At a loss for words when writing papers
You know this scenario: It's saturday night and you have to write an 8-page paper for monday. (yes, saturday is the best day to start writing). You've been at it for 15 minutes and these complications arrise.
-
You don't remember how to write a word.
-
You don't know which word you are looking for.
-
You know a word but you don't know the meaning.
-
You write a word, but you know it doesn't fit in that context.
-
You only remember a word in English, but the paper is in Dutch. (or vice versa)
What I used to do
At one time, one of these were the main reason for me to stop writing and go to sleep. I got really pissed when I couldn't find the right word. But that was about 2 years ago. Back then it wasn't that easy or popular to find the word you were looking for. If you were lucky (or just plain old-school) you had the right dictionary at home. But it didn't help much if you didn't know the word. Even if you knew the word you'd lose precious time looking it up.
If you're happy with using an old-fashioned dictionary, you have my blessings and you should stop reading this right away. If you're looking for a (relatively) new and better ways to find the words that you are looking for, keep reading.
What you need to remember
Before I give you some helpful tools to get the job done, you should remember these 3 words.
-
Synonym
-
Translation
-
Definition (or Meaning)
(Or 'STD' for short. Not to be confused with the other meaning!)
Google is your friend.
You must've heard it a bunch of times. As a matter of fact, I will say it again: Google is your friend. You always used google to find something you were looking for, so why not look for a word. Let's say you need another word for "rejection". You just type "rejection synonym" in Google, and experience the wonderful world you live in. Same goes for translation and definition.
Everybody agrees on the fact that looking a word up on the internet is much faster than opening a dictionary. The only downside is that most of these websites contain to much advertisements.
I will list a couple of websites to get you started, but you have to find out which website works better for you. And don't forget to share your secret with us!
for Synonyms - www.thesaurus.com
for Translations - babelfish.yahoo.com
for Definitions - www.thefreedictionary.com
Its your turn
If you know of a better Synonym Translation or Definition service or something else that we didn't mention, please write it in the comment box below.
