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TSL570 Research Guide: Dictionaries

Your Guide to Finding L1 & Bilingual Resources for ESOL & Content Instruction

Bilingual Dictionaries in Print & Online

Academic libraries & public libraries are great sources for dictionaries. And if you are a discerning searcher, you can find some great ones online too! Here are 4 library catalogs for central Ohio:

ODU Library Catalog | OhioLINK Classic Catalog | SearchOhio Catalog | Columbus Metropolitan Library (interested in CML Library Card?)

Tip: Our ODU Library Catalog is the best place to start for dictionaries in print.

Not in Columbus or Ohio? See our guide to Using Libraries

Bilingual Dictionaries in Print & as Ebooks

Starting with the L1 in bilingual dictionaries enables students to look up words and common phrases in their own language to help them generate those phrases in the L2.

You can easily find a bilingual dictionary in a library:

And in public library catalogs, you can sometimes filter your results by age range or by children vs. adult. Take a look:

Bilingual Dictionaries Online

To find a good online dictionary, try this search in a search engine:

Look in your list of results for a quality dictionary. Some good language dictionary publishers:

  • Cambridge
  • Cassell
  • Collins
  • DK
  • Langenscheidt
  • Leo

2 Tips for Quality Assurance:

  • If you aren't sure about the publisher of an online dictionary you wish to use, make sure you double-check several entries against another online dictionary. If you don't see the same translations in both, don't use the dictionary.
  • Avoid online translators like Google Translate, please! These have too many errors. 

Online Bilingual & Multilingual Picture Dictionaries

One source for free online bilingual picture books:

  • Internet Archive - an online library of free online  books, music, movies, etc. Tip: Scroll down to the Search box for the library and enter in that bos: [your L1] bilingual picture dictionary 

Here are some searches you can do to find online picture dictionaries:

Worthington Public Libraries have 2 ebook databases that include bilingual picture books and bilingual picture dictionaries, although primarily for Spanish speakers (a few others also included). These platforms are available here with a library card:

  • Hoopla
    • Sample search: picture dictionary korean
  • Digital Downlaods
    • Sample Search : bilingual kids

And while this one isn't free, it might be worth a look: