K Dictionaries
|
The
semi-bilingual approach to lexicography for foreign language learners was
innovated by Lionel Kernerman, a
prominent English Language Teaching publisher in Israel. The first dictionary
appeared in 1986 for Hebrew speakers
(based on Oxford Student’s Dictionary of Current English), followed by Arabic in 1987 (based on Harrap’s
Standard English Learner’s Dictionary). These
ground-breaking titles were greeted enthusiastically, and both were approved
by the Ministry of Education – first for secondary-school intermediate-level
learners, then for the upper level too. After further testing and first-hand
experience, since 1996 only the semi-bilingual type is permitted for use in
the classroom and in examinations – including the final matriculation. Encouraged
by success at home, Kernerman
Publishing began to cooperate with publishers abroad on local language
versions. Italian, Greek
and French editions appeared
in 1989, and many others in the 1990s. In 1993, Password Publishers was established to coordinate
the growing dictionary network worldwide. Altogether, about 50 titles have been
published so far, and more are in preparation. In 2000, the company and
global series were renamed K Dictionaries. Today, we
focus on developing state-of-the-art didactic-lexicographic content for
various levels and media, and help our partners put their dictionaries
together and promote them. Each publisher contributes their know-how on the
local language, culture, and education system, as well as on relevant
production and marketing aspects. The result of each collaboration is a customer-oriented
product created especially for a specific end-user – a unique dictionary. In this process,
extra data is prepared to suit local specifications. For instance, our team
compiled hundreds of new entries for the Norwegian edition – such as relating
to snow, single-parent families, and othe issues of special interest – and the
publisher added new supplements on arts and sports. The Korean edition, also published
in 1998, has additional entries from the syllabus of the Ministry of
Education, as well as new appendices on prefixes and suffixes or on historical
figures and world events. In
2001 we started – with our publishing partners – new types of cooperation
with information and communication technology firms, diversifying the K
Dictionaries series into a range of computerized formats – for CD, OEM,
PDA, e-learning, cellphone, the
Internet and intranets. These ventures begin to flourish in 2002 – including
notably the super-multilingual GlobalDix
by Kielikone, the Socrat titles by Arsenal, and the English Discoveries Online course by Edusoft. The
unique features of our dictionaries promise more exciting projects in the
future.
K Dictionaries Ltd |
