A rich lexical repertoire is an important element that can help students strengthen their grasp of a foreign language and enhance their linguistic communication is. Dictionaries and translation apps are especially helpful in this regard. Language learners can use to them to build their vocabulary and develop their language skills.
In today’s post I have curated for you what I think are some of the best iPad apps to use in this regard. The apps include thesauruses, dictionaries, and translation. Students can use these apps to search for meanings of new lexical items, translate across multiple languages, access tons of contextualized examples of language use, and many more.
1- Google Translation
Google Translation is my favourite in this list and one that I have been using consistently for the last few years. The app provides a number of interesting features including: offline translation, photo translation., text translation, voice translation, supports numerous languages, and many more.
2- iTranslate Voice
This app supports voice translation in over 40 languages. Its transcript feature allows you to ‘export, copy or share any voice conversation.’ The app also includes a phrase featuring over 200 popular phrases to use when travelling places.
3- Reverso
Reverso allows you to translate and learn new words and expressions. Some of the key features it provides include: instant translation of selected text on any app or browser, supports 14 languages, vocabulary lists, search history, pronunciation of complete example sentences, smart suggestions as you type, and many more.
4- Ultralingua
Ultralingua is another dictionary app that offers tons of interesting features including: over 35 titles to choose from including world-class titles from Collins, Le Robert, and Vox.; spots misspellings, provides example phrases and usage notes, converts numbers into text, built-in verb conjugation, star and add entries to your favourites, different font and size customization options, and many more.
5- Dictionary.com Pro
Dictionary.com Pro is a dictionary app that includes various language learning tools and free games suitable for learners of all skill levels. Some of the features it offers include over 2 million definitions and synonyms, word puzzles, language quizzes, spelling quizzes, offline access, audio pronunciations, voice search, grammar help, and more.
6- Collins-Robert Concise French Dictionary
Collins-Robert Concise is a bilingual French and English dictionary that offers tons of features including: over 90.000 phrases, over 100.000 translations, full conjugations for French and English verbs, usage notes and examples, offline access, smart search results, cultural notes, arrange favourite definitions into favourite lists, and many more.
7- English Thesaurus
English Thesaurus offers access to a huge collection of synonyms and antonyms. Other important features it provides include synonyms to different parts of speech (e.g., exclamations, prepositional phrases, idiomatic verbs, proverbs, and more), tons of English words and pictures, phonetic transcriptions, and more.
8- Merriam-Webster Dictionary+
Merriam-Webster Dictionary+ is another great dictionary app with tons of features including full thesaurus, vocabulary building quizzes, voice search, word of the day, example sentences, quick definitions, audio pronunciations, favourite words and search history, and many more.
