Grasp the Sense
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Last Updated: July 2, 2017:
We've added Collins Dictionary in our dictionary list and edited
parts of the post for readability.
English translation released on: January 3, 2018
Click here for an overview of our blog.
English is best understood in English. It's better if you don't translate it into
another language. That way, there will be much less cognitive load on you to
understand it (= your brain won't get as tired). We will show you how to ease the mental burden that comes with learning, with a monolingual dictionary and a bilingual dictionary as examples.
Definitions:
- A monolingual dictionary explains the essential meaning of an expression by paraphrasing it in the same language (i.e. English-English dictionaries such as Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, Japanese-Japanese dictionaries such as Kojien).
- A bilingual dictionary replaces an expression in a language with a translation equivalent in another language, which is thought to be closest in meaning (i.e. English-Japanese dictionaries, Japanese-English dictionaries).
Example 1: We will introduce an example of an entry in a monolingual dictionary.
agency
- a business that provides a service
Here, the amount of information is kept to a minimum. This is easy to remember! Now, some words are polysemous (= have more than one meaning), but usually the number of meanings are two or three at most.
Example 2: Now, we will introduce an example of an entry in a bilingual dictionary.
agency
- サービス提供機関［会社、事務所］
(“an agency that provides a service such as a company and an office”)
- 代理店
(distributing agency), 取扱店
(retailor), 特約店
(special store, chain store), 周旋所
(brokerage), 斡旋所 (mediation office)...
Listed as translation equivalents of agency are:
- サービス提供機関 (the same as “an agency that provides a service” )
- 代理店 (“distributing agency”)
- 特約店 (“special store,” “chain store”)
- 特約のガソリンスタンド (“contracted gas station”).
Point:
A translation equivalent on a bilingual dictionary is merely “what
would be closest in meaning.” It is not the definition (= core sense) of the word agency. Because of this, various translation equivalents are given to agency depending on the context. You can’t possibly memorize all of them!
Task:
Search anything you’d like on the Internet, and look up an expression
that you don’t understand by using Cambridge
Dictionary.
Note the following points:
Note the following points:
1.
Look up only expressions you have no clue about.
If you read the sentences before and after it and have a vague idea of the
meaning, don’t look it up.
2.
Use a bilingual dictionary only when you don't understand it with your monolingual dictionary.
On a side note, translators and interpreters do their work this way. They understand English as is, and simply express the same thing in the target language. They do look up proper nouns and other fixed phrases, but before doing so, they take an educated guess on how they are expressed.
For this reason, we would like you to think about the essence of the meaning, especially when your bilingual dictionary lists so many translation equivalents.
Dictionary Resources:
We used Cambridge Dictionary as an example. If you would like to look up specfic usage, we recommend Collins Dictionary. For more advanced learners, Merriam-Webster Dictionary is also recommended. So is Oxford.
You can download apps for your smartphones. Some of them are paid
service, but we recommend you try them.
- Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (iOS)
- Collins COBUILD Advanced American English
Dictionary 2 (iOS)
- Collins English and Thesaurus (Android)
- Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (iOS)
- Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
(Android)
- Merriam-Webster Dictionary (iOS)
- Merriam-Webster Dictionary (Android)
Other Posts:
Mindsets
Learning Methods
Learning Strategies
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