Intro
1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.
2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.
A dictionary was once an essential book in every home or business. The only place to check the correct spelling or definition of a word was between the pages of a dictionary. University students might even haul them from class to class. A reference book was a burden, but a necessity.
Today, all that has changed. With access to the Internet, a person only needs a phone or computer to retrieve the same information in seconds. Dictionaries probably seem obsolete to the average teenager, like dusty relics of the 20th century.
Has the traditional dictionary run its course? Keep reading to learn what Greta and Amanda think about that very question.
Dialog
1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.
2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.
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Greta: You know what I think is funny? That dictionaries can also be out of date, just like encyclopedias.
Amanda: Last time I checked, a hard copy of a dictionary had become obsolete.
Greta: It’s true, but they’re kind of fun to look through. I think it is a good kind of reference back to the glory days of information-searching when it just took so much work to go and find something out.
Amanda: That’s an interesting point that you brought up, that some of the definitions have probably become outdated.
Greta: It’s true. And when you think about it, how many new words do we have now? Email wasn’t in the dictionary 15 years ago.
Amanda: That’s absolutely correct. And I wonder whose job it is or authority to decide whether something is actually a word or slang.
Greta: You know, I know there’s a governing body who makes those decisions every year, but I’m not entirely sure what they’re called. And I have to say, for as handy as I find the Internet, I do sometimes miss that feeling of the giant old tomes and the big musty library feel of having a giant dictionary and giant encyclopedias that you get to rifle through.
Amanda: I agree. It’s as nostalgic as using the Dewey Decimal System. Gone are the days!
Grammar Point
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Discussion
Greta and Amanda are discussing dictionaries and wonder if people really use them anymore. With so many new words every year, it seems impossible to keep them current.
Greta once enjoyed lifting and looking through huge reference books. It makes both women feel nostalgic about a time when it took real effort to find information. Even though the Internet makes research so much easier, there’s something satisfying about doing it the old-fashioned way.
Do you still have a dictionary, or do you prefer looking up information online? Are dictionaries necessary in our modern world?
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