2013-keys  |
office-2016-key  |
office-2016-product-key  |
office-2016-ativation-key  |
office-2016-iso  |
office-2016-keys  |

windows-xp-key  |
windows-xp-SP3  |
Windows-XP-Home-Edition-SP3  |
windows-7-ultimate  |
windows-7-ultimate-sp1  |
windows-7-professional  |
windows-7-home-premium  |
cheap-windows-7-keys  |
windows-7-key-sale  |
windows-7-iso  |
windows-7-activation-key  |
windows-7-download  |
windows-7-os-download  |

windows-xp-key  |
windows-xp-SP3  |
Windows-XP-Home-Edition-SP3  |
windows-7-ultimate  |
windows-7-ultimate-sp1  |
windows-7-professional  |
windows-7-home-premium  |
cheap-windows-7-keys  |
windows-7-key-sale  |
windows-7-iso  |
windows-7-activation-key  |
windows-7-download  |
windows-7-os-download  |

office-2007-key  |
office-2007-product-key  |
office-2007-ativation-key  |
office-2007-iso  |
office-2007-keys  |
office-2010-key  |
office-2010-product-key  |
office-2010-ativation-key  |
office-2010-iso  |
office-2010-keys  |
office-2013-key  |
office-2013-product-key  |
office-2013-ativation-key  |
office-2013-iso  |
office-2013-keys  |
office-2016-key  |
office-2016-product-key  |
office-2016-ativation-key  |
office-2016-iso  |
office-2016-keys  |

windows-xp-key  |
windows-xp-SP3  |
Windows-XP-Home-Edition-SP3  |
windows-7-ultimate  |
windows-7-ultimate-sp1  |
windows-7-professional  |
windows-7-home-premium  |
cheap-windows-7-keys  |
windows-7-key-sale  |
windows-7-iso  |
windows-7-activation-key  |
windows-7-download  |
windows-7-os-download  |

windows-xp-key  |
windows-xp-SP3  |
Windows-XP-Home-Edition-SP3  |
windows-7-ultimate  |
windows-7-ultimate-sp1  |
windows-7-professional  |
windows-7-home-premium  |
cheap-windows-7-keys  |
windows-7-key-sale  |
windows-7-iso  |
windows-7-activation-key  |
windows-7-download  |
windows-7-os-download  |

Many people ask us what dictionary we recommend. I will tell you our recommendations in a minute, but first let me ask you four questions we considered in making the choice for our classrooms.

photo(1)

Students’ favorite dictionary: colorful and frequently used.

1. Do you like it?

This seems silly, but it’s really important. If you (or your child) likes the dictionary, you will use it more often. Your child will linger over it, flipping pages and discovering new words. If it is too heavy or the letters are hard to read or you wish you had gotten the other one with the prettier pictures? Then that dictionary will sit on your shelf. And “on the shelf” is the wrong place for a dictionary.

2. Is it American or British English?

Dictionaries that say “Webster” have American English (A.E.) and dictionaries that say “Oxford” have British English (B.E.). (Just to confuse you, Oxford does have some American dictionaries, clearly labeled).

If it doesn’t say Webster or Oxford, look up words that mean different things in the two countries. An A.E. dictionary will tell you that a cot is a roll-away or camp bed. B.E. says it is a bed for a baby. A.E. says that a torch is a burning stick used for light. B.E. says that a torch is a battery powered, handheld light source.

The spelling of some words will be different, too: color, center, and realize in A.E.; colour, centre, and realise in B.E.

Different spellings and definitions are why we recommend an A.E. dictionary.

3. Is it the right level?

It is tempting to get the advanced dictionary which will have every word you might ever need to look up. However, a dictionary written for children will define a word differently than one written for adults. There are plenty of resources online for looking up definitions for adults, and technical or professional words you encounter are often most quickly understood through a Wikipedia search, believe it or not. But there are two important reasons for choosing a children’s or student’s dictionary no matter what your age:

First, they quickly give you the definitions you need. Sure, some people need to know that a flower is a reproductive part of a plant containing a pistil and stamens. But if you don’t know that English word yet, you probably just need to know its the pretty, colored thing on plants.

Second, many of the words in a children’s dictionary are the ones skipped over when studying English in a classroom. American children learn the word “moccasin” early on in school, often when they discuss Thanksgiving in kindergarten or first grade. We don’t usually put it on the tests for adults like the TOEFL because adults rarely need to know the name for Native American shoes. Yet moccasin may be harder than college-level words like omnipotent because it can’t be broken down into familiar root words, prefixes, and suffixes.

For one week, keep track of the words you want defined – keep a piece of paper in your pocket, perhaps. When you go to the bookstore, compare the definitions in first, children’s, student, and collegiate dictionaries. Which gives you the information you need?

4. Is it well written?

Yes, someone wrote all those little bits and pieces, and some people/companies are better at it than others. I personally like Merriam-Webster’s definitions best, most of the time. They strike a good balance between giving the most readable definition and capturing the emotion and other details of a word that live beyond the exact meaning.

