Longman Advanced English Dictionary (English Version)

Author: Compiled by Pearson Education Limited, UK
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-12-01
Features: Compared to general English dictionaries and other English learning dictionaries, Longman Advanced has the following six distinctive features:
1. Simple and easy-to-understand definitions. General English dictionaries emphasize accuracy, scientific rigor, and precision, which are essential for native English speakers but often incomprehensible to learners.
2. Rich and colorful illustrations. Traditionally, general dictionaries published in the United States usually include illustrations, while those published in the UK generally do not. Some learning dictionaries still lack illustrations.
3. Extensive coverage of proper nouns. General dictionaries published in the United States often have an encyclopedic nature, including a significant number of proper nouns, whereas general dictionaries and learning dictionaries published in the UK are typically pure language dictionaries and do not include proper nouns. In fact, for English learners, whether common nouns or proper nouns, anything unfamiliar can be an obstacle to comprehension or expression.
4. Transparent grammatical codes. Providing as detailed grammatical information as possible for each entry is an important design feature of English learning dictionaries.
5. Signposts for polysemous words. Words with multiple meanings can be time-consuming to look up. To improve the retrieval speed of definitions, Longman Advanced establishes "signposts" for such words. These signposts consist of one or two key terms, displayed in black text on a white background at the beginning of each definition, allowing readers to quickly identify the relevant meaning.
6. Emphasis on collocations. Chinglish often arises from incorrect word collocations. Longman Advanced pays special attention to providing information on collocations and highlights them in bold.
Chinese English learners often prefer bilingual dictionaries, feeling more at ease when each English word has a corresponding Chinese translation, making it easier to remember. Even when using bilingual learning dictionaries, their attention is often focused on the Chinese translations, wasting the effort of the dictionary compilers. In reality, apart from specialized terms, there are not many English words that have direct equivalents in Chinese. Learning English requires mastering its own lexical and semantic system, understanding the usage and collocations of each word, and gradually thinking in English. The best way to achieve this is to persist in using monolingual English learning dictionaries. With perseverance, significant progress will be seen after several years.
Dictionaries specifically designed for English learners in non-English-speaking countries are called "learning dictionaries." The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (LDOCE), which is highly favored by Chinese English learners, is a learning dictionary, and so is Longman Advanced American Dictionary. Longman Advanced inherits the basic format and all the strengths of LDOCE (3rd edition) but focuses on American English and includes a wide range of encyclopedic terms, making it essentially a sister edition of LDOCE.
Longman Advanced American Dictionary has the following six distinctive features:
1. Simple and easy-to-understand definitions;
2. Rich and colorful illustrations;
3. Extensive coverage of proper nouns;
4. Transparent grammatical codes;
5. Signposts for polysemous words;
6. Emphasis on collocations.