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—British and American English variations
—spelling
—pronunciation
—structural information (for example, whether a verb is transitive or intransitive, whether it is followed by to or -ing; whether a noun is countable or uncountable, etc.)
—meaning (beginning with the most widely-used meaning)
—level of formality
—citations that a) bring out the meaning of the word b) are drawn from real use
—cross-references to other relevant entries
—usage notes
—compounds
To get the most out of a dictionary, you need to extend your awareness of what it can do. There are also a number of extremely interesting variations on the standard dictionary, such as The Longman Language Activator which help you to choose the right word or phrase to express your ideas.
人们一般都倾向认为词典仅仅是解释词汇的意思，却很少意识到它能给我们提供一系列的用途。如果条件允许的话，最好拥有一本以上的单语词典，因为不同的词典会提供更加全面的信息。然而，最重要的是在英语学习过程中，尤其是在阅读过程中，做到真正地使用它。力求做到熟练应用，并从中受益。现代单语词典有下列全部或部分用途：
——英国英语和美国英语的变体
——拼写
——音标
——结构上的信息 (例如：一个动词是及物动词还是不及物动词，它后面是接不定式to的形式，还是现在分词词-ing形式；一个名词是可数名词还是不可数名词，等等)
——词意(最通用的意思放在前面)
——语言的正式程度
——用来表明词意并从实践中汲取的例句
——互相参照条目
——使用方法
——复合词
当然，要想充分利用词典，你必须明白它能做些什么。标准的词典中有很多有趣的英语变体，比如The Longman Language Activator就是这样的词典，它可以帮助你选择有助于表达自己的思想的正确的词或短语。
5. How can I learn so many idioms by heart?
如何才能掌握众多的英语习语?
You can’t, and you will be pleased to hear, you don’t need to. It’s a total waste of time to learn lists of idioms by heart. And even if you do, this will not improve your English at all. What is an idiom, anyway? When people are asked for examples of idioms, they often quote fixed phrases like: It’s raining cats and dogs, the pot calling the kettle black, to add insult to injury, and so on. If you’re interested in collections like this, consult specialized dictionaries like The Longman Dictionary of English Idioms (first published 1979). Even if you learnt this dictionary by heart, your English wouldn’t be much better. The dictionary is for you to consult when you hear someone use this kind of idiom and you fail to understand it. What you should be aiming at is not learning ‘idioms’, but acquiring a command of idiomatic English, which is a completely different matter. This means sounding as much as possible like a native speaker of English when you speak, rather than sounding like someone who is constantly translating from Chinese. To improve your command of idiomatic English, you need to remember that English is a word-order language: that is, the basic order is Subject ｜ Verb ｜ Object ｜ Manner ｜ Place ｜ Time. Any departure from this order makes your English sound unidiomatic and ‘foreign’. If, for example, you say ‘I speak well English’ instead of ‘I speak English well’, you will be breaking a fundamental rule in the English language. Another thing to remember is that English prefers phrasal verbs to ordinary verbs. We tend to say ‘Come in!’ when someone knocks at the door, rather than ‘Enter!’; we tend to say ‘Put out the fire/Put the fire out’ rather than ‘Extinguish the fire’. Phrasal verbs often have idiomatic uses, as well as literal uses: ‘Put the cat out’ is a literal use (= put it out of the house); ‘Put the fire out’ is an idiomatic use (= extinguish). You have to learn phrasal verbs as you encounter them in context. Towards the end of my Essential English Grammar, I list fifteen basic grammar rules. A command of these will ensure that your English sounds idiomatic. You will also see that this has nothing at all to do with learning fixed-phrase idioms by heart.
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