Question

Why are dictionaries inaccurate sources of help for assignments in a language course?

Answer 1

They're not ALWAYS inaccurate sources, but yeah, they can be, sometimes.

Some dictionaries are very simple. And simple isn't always a good thing.

For example (and I'm gonna use Spanish, again),
some words can be translated into multiple ways, from English to Spanish.

One word is "conductor."

We know that in English, a "conductor" can be a train conductor,
a leader,
or someone who conducts an orchestra.
No matter what the role, we always say "conductor," in English.

But in Spanish, we can't always say "conductor" to refer to every kind of conductor.

In Spanish, "conductor" is the the kind of conductor who leads a train.
But if we want to refer to a conductor who leads an orchestra, we'd have to say
"director de orquestra."

So, again, some languages (like Spanish) might have many words for something,
whereas in English, there might only be one word, for that same something.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dictionaries also don't tell us about the cultural ways that words form meaning.
If we use a dictionary to translate one language into another, we might make the mistake of translating it too directly.

For example, in Spanish, "Hace frío" means "It is cold."

But the LITERAL meaning of "Hace frío" is "It makes cold."

"Hace" means "makes."
And "frío" means "cold."

Isn't it weird?
In Spanish, when we wanna say "It is cold,"
we actually LITERALLY say "it makes cold."

This is because it's the cultural way of forming meaning.
And dictionaries aren't always able to tell us about these weird ways that different languages put together words, to form meaning.

Answer 2

This assertion is ridiculous. A dictionary is inaccurate only if you do not know how to use it!!

Answer 3

@Vincent-Lyon.Fr

Right, I agree.
I'm taking this question and assuming that the person using the dictionary is not entirely familiar with the language.

Answer 4

Another more prominent example, that I should have used before, is how to say "to be," in Spanish.

In Spanish, there are technically two ways to say "to be."

1. Ser
2. Estar

In English, we just say "to be."

But the way that we choose to say "to be" in Spanish really matters, in context.

And the dictionary won't necessarily tell you which of these ways is correct, for what you're trying to say.

Answer 5

Right. I know how translators are inaccurate, but thanks for explaining the dictionary part. I guess that's what my textbook was asking; if someone doesn't know how to use a dictionary? Thanks again!

Answer 6

You're welcome. =)