Advanced Learner's English Dictionaries?
I'm a newbie here, I hope you won't be fed up with my question about dictionaries.
1. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (7th Edition)
2. Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (3rd Edition)
3. Collins Cobuild Advanced Dictionary (6th Edition)
4. Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary (1st Edition)
At present, besides 2 English-Chinese dictionaries (Macmillan & Longman), I've already got the latest <Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English> (5th Edition) on hand, so I would like to get another excellent English-English advanced learner's dictionary.
Unluckily I'm still hesitating over which one to choose between the above 4. Actually, I've already read a comparative review of dictionaries for English learners, no doubt that's a good article, but I'm curious to know which is relatively the "so-called" best one. BTW, <Collins Cobuild Advanced Learner's English Dictionary> (5th Edition) is unexpectedly out of stock, perhaps out of print (unavailable), and the 6th edition has just come onto market in Mainland China.
Would you please talk me through choosing the right dictionary in detail? I'd appreciate it if you could make a suggestion for my hesitation. If possible, I'd particularly like to get to know which of the 2 (Collins Cobuild vs Merriam-Webster's) is a relatively excellent dictionary in terms of paper & printing quality, example sentences, vocabulary quantity, and accessibility scale. Any comments?
Please don't recommend the following series of dictionaries (primarily for native speakers or linguistic scholars).
1. American Heritage College Dictionary
2. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
3. (New) Oxford Dictionary of English
4. Random House Webster's College Dictionary
Thank you very much for your infinite patience!
First, I find it not that necessary to have so many dictionaries, and so many PAPER dictionaries. I've always used Cambridge only (as software), and since 2 years ago, lingoes' dictionaries as well, where I stick to the 4th Oxford English-Chinese.
I gather that there should be enough online material elsewhere in the Chinese cyberspace. I don't think I should mention which sites... since my home is too small for paper dictionaries (kind of bulky), I have no patience at all with paper ones, except if I'm terribly confused, and since it takes far more time to read entries on paper... I've always found electronic forms superior by far.
On average, only 1 or 2 out of 10 unknown words/expressions would force me to use anything other than Cambridge, such as Oxford. But that doesn't include obscure academic vocab which is usually absent in most conventional dictionaries. In those cases, though, Cambridge's pronouncing dictionary usually offers the transcriptions for such rare words.
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (3rd Edition)
Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary (1st Edition)
Get these two.
Oh, but I must say that, although Collins Cobuild's e-version isn't that convenient - even the newest one is so - I find it better than Cambridge for offering more and better sample sentences.
Unless you can see very significant differences between these products, so that you find any one far more superior (FOR YOUR NEEDS)... I guess they're pretty similar as far as quality goes. In this case, no one knows your preference better than you do. I found an earlier e-version of Oxford too colorful but hardly practical, so I'd never even tried it for a long time.
Xie,
>>>Oh, but I must say that, although Collins Cobuild's e-version isn't that convenient - even the newest one is so - I find it better than Cambridge for offering more and better sample sentences. <<<
Yes, that was the reason why I wanted to compare Collins Cobuild (rather than Cambridge) with Merriam-Webster's, though there's no doubt that Cambridge is a very famous brand of ELT (English Language Teaching) field, especially IELTS (International English Language Testing System).
謝生，我一直不太習慣用「電子詞典」，幾乎只用「紙張詞典」，電腦裡還有個「朗曼當代」光碟第五版（功能平平）。個人覺得「電子詞典」永遠無法超越「紙張詞典」，有時「電子詞典」在詞義上甚至會誤導使用者。手邊有一兩本「紙張詞典」十分便利，無論是否在線，也無論是否開機，隨時可以查到準確的涵義和例句。我就是「龍」。
They are all pretty same since they are based on the same World English Corpus. I use Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners and like it very much. I tried Cambridge, Longman and Oxford and didn't find any advantages. As for Collins, it didn't have the CD-version at that time when I was choosing a dict., so it was actually it's weak side.
To my mind, chose the one which looks better to your eyes, because you are going to often look at it and in it. I think Macmillan is the most beautiful, because the cover is red (my favourite colour) and the pages are white with black and red letters. I prefer it to the blue background which is so common to other dictionaries. Pay attention to the print/type and the way they transcribe the words.
>>謝生，我一直不太習慣用「電子詞典」，幾乎只用「紙張詞典」，電腦裡還有個「朗曼當代」光碟第五版（功能平平）。個人覺得「電子詞典」永遠無法超越「紙張詞典」，有時「電子詞典」在詞義上甚至會誤導使用者。手邊有一兩本「紙張詞典」十分便利，無論是否在線，也無論是否開機，隨時可以查到準確的涵義和例句。我就是「龍」。 <<
這沒關係. 我只是最重視方便而已, 很多時候英文以至任何外文都可以猜內容, 用不著要一味查詞典
I'll go on with English unless you're terribly confused, since this is the English forum.
It doesn't matter. I just value convenience the most. In many cases most foreign languages can be guessed, so there's need to use a dictionary all the time.
And actually I was referring to software. If you have noticed it already, the antimoon admins have long ago written some articles about software, not the kind of Dictionary King and the like you find elsewhere in China... well, I found the same in Germany too, but their dictionary entries are more or less identical to paper dictionary entries...
That's pretty much UNLIKE BESTA, for example, where you can only get the English word and then some random Chinese translations without sample sentences and the like...
IIRC, Cambridge, for example, offers a version of BOTH paper and e-dictionary in the same package. I had discovered this kind of stuff back in the days of high school, 5 years ago, and that was fantastic. If you ever find a brand good enough, and if it has an e-version, probably you should buy a bundle of them both. For reasons I won't say, I have the e-version only, but that has been enough thru the years.
Your English seems more disadvantaged than advanced. I recommend you intermediate dictionaries. They'll suit you much better.
What about <Collins Cobuild Advanced Dictionary of "American English">?
Do you think it works better than <Collins Cobuild Advanced Dictionary 6th>?
Any Review of <Collins Cobuild Advanced Dictionary of "American English">?
I don't like any dictionaries of American English, I just use those of British English.
I don't like any dictionaries of American English, I just use those of British English, because I am a queer!
I don't like any dictionaries of American English, I just use those of British English, because I am a queer!
I don't like any dictionaries of American English, I just use those of British English, because I am a queer!
I don't like any dictionaries of American English, I just use those of British English, because I am a queer!
I don't like any dictionaries of American English, I just use those of British English, because I am a queer!
I don't like any dictionaries of American English, I just use those of British English, because I am a queer!
I don't like any dictionaries of American English, I just use those of British English, because I am a queer!
I don't like any dictionaries of American English, I just use those of British English, because I am a queer!
I don't like any dictionaries of American English, I just use those of British English, because I am a queer!
I don't like any dictionaries of American English, I just use those of British English, because I am a queer!
I don't like any dictionaries of American English, I just use those of British English, because I am a queer!
I don't like any dictionaries of American English, I just use those of British English, because I am a queer!
I don't like any dictionaries of American English, I just use those of British English, because I am a queer!
I don't like any dictionaries of American English, I just use those of British English, because I am a queer!
I don't like any dictionaries of American English, I just use those of British English, because I am a queer!
What about <Collins Cobuild Advanced Dictionary of "American English">?
Do you think it works better than <Collins Cobuild Advanced Dictionary 6th>?
Any Review of <Collins Cobuild Advanced Dictionary of "American English">?
**************Oh I really hate people talking nonsense! ******************