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• 11 / 24 / 2008

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The second edition of the Basic Dictionary of the Cuban Student (DBE) has been released as a result of the persistent and rigorous c of the Center of Applied Linguistics in Santiago de Cuba. This is said to be another significant contribution providing the next generation with linguistic tools that guarantee good control and better use of the Spanish language in Cuba.

The new dictionary has come out five years after the first edition —released in July 2003— and after a meticulous review by a group headed by Dr. Vitelio Ruiz and Dr. Eloina Miyares. The collective has provided this new edition with an increased number of entries or words (10,000) and their meanings (18,000).

Printed by the Empresa Gráfica Juan Marinello, and with the collaboration of the Fondo para la Cooperación y Ayuda al Desarrollo del País Vasco (Basque Country Foundation for Development Cooperation and Assistance), the DBE consists of two volumes: the first one from A to K, and the second from L to Z, complete with linguistic-pedagogical features that distinguish it.

The text is outlined, among other things, by explaining the meanings of words through clear definitions that illustrate the use of words in sentences that exemplify their function. The dictionary also divides words by syllables, gives their synonymous and antonyms, and the underlines the letters of entries that cause the most common mistakes—which helps prevent spelling mistakes by students.

The DBE is without question a useful tool for the pupils at the second cycle of primary school, secondary basic, pre-university and technical school levels. It also has a digital version whose second edition is foreseen to be ready by the end of this month—a fact that increases its potential usefulness in all schools and other centers, such as in Youth Computer Clubs across the country.

Consistent with the tradition of applying scientific results to the places where they are needed —which has characterized the Center of Applied Linguistics (CLA) over its 35 years of existence, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education— researchers will be supplying the new text to all schools in Cuba by the end of this year and at the beginning of 2009


(PL)