subject: Dictionary: A Lifelong Friend Of A Person [print this page] Have you ever noticed how some people, who seem very witty and intelligent in their writing, can surprise you with their limited vocabulary when they speak to you in person? Having a good hold over vocabulary boosts our self confidence to a large extent while speaking in front of public. It is sometime noticed that people could not even communicate with each other properly because of lack of knowledge about different words.
When I was in my school, I often encountered such situations where I failed to express my views because I stuck while talking. When I took English Honors in my graduation, I gradually started making my hold strong on the subject by increasing my vocabulary. One of our teachers used to say that concerning a dictionary whenever we face problem with words and noting it down in a copy would be the best way to increase our treasury of words. Apart from learning new words, we also come to know about the origin, correct pronunciation, synonyms and different variations of a particular word from the dictionary only. In every language, we can see the influence of other languages; such as in Hindi the influence of Urdu can be seen. In the dictionary or thesaurus we can get the details about the origin also.
The importance of the thesaurus is uncountable. But it is very essential to make kids aware of the usefulness of dictionary in a very early age. By developing the habit of concerning dictionary in an early age, kids can make their hold strong on a particular language. It is quite surprising that the history of dictionary dates back to the 7th century BC. This first dictionary belongs to the library of the Ashurbanipal, the king of Assyria, Nineveh. Dictionary can be defined as an anthology of words of a language. To make the reference easier, the words in a dictionary will be arranged in alphabetical order.
Though it is true that on our computers, we will get the origin, pronunciation, spelling and synonym of a particular word, but concerning a dictionary has the benefits of its own. It is not easy to make a little toddler sit and read a dictionary, but by following simple steps teachers can do that. Some of the steps are briefly discussed below:-
After kids learn to identify the alphabets and to spell the words, they can be offered dictionaries to consult. Teachers can also help their students become fluent by giving them a number of exercises where they have to put certain words in alphabetical order
Each of the students in a class room should have access to the dictionaries. Let them have time to explore the dictionaries and get a feel for them
Explain to your students about the presence of guide words on each of the dictionary pages. These words help indicate word's starting and ending point on any given page
Tell the students that you want them to write out the definition of each word, the page number where they found the word and the two guide words that helped them find the word they were looking up.
A dictionary is a wonderful thing, and it is not just there to help teenagers get good grades in their Literature exams. It is a lifelong friend of a person, no matter how old or young the person is.
