Macmillan Study Dictionary for Africa

Perfect for study

The Macmillan Study Dictionary is completely relevant to the needs of young people who are studying in English and preparing for examinations. It explains - clearly and accurately - the vocabulary needed for successful study in any of the key school subjects.

At every stage, experienced teachers, textbook writers, and syllabus designers have contributed their expertise. In addition, we have used software to analyse the corpora, so that we have a reliable scientific basis for selecting the words to include and for deciding how much information is needed about each word.

• 10,000 subject-specific words are highlighted using one of 27 subject labels.
• Over 150 pictures and diagrams explain complex topics at a glance. The pictures are composite, so over 1,280 terms have a relevant illustration.
• Over 20 full-page illustrations, many in two colours, present and reinforce topic vocabulary. Click here to see a full-page illustration.
• The Reference Section contains, as well as the periodic table, lists of irregular verbs, a pronunciation guide, SI units and conversions and geographical names and nationalities:
  • a 25-page History of Africa by Kevin Shillington, including notable dates in the history of the continent (independence dates, names of first presidents)
  • colour diagrams of the Solar System
  • Maps of the world and of Africa
• The Study Skills section provide extra tips for school work and includes information on:
  
  
  • Dealing with data
  • Taking notes
  • Writing up experiments and project work
  • Essay writing
  • Preparing for exams
  • Writing letters
  • Writing emails
  • CVs and interviews
  • Capital Letters and punctuation
  • Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
  • Literary terms
    

Language help

The Macmillan Study Dictionary retains the award-winning features of the Macmillan English Dictionary in the language help it provides students:

• 200 usage notes help users develop their vocabulary, avoid common errors in English and speak and write more naturally.
• 'Menus' for entries with five or more meanings make it easier to find the specific meaning students are looking for.
• All the definitions are written using a carefully-selected vocabulary of 3,000 words so that they are easy to understand. They are technically accurate and use appropriate terminology.
• Example sentences in italics show students how a word is used in context and are based on real-life English.
• Grammar boxes give extra information to help students learn more about how a word is used.
• 'Word family' boxes bring together groups of words that are formed from the same base word.
• 'Build your vocabulary' boxes bring together words that are related to a particular subject, or suggest more specific alternatives for very common words.
• Entries also provide information on collocation and syntax, pronunciation, stress marks, style and British/American English differences.

CD-ROM

A CD-ROM to accompany the dictionary is also available. This contains the full text of the dictionary with a recorded pronunciation of every headword. Advanced search functionality means that users can search for words in a particular topic area. All illustrations from the dictionary are included and are accompanied by technical animations. The content of the Reference Section is included along with interactive full-colour world maps.

Students can:

• Hear the correct pronunciation of every word
• Get to the meaning they want - instantly - by pointing at any word they see, while reading documents and emails or while surfing the Internet
• Search to find out the meaning of a curriculum word they come across in their textbook
• Double-click on any word in a definition to see the appropriate dictionary entry
• Increase their knowledge of a particular school subject by searching for all curriculum words within that topic
• Improve their vocabulary within curriculum topics with the interactive illustrations, photographs and technical animations
• Print out quick wordlists for revision
• Explore the Reference Section topics to improve their school studies
• Navigate around the world in the atlas pages

Find out more about the International Edition of the Macmillan Study Dictionary.