The Wonder of WordReference
What is it?
WordReference.com is a great set of online dictionaries to translate between English and fifteen other languages. It also has dictionaries for Spanish-French and Spanish-Portuguese, as well as verb conjugators and games for several languages. It shows a variety of options for translations, example sentences, compound forms, idiomatic phrases, and slang for each word. Perhaps the best part is the forums for where users can send in their questions about word usage. At the bottom of each entry, you will find the forum related to that word where users from all over the world discuss how that word is used in their region. The site is consistently ranked in the top 500 most-visited websites in the world and is in the top 100 for Spain, France, Italy and all of Latin America.
Who is it for?
Language learners of all varieties. Whether you just need to quickly look up a word, or you are trying to find the appropriate translation for your favourite metaphor, WordReference is the best online dictionary in my opinion. You can find so many different uses for each word and if you can’t find what you need, you can ask in the forum and users will often respond within hours.
Why we love it
I love that WordReference explains the diverse ways that a word can be used. I regularly find myself scrolling through all of the possible phrases, or the forum discussions, even when I just needed a quick translation. The forums are particularly interesting because users from all over the world discuss how best to translate words or phrases. As someone who has lived in several different Spanish-speaking countries, I often need to know the best way to say something for the particular region I’m in, and WordReference is great for that.
