The ‘Advanced Learner English Dictionary’ (the very best you can buy)
A dictionary is an essential item for the study of language.  This might seem to you to be an obvious statement, but it is surprising how many learners of spoken English omit (leave out) the use of this most valuable tool.
Notice that we have said an ‘advanced learner’ dictionary.  If you want to travel to a far off destination, you could consider a bicycle for your transportation; but wouldn’t it quicker and more effective to take an aeroplane?
The little ‘pocket’ dictionary (including nearly all the ‘electronic’ dictionaries) are fine for your Grandmother when she goes shopping in a Western Supermarket; but you shouldn’t consider it an effective tool for a serious learner like yourself.

One major reason for this is that so many words in English have more than one meaning, and all of these meanings will only be found in the larger ‘advanced’ editions.  We need all the definitions so as to determine the meaning of the word ‘in context’ (the meaning of the word within the sentence).

For example:
The little word ‘can’ has many meanings.  Take this sentence for instance:
“I will open a can of beans.”
‘Can’ here means ‘a metal container for the preservation of food or drink’.
Now, what about this sentence:
“I can open a can of beans.”
Does the first ‘can’ have the same meaning as the second ‘can’?  No; the first ‘can’ means ‘to be able to; know how to’.

We need a dictionary that can give us all the meanings of a word we’re investigating, so that we can get the correct meaning of the word within the context of the sentence.

Another reason is that the more advanced dictionaries use more English and less ‘Mother-tongue’ to define each word.  Remember that it is important to “use the English you already have to learn more English”, and also to “think in English about English”.

We’ll talk more about ‘Tools for Better Spoken English’ in upcoming posts.  Stay tuned!