BBC HomeExplore the BBC This page was last updated in June
2005We've left it here for reference.More information  20
December 2013 Accessibility help Text only Blas Banner  BBC
Homepage  Radio Ulster  Contact Us  Like this page? Send it to a
friend!      Dictionaries are a bit of a minefield for anyone
learning a language. Your own vocabulary is so small that you
can't do without them, but you know that no dictionary on earth
has enough space to give you all the information you need about
a word. Is the word commonly used? Is a bit high-falutin' or a
bit coarse? Can you use the word in this context or that
context? It's all a bit confusing and I'd say anyone who has
ever marked an exam or an essay has dozens of examples of
learners putting all their faith in the dictionary and getting
it badly wrong. Like the student who listed among her hobbies ag
léamh armlann. Go to the dictionary and the mystery is solved -
armlann means 'magazine'. Unfortunately it means magazine in the
military sense, a place where guns