Suppose you happen to see the word 'vexillology' while reading a book the meaning of which you do not know. Then you will seek the helpof an English - English dictionary in which you will see the definition of it as '(the) study of flags'.An English - English dictionary is known as a monolingual dictionary. An English - English - Malayalam dictionary or an English - Malayalam dictionary is called a bilingual dictionary. An English - Hindi - Malayalam dictionary is given the name a trilingual dictionary.Now think of your son coming to you and asking you "What is the one word for the study of ants?" No 'lingual' dictionaries can help you in this respect. Then what will you do? You must seek the help of a reverse dictionary in which the definition is followed by its apt word while in a 'lingual' dictionary the definition follows a word. In a reverse dictionary you look up the word 'ant' and under it you see 'study of ants : myrmecology'.Every one of you has, I am sure, one or more 'lingual' dictionaries. But how many of you have a reverse dictionary?
When I started to learn English, I have a bilingual dictionary, "English - Malay, Malay - English". I found out that it's easier for learners like me to find a particular English verb using this kind of dictionary. However, later, my English teachers told me that this was not really a good way to understand the meaning of certain English words, thus encouraged me to use just 'English - English' dictionary. But until today, most of students over here are using "English - Malay, Malay - English' dictionary.
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When I started to learn English, I have a bilingual dictionary, "English - Malay, Malay - English". I found out that it's easier for learners like me to find a particular English verb using this kind of dictionary. However, later, my English teachers told me that this was not really a good way to understand the meaning of certain English words, thus encouraged me to use just 'English - English' dictionary. But until today, most of students over here are using "English - Malay, Malay - English' dictionary.