Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, 8th edition

Pros

• A comprehensive resource for the English language
• Provides search history in card format for review
• Illustrations help to visualize difficult topics
• Pronunciations available in both British and American accent
• Geared toward serious learners

Cons

• Costs more than similar digital dictionaries
• Alternative applications available with regular internet connection

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary is a dictionary application, by Oxford University Press, specifically geared towards language learners who want to master English.

Become an Expert

Learning any language requires perseverance. Learners need as much guidance as possible. Oxford University Press has built its reputation as one of the premier publications of dictionaries and references for the English language. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary is the digital version of the original dictionary with the same name. The applications objective is to provide an interactive experience for English learners of every level, so they can learn faster while enjoying the experience.

Features and Benefits

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary provides a comprehensive list of words, phrases, and meanings. The dictionary has an impressive 184,500 entries. The meanings are defined using a restricted set of vocabulary of 3000 words, so anyone with a basic understanding of English can use the digital dictionary to improve their English language expertise. The digital dictionary also provides access to more than 57,000 synonyms and antonyms to further broaden the learner's vocabulary.

The digital dictionary has the audio pronunciations in both British and American voices. The application also provides cultural contexts for Britain and America. As the meanings of English words often depend on cultural boundaries, the inclusion of British and American cultural context is especially helpful to foreign learners.

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary application has a visually modern interface. It follows the card design paradigm. The screen is neatly organized into boxes. The history of your search is displayed as cards. These cards help you efficiently review the words you have recently visited. For some topics, the application also has illustrations to help you understand the concepts. It also provides a “Word of Day” to help you learn about new topics.

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary can run in the background of your Windows operating system. The application's Search Charm feature allows you to access the dictionary from any part of the operating system.

Conclusion

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary is a high-quality application created by Oxford University Press and Paragon Software. But it’s an expensive application which makes it a hard buy due to the wide availability of internet dictionaries. However, learners who are traveling or people who live in less connected areas can benefit from purchasing this digital dictionary.

Pros

• A comprehensive resource for the English language
• Provides search history in card format for review
• Illustrations help to visualize difficult topics
• Pronunciations available in both British and American accent
• Geared toward serious learners

Cons

• Costs more than similar digital dictionaries
• Alternative applications available with regular internet connection