User Reviews

Firstly, I might say that the Macmillan has been borrowed by most of the teachers in my staffroom and they've all commented positively on it, so it's become the de facto office dictionary. I had to write my name on the inside cover to claim ownership!
I liked it so much I recommended we buy a copy with a CD from DK Books (is that their current name?) at Siam Square which became first prize in a Spelling Contest we ran with 14 local schools last week. The foreword and introduction are very helpful and I've used the "Using your Dictionary" page to help explain how to use a dictionary to a group of students, who don't seem to know much about how much information a dictionary offers. Its part of my campaign to move them beyond talking dictionaries into using English dictionaries.

The actual dictionary occupies pages 1-1739 and so far I've found every word I've sought, so that's a good sign of its comprehensiveness. Particularly useful is the inclusion of a sample sentence for each word usage, and I know from feedback that the students find this very helpful in figuring out how to use the word for each meaning, because they often get confused about the multiple meanings of many words and which meaning fits a particular sentence. The language used to explain the meanings is generally easy to understand and not pitched at too high a level, so that's good.

Apart from the actual dictionary, the Macmillan also contains a lot of useful information on topics such as improve your writing skills, expand your vocabulary and language awareness, as well as a section on illustrations and a geographical names and nationalities section at the back.

The outside edges of the writing and vocabulary sections are dark so its easy to turn quickly to them without actually looking at page numbers. Within the actual dictionary, a colour mark on the page edge indicates the progression through the letters of the alphabet, so its easier to guess where to find words starting with a particular letter. I haven't seen the CD so can't comment on it, but I would like to load it into my laptop, on which I already have a Cambridge dictionary CD.

Before getting the Macmillan I had been mostly using the Collins Cobuild Learners Dictionary Concise Edition. I'm not sure if the two are intended to be comparable, allowing for the Collins being a concise edition, but that's the way I've been using them so that's what I can comment on. Comparing the two, the Macmillan is physically bigger. The typefaces used in each appear to be of similar legibility. In each entry the Macmillan gives the part of speech eg noun, after the word, which I prefer, while the Collins I have puts it at the right edge of the column.

They both have word frequency guides with stars (Macmillan) or diamonds (Collins) after common words to indicate their frequency of usage, with about half the words getting one or more stars or diamonds, which could be useful for students I suppose, although it doesn't mean much to me personally as a fairly fluent native speaker.
For a comparison, I turned to the page in each with the word grab, chosen for no particular reason. Firstly, I noted that before grab the Macmillan has GP, GPA, GPRS and GPS, while the Collins goes straight from GP to grab, which appears to illustrate that the Macmillan has more words than the more concise Collins.

The Macmillan has 34 lines of entry on grab and the Collins has 17. The Macmillan has 4 meanings for grab as a verb plus sections on it as a phrase, as a phrasal verb and as a noun and a noun phrase. The Collins gives 6 meanings of grab as a verb, and describes two of them as informal. It gives two meanings as a noun. The Macmillan's entries are easier to find because the numbers for each meaning are set left, whereas the Collins' entries run on in the text, presumably to save space, meaning the text has to be scanned to find each meaning. I also have a Macquarie Essential Dictionary from Australia. It is smaller than both the Macquarie and the Collins. The entries do not generally give a whole sentence as an explanation, but some phrases are given. The Macquarie entry for grab is 10 lines and gives 8 meanings, so it's less helpful than the Macmillan or Collins. However, larger and more comprehensive versions of the Macquarie are also available.
So, in summary, this brief comparison comes out in favour of the Macmillan because it has more meanings and it is generally a bit easier to read, although the Collins is also an excellent dictionary. Oh, excuse me, I have to stop because someone wants to borrow the Macmillan to look up a word...
Michael Secomb

It’s a pretty difficult task writing a review of sorts on a dictionary, especially one that contains as many words as the new International Student Edition of the Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners. Wow, wasn’t that a mouthful. But trust me, just about every word you can think of is in there, as well as hundreds of new words that even I, a humble teacher, have never heard of before reading this splendid 2007 edition. Courtesy, one might add, of the Ajarn.com website’s monthly Macmillan competition.

True, I could take a good stab at their meanings, but it is always a good thing to be able to have the proper definition of a word readily at hand, to fight off any would be student sole bent on the idea that they alone can find a word that their ageing and decrypt teacher has let slip through the net in the river of learning. Okay, it may have more to do with inquisitive young minds and all that, but a challenge is a challenge all the same, and I am not one to lie down without a fight. Hence my delight therefore at this latest offering by Macmillan to lighten my load.

In all honesty, I really must complement them on doing such a wonderful job. They have added a Language Awareness section that can help brighten up any grammar lesson you might have to teach, for even the most problematic of students. This is done thanks to its funky, new approach to such areas as word formation, lexical priming, pragmatics and metaphor to name but a few of the nuggets that are awaiting your own reading pleasure. Also, “the get it right” boxes should prove invaluable to any new student trying to grasp the finer nuances of our language. As well as making it easier for you to explain them yourself.

Couple this with their section on dealing with ways in which to “Expand your Vocabulary”, and it is plain to see why they have won over one covert to Macmillan Dictionaries from a former Oxfordphile, and I never thought I would ever utter those words – believe me! There is also an easy to follow section aptly entitled:"Improving your Writing Skills”, that taught this old dog a few new tricks than can be quickly applied to some of my lessons as a matter of course.

In fact, I’m so impressed with the darn thing that even if I hadn’t won a copy on the Ajarn.com website, I would happily splash out the dosh to buy my own copy. After all, in the battle for a better education, one can never have enough weapons at our arsenal. Especially one that packs as big a punch as the new Macmillan Dictionary! Get your copy now, as I won’t be loaning mine out!
Charles Anthony