Beginners' Dictionary

I teach beginners. Not your average "false beginners" who just need to remember things they already learned, but REAL "start at the beginning" beginners.

In class, I teach ABC's (they still mix up 'c and s', and 'u and y', basic printing (stay on the lines, make them all the same size, capitals are different from small letters), basic phonics...Dolch wordlist, basic vocabulary (nouns and verbs of things in your life), simple tenses, question words (and they cannot remember the difference between Who and How), subject pronouns (I, You, He, She, It.....).  I mean it's REALLY beginner level! I have never been able to find an online dictionary simple enough for them. There are some great online dictionaries out there, but my students who cannot distinguish "he" from "you" are just lost at sea when faced with a real dictionary.

Here's an example of what's going on around here.

Student's homework: write a few words OR draw a picture of:  Dentist  (I'm hoping to get something like "doctor for teeth"). That would make sense to a beginner.

What they actually wrote:

"One who is skilled in and licensed to practice the prevention"
"Vixed teeth"
"dent doctor"
"someone whose job is to treat people"
"dentist for us eliminate tootheche"
"good job"
"doctor teeth"
"------"

Some of them have clearly looked at and copied parts of dictionary references without fully understanding what they are copying. Some of them have the basic idea of doctor, treatment, toothache, some are trying to fake it, and some have just given up. I wished that I could direct them to a simple online dictionary and show them how to find things when they aren't sure. But looking online I find these:


noun
a person who is qualified to treat diseases and other conditions that affect the teeth and gums, especially the repair and extraction of teeth and the insertion of artificial ones

:his mouth is still sore from his visit to the dentist’s

a leather dentist’s chair

from: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/dentist?q=dentist

• 
  

den·tist   [den-tist] Show IPA
noun
a person whose profession is dentistry.
from:http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dentist?s=t

And:

den·tist noun \ˈden-təst\
Definition of DENTIST
: one who is skilled in and licensed to practice the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases, injuries, and malformations of the teeth, jaws, and mouth and who makes and inserts false teeth
from: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dentist  

None of these is any help at all to beginners.

Tonight I found this:

den·tist

 

pronunciation:

den tihst 

part of speech:	noun
definition:	a doctor who takes care of the teeth and mouth.

from: http://www.wordsmyth.net/?level=1&ent=dentist

....which is super cool because you can click for pronunciation, AND you click on the pictures to blow them up! Look how simple that is! This might be my new favourite site! A quick check of other vocab shows mostly simple simple explanations and pictures (see also: firefighter, actor, chef...)
This is what I've been dreaming of for years! Why didn't anybody tell me?


So I just wanted to tell you, if you're out there with beginners, and tearing your hair out at definitions like this:


"Musician: the crime of deliberately kiling (sic) someone"


www.wordsmyth.net              It may not be perfect, but it's a really good start! So excited!!

(This is not a paid advertisement. I'm just really happy to find something manageable for my students!)