This is probably old hat for many, but there are some things you should always do when using a bilingual dictionary. This goes for online dictionaries and paper (printed) dictionaries alike.

I have read many students’ papers and homework and sometimes the funniest vocabulary comes up. For example, “Fui al cine y miré la rejilla”. Well this student most likely wanted to say “I went to the movies and looked at the screen”, but he picked the wrong word for screen.

So the first rule is, when you want to look up a word in the dictionary, you have to look it up twice. First look up “screen” in the English side, then take all the possible translations it gives, and look them up to see which is most appropriate. Let’s take the example I gave.

Screen => Pantalla, Biombo, Cortina, Retícula, Red metálica, Tamiz, Criba, Rejilla.

Now it’s time to look up each of these translations to see which is the most appropriate for the meaning of screen you’re looking for.

Pantalla - protective screen, screen in general, display (among other things)
Biombo - folding screen
Cortina - curtain, screen, flap
Retícula - photographic screen
Red metálica - screen on a window
Tamiz - sieve
Criba - sieve, screen for sifting
Rejilla - grating, lattice, grille

Looking words up twice is not always the fastest way to get a translation, but if you’re truly looking for the best word, it’s the only way to go.

9 March 2007 9:43 am
Cats: Language Learning
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