Learning new words

Learning new words is absolutely essential when you want to improve your English. In addition to the vocabulary in your textbooks you may want to learn more new words.

 

Do NOT learn vocabulary only for the next vocabulary or class test. In order to build your vocabulary try to memorize and revise the words. Consider these vocabulary learning tips.

For more and very detailed information about learning go to Wolfgang Pohl's excellent website "Das Lernen lernen".

 

More helpful tips here.

 

 

Apps

 

I haven't tried them all, but here is a collection of the (supposedly) five best apps for English learners.

 

The British Council also offers various apps.

 

Word lists on the Internet

 

A lot of word lists for different levels

Useful expressions

Vocabulary lists


Online dictionaries

Bilingual

 

Franks Wörterbuch is one of my favourites.

 

LEO is probably Germany's most famous online dictionary. The problem, however, is that the translated words appear without their context. To make sure that this is the correct translation for your specific context, you should check it in a monolingual dictionary (see below).

 

dict.cc is the better option.

 

 

Monolingual

 

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (LDOCE) is an excellent monolingual dictionary, i.e. you get English explanations for certain words.

 

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (OALD) is another very good monolingual dictionary.

 

Merriam-Webster is a free online dictionary and thesaurus.

 

 

Note: Do NOT translate German or English sentences with language tools like "google übersetzung" etc., they are almost always completely useless!