If you are coming to the UK to study, work or travel and English is not your first language then you are probably going to buy a dictionary – or phrase book – to help you get by with the daily tasks that we all have to undertake.

Whilst buying a phrase book is relatively straight forward, if you really want to learn English to the maximum level while you are here then you should really consider investing in an English Dictionary, as used by UK English students.

English is taught as a mandatory subject to all UK students from 6 until 16 years of age after which you can continue to study it on into university. The English language is so vast in scope that you can really devote your whole life to its study.

A divisive language?

English can be quite divisive amongst British people, in some parts of the UK, because so many different words exist to describe different emotions and behaviours that language can often be used to distinguish between different social classes and levels of education.

A good example of this can be seen in the UK newspaper industry. While you are here, go into a newsagent and look at the different newspapers, you’ll see tabloids, recognisable by the red banners in which their names are written (which is why they are known as ‘red tops’) and ‘broadsheets’, these are the more serious looking newspapers. It won’t take you long to see just how different the levels of vocabulary are in each type of publication.

For this reason even educated life-long English speakers are capable of coming across unfamiliar words on an almost daily basis, and just about every educated English family will have a copy of the English dictionary in their family library.

Increase your vocabulary

So getting an English dictionary is not just to help you get by with the daily tasks in life, increasing your vocabulary will enrich your experience of life in the UK and deepen your understanding of the native culture. The English language is more than just a business tool, it is a gateway to the best and most descriptive literature available to mankind, and it is also quite good fun to be able to turn up at a dinner party and use the phrase “nefarious proclivities” instead of just saying “sinful habits”, for example.

Phonetics

As you might already know, English dictionaries use phonetic symbols after each word to help you pronounce the word correctly. This is because of the number of different ways that you can pronounce certain words, for example too, to amd two are all listed phonetically as tu. However, learning the phonetic alphabet is almost as complicated as learning a whole new language in itself so it does take time. But once you have got it then you will be able to pronounce words from the dictionary as they are supposed to be heard, so it really is worth the effort.

The guardian of the English language is an organisation called the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) which monitors and adds words from around the world to constantly increase the wealth of vocabulary and accurately represent the ever changing nature of the English language as it continues to develop as the ‘lingua franca’ of the world.

Americanisms 

But there is also opposition from many sections of UK society to the welcoming of so many new words to the English language. Many people in the UK are horrified at the deterioration that allowing so many ‘slang’ words into the English dictionary brings.

Of particular annoyance has been the increasing use of Americanisms in English as a result of US dominance of the business and political world. Any self-respecting dictionary owning Brit is often quite appalled by the strange made-up sounding words spoken by even the highest ranking US citizens these days.

For example “can I get a coffee?” is fine in New York but in the UK we say “please may I have a coffee?”. Meanwhile the turning of nouns into verbs, such as ‘vocal’ to ‘vocalize’ and ‘priority’ to ‘prioritize’ is also considered to be a poor use of English in the UK. Also take note that the changing of the English ‘colour’ to the US ‘color’ is really quite unadvisable if you want to impress anyone in the UK, particularly if you are coming here to study at university, where tutors tend to be amongst the most enthusiastic protectors of what is known in the UK as ‘proper English’.

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USEFUL WORDS

learner’s dictionary = a dictionary graded to a certain level of English (e.g. Intermediate)
monolingual = English + translations in another language
English-English = only English, no translations
alphabetical = words or letters ordered according to the letters of the alphabet
parts of speech = noun, verb, adjective etc.
synonym = a word which has the same or very similar meaning to another
antonym = a word which has the opposite meaning to another
phonemic script = special symbols which represent each different speech sound in a language
to look up a word in the dictionary = to look for/find a word
thesaurus = a book, similar to a dictionary, in which words are arranged in groups that have similar meanings

Word Idioms

I don’t think you need to worry about Peter changing his mind – he’s a man of his word.
Never buy anything second-hand.  I bought a second-hand fridge a month ago and it was trouble from the word go.
My sister should have been a lawyer.  She’s got an amazing memory for what people say.  She can repeat what you said last week word for word.
We don’t have much of an advertising budget.  We don’t really need one since most of our customers hear about us by word of mouth.  Happy customers are the best advertisements.
I told him I was leaving because I’d never worked for anyone as stupid as him.  He didn’t say anything at all – for once he was lost for words.
I saw a motorbike accident yesterday.  It was terrible.  I feel sick when I think about it – it was too awful for words.