Customer Reviews

The Oxford Picture Dictionary

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There was a time when I wasn't very impressed by the Oxford Picture Dictionary, especially compared to the WORD BY WORD Picture Dictionary. As an English teacher I used to get free copies of it, but I'd actually go out and buy other versions because it wasn't as topical as Word By Word. Suddenly however, they seem to have caught on. My students LOVE this latest version (which has a black not blue cover and is much thicker.) In smaller less structured classes, I'll actually let them pick out chapters then base the grammar lesson I was going to teach on that theme and topic, that way insuring personal relevence. It also helps keep the classes in English... dictionaries can be valuable tools, but often they keep students from communicating with each other - - they sort of burry their heads in the dictionaries and the safety of their own langauge, but with the latest version of the Oxford Picture Dictionary, I'll find students of different nationalities hudling over the book, trying to get the point across. The pictures serve as a universal langauge that induces communication across cultures.

For this reason, I have to rank the latest version of the OPD as one of the greatest learning sources as an English teacher I've ever encountered. Its popular among the students, activity friendly and you can transfer the lesson objectives over from almost any book to meet the needs of your students.

As a word of advice, be sure to get the MONOLINGUAL version regardless of where you're teaching. This is a PICTURE dictionary. Have your student's native language in the book sabotages the purpose of getting them to think in English !

The book has wonderful illustrative pictures and is very good for teachers of English as a foreign language. I have used it in my class and the students were very interested and have enjoyed their vocabulary lessons ever since.

This is an excellent volume. It covers words, translations and
pictures for each defined term. A typical term is "Declaracion
de Direchos " which stands for a Bill of Merchandise. This
work would be extremely valuable for students of the Spanish
language . The book is geared to primary school and high school
students. It would be valuable for anyone studying the language
for the first time. The presentation is easy to read and understand in both English and Spanish.

I used this with a group of adult students from West Africa. They were the ones who decided to purchase the book out of their own pockets because they found it so helpful. They speak French and very little English. I do not speak French. The book was quite valuable.

I have found that even bilingual people with excellent articulation skills and few pronunciation problems nevertheless suffer from a limited vocabulary, especially for daily activity. So I recommend ESL students and teachers start with a picture dictionary. I recommend the Oxford Picture Dictionary because it is the most comprehensive. The New Oxford Picture Dictionary is also on my recommended list, but the original is much better. For travelers, bilingual editions double as survival kits.

This is great for English language learners. It's organized by sections and is easy to understand. The only drawback is it's ehtnocentric towards the USA and this wouldnt be good for english learners living in Britain.

A practical took for tutoring and teaching ESL students of multiple levels. Often, a picture really is worth a thousand words - especially if the student doesn't know a thousand words!

Besides, every single object has a name... and sometimes I can't think of the precise word. This book solves that problem. You ask students to turn to the appropriate page, and at least buy some time. You will almost all find the word and object.

By the way, this book can also be an excellent supplement text for intermediate classes. In a better world of more and smaller ESL classes, you would find this class sets of this textbook in Beginning, High Beginning, Intermediate Low and even Intermediate High classes. Flexible, informative, and practical, the Oxford Picture Dictionary remains a must for ESL programs, instructors, and tutors.

I was very pleased with our purchase of this product. I originally purchased both the new and the old, thinking I might use the older one. After comparing, however, I felt they had made sufficient improvements to warrant purchasing the newer edition for the needs of our program. Many items of technology were included and the illustrations are wonderful. This book is well organized to quickly find items even if you don't speak English. Great for young people and adults. I did note that male/female body parts were not illustrated or listed. This would not be a resource for one trying to communicate using these terms to a doctor or school official even. This seemed somewhat puritan... but perhaps this was deemed necessary in order that it span age groups... which this definitely does.

I am a German living in the US. I like to have the every-day situations described in the book, like going to the hairdresser, different shops and so on. With the pictures it makes it even much easier to learn and remember the words. It is a nice help, especially when you have just settled in.

Nice idea, but it does only half the work. It shows you how to write the words and sentences, but not how to pronounce them, which is extremely important for ESL students. To see how a word is pronounced, you have to check the index, which works just like a regular, non-picture dictionary.