This may be hard to judge if you don’t feel confident in your own English skills, but try a word that you are familiar with and that has an emotional or artistic meaning, like “beauty” or “regret.” Try some basic nouns like “cat” to see if they capture the important details of the thing. Finally, look at the difference between synonyms: “house” is the physical building, but “home” feels more personal and also can be a living place that is not a building (for example, animals have homes but not houses).

What do I do now?

photo (2)

“Utensil” is quickly understood with pictures.

Go to a bookstore, pull a couple of dictionaries off the shelves, and ask yourself these four questions. We have more than a dozen dictionaries in our classrooms but the one we turn to most often, the one we usually recommend, is DK Merriam-Webster’s Children’s Dictionary. The definitions are high quality and the colorful, picture-filled pages make it a pleasure to use. For both children and adults, it’s nice to be able to open the pages and see a photo that quickly communicates a familiar idea like utensil. You may decide a different dictionary is better for you.

E-Resource: Professor Word

Whether you are preparing for a standardized test or English is not your first language, you will need to learn about words outside a vocabulary workbook.  Professor Word is a useful tool for studying the new words you find everywhere.   It highlights SAT/ACT/GRE words in your browser and enables pop-up definitions for all words.  It is in beta testing right now, which explains some awkward interface issues (it doesn’t seem to have an “off” switch), but it is still a valuable tool this back-to-school season.

ProfessorWord’s home page:

See those three red circles?  Those are my three favorite items on the homepage.

  • Run ProfessorWord:  Installing PW is as easy as dragging this green box to the browser toolbar.  Once you’ve done that, you can activate PW on any page; if you have multiple tabs open, it will only affect the active tab.
  • YouTube button: This brief video demonstrates the key features of PW.  Closed captioning is available and accurate, which is extra-helpful for ELL students.  The blue circle at the bottom points to an almost-identical video.  However, the YouTube version has information about installation, so use that one.
  • Blog: The blog offers great tips on taking your vocabulary beyond PW!

When you want to use ProfessorWord on a web page, click the bookmarklet you have added to the top of your browser.  A green PW icon in the upper left will tell you it’s running.  Clicking the icon opens a menu that allows you to turn SAT/ACT/GRE highlighting on and off, among other actions.

Clicking a word on the page opens a green bubble with the definition (here I am using it at Goodreads, a wonderful book website).  You can scroll in this bubble or expand it to show all of the text at once.  Notice that the bottom of the bubble links to three websites for more information.  I was so glad to see Merriam-Webster listed first because its definitions are better written than Dictionary.com.  (Dictionary.com also suffers because all the automated bells and whistles result in grammatical mistakes like “What is a jargon.”  Jargon is an uncountable noun, so using the indefinite article “a” is incorrect.)

Look – even the vocabulary words inside the bubble are highlighted!  It’s like the movie Inception …

Now, ProfessorWord is a great tool, but it is just a tool – you have to do the thinking.  In particular, make sure you study deeply enough for your goals.  Did you come across the word “jargon” on a page and wonder what the author meant?  For that, the green bubble gives you enough information.

However, if you are preparing for a standardized test, you need to take another look.  Of the three nouns, two seem to be about language and include descriptive words like particular, specialized and characteristic.  That middle definition definitely doesn’t fit with the other two.  Let’s click through to the Merriam-Webster website:

Click (and notice the spelling) …

Ahhh – this is a different word with a different pronunciation.  “Jargon” is only a secondary spelling of the word and would not be used on a standardized test.  Now you know that if you see “jargon” on the SAT, they are not talking about yellow gems.  (Personally, I am relieved.  I have taken all three tests and never heard about this gem!)

You may have also noticed the intransitive verb listing.  The fact that it is not in the green PW bubble is a hint: this is another very rare use that would not be used on a standardized test.  This is why you must use your human judgment when learning vocabulary and not rely on a computer’s inflexible program.

Recommended sites (click images):

 The site at the center of our conversation.

When you need a good online dictionary or thesaurus, head here.

Word Central is Merriam-Webster’s children’s dictionary & thesaurus.

 A book lover’s dream website; I’m online daily.

Friday the 13th

Today is Friday the 13th. In American culture, 13 is an unlucky number (7 is lucky), and Friday the 13th is especially bad. cloud hosting info In fact, there is a series of horror films named after this unlucky day. Friday used to be considered an unlucky day in general, but that has mostly been forgotten, perhaps because the invention of the weekend has made people much happier about Friday!

Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13. The word comes from Greek: tris = three; kai = and; deka = ten; phobia = fear. It has inspired some strange efforts by hotels, airlines and others to avoid that number. Next time you are on an elevator in a tall building, look to see if the numbers jump from 12 to 14.

Friggatriskaidekaphobia and paraskevidekatriaphobia are less-well known words that both mean the fear of Friday the 13th.

What is your lucky – or unlucky – number?