For English students, translation learners, MTI candidates, etc., the importance of reading foreign journals is self-evident.
However, the reality is that many students know to read foreign magazines, but they don’t
Where to start
？ or
I can’t read it, where should I start
？ There are also students who read it, but
But I couldn’t figure it out
……
In the past, many students who signed up for study at Cema also had similar problems, so instead of waiting for the class to share with everyone, it is better to share it with everyone first to help students try to lay a foundation before formally learning with the teacher, so that the learning efficiency will be higher.
Well, today we will start with “
Practical tools for external publication/translation learning
“Let’s talk about it from an angle, and look forward to empowering you who see this article.
When reading foreign magazines, the first pain point that everyone encounters is one of them
A lot of unfamiliar words
。 I believe that many students may have such an experience: they originally built themselves psychologically, and finally made up their minds to read an article well, but found out
Almost every sentence has one or more key words that you don’t know or are familiar with,
Very frustrating, serious and even can produce dyslexia.
So
A good word search tool is the first step to help us read foreign journals efficiently, and it is also a strong support for further improving our writing/translation ability.
❖ Mdict
This electronic dictionary can be said to be the favorite of the editor. Over the years, whether changing mobile phones or computers, the first app to reinstall has always been Mdict.
Let me elaborate on why this dictionary is so good~
❶ The content is the same as the paper dictionary
Mdict is an open source electronic dictionary, search the official website to download the software, and install the word package. The dictionary commonly used by the editor is: Macmillan, Collins Advanced, Oxford Advanced, Longman Double Solution.
After practical testing, these dictionaries are in hand, and there is basically no interpretation that cannot be found
, what familiar words are not under the word, of course, Internet buzzwords, etc. are not included in this list.
Note that the contents of the electronic word pack we installed are the same as buying a paper dictionary, which is very important. I have often encountered it before
Online dictionaries are incomplete, resulting in inefficient reading
。
Take “prep” as an example. In an online dictionary, although it also accesses the Collins dictionary, only one interpretation can be seen, and other meanings cannot be seen directly.
But if you use Mdict to install the word package, you can find the full definition, which is why although the network speed has soared to 5G, Xiaobian still chooses to install this seemingly “original” electronic dictionary:
Not to mention that it is still free, mobile phone and computer can be installed, truly realize anytime, anywhere, want to check
❷ Dictionary of free choice
Another advantage of having multiple dictionaries at hand is the freedom to choose dictionaries, which is actually very important, because each dictionary has different words for interpretation, so our understanding will vary.
Especially for students who are trying to understand and learn words with English definitions, they need to refer to multiple dictionaries at the same time to ensure that they can accurately understand the meaning of words
Take inexplicable, for example:
Longman’s double interpretation is:
Collins High Order paraphrases it as:
The Oxford High Rank is defined as:
It can be seen that the English definitions of different dictionaries are different. The editor prefers the interpretation of Collins and Longman, while understanding the meaning,
You can also roughly know how to use words, which lays the foundation for correct use later
。 In contrast, Oxford Advanced paraphrasing tend to be too concise and less beginner-friendly.
However, the Oxford high-level collocation is very useful, so when looking up words and learning words, you still have to look at the Oxford high-level. Xiaobian himself also installed the Oxford high-end APP on his mobile phone, which proved to be very useful.
This dictionary is good in the convenience of query, for example, many times we just want to find the phrase collocation or idiom of this word, the dictionary has been classified, you can query with one click, it is really convenient, but this dictionary has to pay Oh.
❸ Cross-dictionary queries
Of course, the powerful function of Mdict is not only that you can freely choose dictionaries, but also that you can query multiple dictionaries with one click to achieve cross-dictionary query.
As shown above, as long as the installed word package is moved into a group, and select Mark as Union, multiple dictionaries can be queried at the same time. This feature is really awesome.
Especially in the process of translation, only superficial understanding is not enough, many times we have to look up a word to determine how to translate, so multiple dictionaries joint query can be useful
Other than that
In some dictionaries, a word may not be fully interpreted
, federated queries can also circumvent this problem. For example, contact has the meaning of contact lenses, but it is not marked in Collins’ dictionary, Longman Double Solution and Oxford Advanced are marked.
❹ No advertising intrusion, concentrate on learning without interruption
I don’t know if you have such a situation, in fact, just want to check a word, or a certain knowledge point, but open a web page or an app, but always attracted by the “hot information” on the page, after a wild brush, I suddenly remembered that I opened my phone just to check a word.
So, to avoid inefficient learning due to frequent distractions, try cutting off the trigger by installing an original free word lookup tool without ads.
❖ Salad lookup
The second word lookup tool to introduce is the salad word lookup. As the name suggests, this dictionary contains several electronic dictionaries, translation tools, etc. Not only is it online, but it is also very practical.
❶ You can choose the dictionary freely, and the web/PDF word retrieval is very convenient
Salad Cha Word is actually a browser plugin
, you can search for installation. This word search software is good for convenience, if you are too lazy to manually enter the word search when reading foreign publications, or even too lazy to copy and paste, you can use salad word search to directly mark the meaning.
Its dictionary pack is also very powerful.
Several popular dictionaries – Collins, Cambridge, Longman, Merriam, Macmillan, Oxford Advanced, Urban, and many more
This way of looking up words is simply lazy gospel. This dictionary also has a vocabulary function, so when you encounter very important words, you can put them in the vocabulary book and review them later.
❷ At the same time, you can translate and check the encyclopedia, no need to jump to the web page
In addition to being able to look up words,
It is also compatible with mainstream online translation tools, encyclopedia query tools, etc
, one-click query, no need to jump to the web page, very convenient.
If you install this dictionary, when you read foreign magazines, news, and original books, your happiness may improve!
❸ Free and ad-free
In addition to being powerful, this plugin is
gratis
Target! And the word lookup page does not have any ads, which can greatly reduce the distraction. The experience was great!
❖ Ludwig
Ludwig is a collection too
A large number of authentic example sentences from popular foreign magazines
website. Except that it can
It helps us quickly grasp word usage with a large number of examples, and also acts as a correction tool when we write and translate
For example, if you are not sure about a usage, you can enter the usage into it to see if it is used in an external publication.
Although more functions need to be paid to enjoy, but overall it is more conscientious,
The free version is almost enough
In the process of reviewing example sentences, if there are words you don’t know, remember to use salad to find words to solve with one click. Two powerful gadgets to achieve linkage, like!
❖ Bing international version
Solved the problem of basic word lookup, and there is a big problem that is-
I don’t know the background, I don’t understand memes, or I can’t understand the specific meaning of Internet buzzwords
, but at a certain extent, you can’t find it, some students may be very big-headed.
Take a quote from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit speech as an example:
This is the moment when we really begin to unite and
level up
. A translation online treats this sentence as: This is the real beginning of our unity
unanimous
moments.
“Level Up” is treated as “consistent”, and some students may also understand it as “consistent”. But its definition in the dictionary is:
From the dictionary interpretation, we can tell that the meaning is “be of the same high level or higher”, not “solidarity”. As Boris Johnson’s political slogan, it actually has a deeper and more specific meaning.
In such cases, it is not enough to simply look up the dictionary
But as long as you learn to solve English problems in English, then there is no need to be afraid
。 For example, you can use Bing International to inquire. Type “Boris Johnason level up meaning” into the browser –
After checking it this way, you will find that all foreign friends also have doubts about what “level up” is talking about.
Solving English problems in English can solve the dilemma that everyone seems to be able to read every word, but in fact they can’t read it
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