dictionaries - how to choose? Thread poster: Roberta Campani
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how to choose a dictionary English Italian and reverse? what are the news? thank you
| | | | | How did you intend to use it? | Jan 15, 2008 |
Typically, I use a dictionary as a starting point. I can translate many words in my language pairs without looking them up (as I'm sure you can).
One option you have is to use an online dictionary. http://www.wordreference.com , for example, has a link to an English-Italian dictionary and one to an Italian-English dictionary. One thing it will do, unlike paper dictionaries, is give you opti... See more Typically, I use a dictionary as a starting point. I can translate many words in my language pairs without looking them up (as I'm sure you can).
One option you have is to use an online dictionary. http://www.wordreference.com , for example, has a link to an English-Italian dictionary and one to an Italian-English dictionary. One thing it will do, unlike paper dictionaries, is give you options that are forms of other words. For example, "flies" will show up as a form of the verb "fly" or as the plural of the noun "fly" (and in a paper dictionary, "flies" will not show up at all, though both meanings of "fly" will). But Internet connections may be expensive where you live and this may not be a good option.
If you're in a situation where you are frequently away from your computer (you're an escort interpreter, for example), you may need a paper dictionary that's small enough to fit in a pocket or a purse. If you're frequently at your computer, it may be more appropriate to use an electronic dictionary on CD ROM. Looking up words there is faster than in a paper dictionary and it doesn't weigh as much. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lia Fail (X) 
Spain
Local time: 16:29
Spanish to English
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| Collins online | Jan 15, 2008 |
artemisia111 wrote:
how to choose a dictionary English Italian and reverse? what are the news? thank you
It's excellent for Spanish/English, and offers the Italian/English option too. It's free or quite cheap.
http://dictionary.reverso.net/
| | | | Steven Capsuto
United States
Local time: 10:29
Member (2004)
Spanish to English
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| Sample sentences and context indications | Jan 15, 2008 |
The most important aspect of a dictionary (aside from a recent copyright date and a reputation for accuracy) is the ability to distinguish different usages of the entry term based on context. Sample sentences are an important feature in this regard.
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James McVay
United States
Local time: 10:29
Russian to English
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| Dictionary as thesaurus | Jan 15, 2008 |
I completely agree with Steven. It's a rare word that has only one possible translation in all contexts. I don't do Italian, so I can't suggest a particular dictionary. But here's what I look for: speed, completeness, lots of examples tagged for the field they apply to, multi-word terms, and accuracy. I usually know what the words in the source language mean, but I may not be able to immediately think of the best way of translating them in a particular context. So I want to be able to look... See more I completely agree with Steven. It's a rare word that has only one possible translation in all contexts. I don't do Italian, so I can't suggest a particular dictionary. But here's what I look for: speed, completeness, lots of examples tagged for the field they apply to, multi-word terms, and accuracy. I usually know what the words in the source language mean, but I may not be able to immediately think of the best way of translating them in a particular context. So I want to be able to look down a vertical list (for readability) and find the translation that makes me go "aha!" The ideal translator's dictionary is going to have translations for a large number of multi-word terms, and it's going to tell me what subject area each translation applies to.
In practice, then, I resort to paper dictionaries only when absolutely necessary. I currently rely heavily on an online dictionary that allows me to copy and paste terms from the source document and can handle words when they're not in the dictionary form, i.e., not in the nominative singular or infinitive case. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Rachel Fell
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:29
French to English
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| ivo abdman
Indonesia
Local time: 21:29
English to Indonesian
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| fast and complete dictionary | Jan 16, 2008 |
Fast and complete are what we need for our dictionary to have. Online dictionary is good enough but sometime there are much obstacles when we needed. Many dictionaries is better than one dictionary, but chose the fast one and preferably the more complete one. Dictionaries that installed in your computer are the best one.
Actually there are no complete dictionary. Many time we could not find the intended mean of a term in our dictionary. Many time Googling or Yahooing wil be useful e... See more Fast and complete are what we need for our dictionary to have. Online dictionary is good enough but sometime there are much obstacles when we needed. Many dictionaries is better than one dictionary, but chose the fast one and preferably the more complete one. Dictionaries that installed in your computer are the best one.
Actually there are no complete dictionary. Many time we could not find the intended mean of a term in our dictionary. Many time Googling or Yahooing wil be useful even for an analogy of the term.
"It nice to he important, hut more important to he nice"
encode key : h --> b ▲ Collapse
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Roberta Campani
Switzerland
Local time: 16:29
English to Italian
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TOPIC STARTER | thank you all, | Jan 16, 2008 |
this gives me an idea, actually I was worried that I could^'t find a complete dictionary, but it probably doesn't exist,
one word after the other?
| | | | Milton Guo
China
Local time: 22:29
English to Chinese
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with a good online dictionary plus Google.com, you can do the job well.....as traditional paper dictionaries are not updated as often as they should be
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