Longman Dictionary of American English (Softcover plus CD for PC or MAC)

This is the World's leading American ESL (English as a Second Language) dictionary.

This edition of the Longman Dictionary of American English has been completely updated using Longman's unique, comprehensive database of spoken and written American English.

Why is it unique?

The Longman Dictionary of American English is unique because it has been written using the Longman Defining Vocabulary. Other dictionaries use high-level, idiomatic language in their definitions which forces students to look up the defining words as well as the words they're looking up in the first place. Only the Longman Dictionary of American English uses a defining vocabulary made of the 2,000 words that make up the intermediate-level student's most frequent vocabulary.

Longman's lexicographers analyzed the written work of intermediate students of English and the language used in their textbooks. No other dictionary offers definitions written precisely to the needs of intermediate students.

Tell me more about how American English fits into Longman Corpus Network!

The Longman Corpus Network is a powerful group of databases consisting of millions of words. The Longman American Written Corpus contains over 110 million words taken from newspapers, journals, magazines, best-selling novels, technical and scientific writing, and coffee-table books.

The Longman American Spoken Corpus is a brand new databse consisting of 5 million words, undertaken for Longman by Professor Jack du Bois at the University of California at Santa Barbara. It represents the everyday conversations of more than 1,000 Americans of various age groups, levels of education, ethnicity, and geographical regions. The recorded speech is transcribed onto a computer database and analyzed by our lexicographers to determine frequency of use, precise meanings and typical phrases that students need to study.

Longman lexicographers use this computerized wordbank to acquire a new depth of knowledge about words, usage, collocations, prepositions, the latest language trends and grammatical patters using up-to-the-minute technology. The written and spoken corpuses assure that this edition of the Longman Dictionary of American English will provide the most accurate and up-to-date guidance to students who want to speak and write American English.

Any other special features?

Yes! You'll find:

• Highlighted collocations and simplified grammar codes to show you how to use words accurately in context
• All-new Usage Notes, based on analysis of real student writing to help you avoid common errors

Paperback & CD

PC Minimum Specification:

486 66MHZ, Windows 95/98, NT 16Mb RAM. MPC compatible audio board (eg. Soundblaster). Quad speed CD-ROM drive.

MAC Minimum Specification:

68040 CPU, 8Mb RAM, 8 bit 256 colour display, dual speed CD-ROM