Oxford Dictionary Online

On the 21st February we had a look at the check list for dictionaries and chose one activity offered by http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/page/englishresources/free-english-resources we decided to work on activity 11 called "How to use this word?" We worked with http://www.yourdictionary.com/ and looked up the meaning of the words according to the category we wanted, for example:
barrage (noun)
chunky (adjective)
Yummy (adjective)
bedraggled (adjective)
Afterwards (adverb)
Then we completed the gap filling with the correct word and according to the context. We also completed the the table according to the example and the definition.
It was great work and well done.

Two other dictionaries

Two other dictionaries

YourDictionary
We forgot to talk about the two other dictionaries, so we'll make a short review of them.
The second one is http://www.yourdictionary.com. It's a free dictionary and on its homepage, at the top, has four folders: Home, Language articles, Other Dictionaries, Word Games.
On the left we see information that is always moving and changing which refers to: games, dictionary awards, google research...
Then we have Grammar and Reference Articles to give you answers related to grammar, spelling, language...
On the right we find different sections:
Follow your Dictionary on Twitter, Free English Lessons  Train to teach English, ESLCertificated Courses, Spanish Courses in Spain, Browse Words...
At the bottom of all this information we have YourDictionary .com Resources and if you click on a picture of the seven different dictionaries we have access to its information .
These dictionaries are related to:
Online Dictionary Definitions, Synonyms Dictionary ,Legal Definitions, Medical Dictionary Definitions, Science Dictionary,  Definitions, Invest Dictionary Definitions, Computer, Hacker, Telecom Dictionary Definitions.
Here we may browse words or search topics.
When we look up a word we can hear it and pronounce it correctly even if we don't know phonetics. It gives us information about reading, listening and pronunciation. There are six folders that give us a complete explanation of the word.
The folders are:
Dictionary Definitions, Thesaurus Synonyms, Sentence Examples, Acronyms, Phrase Idioms. Quote Examples, Evaluation of an example:
The information is complete, it has five entries or more  (the word "ground" has twelve entries), the origin of the word, related words and the meaning according to different contexts.
In our opinion this dictionary is very useful and good for students and teachers. It's complete and varied in what the kind of information and perspective are concerned.

 Visual Thesaurus
The third Dictionary is www.visualthesaurus.com/index.jsp and it requires subscription. You only have access to a trial Version of the Visual Thesaurus, you are  only allowed to a limited number of searches and the free trial is for 14 days.
On its homepage we find seven folders:Home, how it works, Buy/Subscribe, Praise, Institutional Sales, Education, Support.
On the right you may sign in, and at the top of the page, on the left, you write the word yoy want to look up.
Then you have sections related to :
- A contest - Fresh Ink: a crossword puzzle for this month;
- Word roots and vocabgrabber;
- Behind the dictionary and spelling Bee;
- Dog Eared, books we love and Blog Experts;
- A reference to all departments,
On the right you have topics such as:Lesson plans
-Word day;
- Featured word lists, where you can have a look at some activities but you can't use them.
- Recent comments from subscribers;
- Popular Topics;
- Lesson plans;
-Announcements and self- promotion;
- Webmasters;
We tried a "lesson plann" but we need to subscribe to use tha material that supports the lesson.
We consider  it's a different approach to a normal dictionary, you have access to different languages and it gives you many words related to the one you wrote. You can listen to the word in English from the Us and UK, it informs you about semantics and families, but it doesn't give you sentence examples or synonyms.
In our  opinion it's not very good for students and needs subscription.

Dictionaries and encyclopediaes

On 14th February we started our formation introducing ourselves and talking about the contents we were going to learn during the other sessions and established our timetable.
Along the first session we went through some dictionaries and encyclopediaes.
The one we chose to talk about is http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
On the left you have what's inside  and there are eight free different kinds of dictionaries related to Topic Areas such as Medical, Financial, Acronyms, Idioms...Then you have one which needs subscription: Hutchinson Encyclopedia.
Then you find links to other dictionaries in 13 different languages including Portuguese and the corresponding flags.This allows you to access the homepage in the language you want and create your personal homepage inyour language.
Then you have a folder for Surfers, Webmasters and Weather.
In the middle of the homepage we have six options: Customize your Homepage,Word of the Day, Article of the Day, In the News, This Day in History and Today's Birthday.
On the right you have access to different fields: English Language Forum, My Word List, Games of spelling, writing and listening, Quotation of the Day and Horoscope.
When you click on  one of the different types of dictionaries you have 8 folders(all dictionaries)and if you choose one word you may listen to British and American pronunciation, you have information about synonyms, words related, antonyms, the origin of the word, translation...
In my opinion it's a very good tool for students because they can get lots of varied information and improve their skills. It´s appealing and very complete.

meeting

Hello everybody!
The 21st of March is a special day for me.
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See you.