Bilingual Dictionaries. Choose the right word. Intermediate to advanced.

This task has been designed to suit the needs of Spanish speakers.  Due to the complexity of the examples  that I provide this task caters for intermediate or advanced students. For easier examples, check the label BILINGUAL DICTIONARY in this blog.  

Aim: by carrying out this task students should understand that grammar class and general meaning of a sentence are crucial before looking for a word up.

Sample task. From English to Spanish

Materials:

• English/Spanish dictionary. Ideally students  should do the following exercise in the computer room using the dictionary in www.wordreference.com Students may also use a traditional paper bilingual dictionary.   
• Power point with examples of sentences to translate 

You can download the related Power Point by clicking HERE

Procedure: The teacher gives the students three types of exercises. Examples and solutions  are provided in the Power point. These are the 3 types of tasks the Power Point includes:

•  Translate from Spanish to English. Students become aware of the many different meanings of Spanish words before translating into English.
• Translate from English to Spanish. Students become aware of the many different meanings of English words.
• The third ones are challenging and the worst part is that they are real! Students try to figure out what bad users of dictionaries really meant!!