What is a glossary?
A glossary is an alphabetical list of words, terms or abbreviations and their definitions about a specific subject.
Why are glossaries useful ?
Glossaries are useful as they help list and identify the vocabulary specific to a subject. Glossaries provide a handy list of definitions for quick revision. You can make your own glossary by compiling a list of definitions along the school year. You use flashcards to store this knowledge so you can put the word or term on one side of the flashcard and the definition on the other side.
By learning and understanding the words in a glossary you can become good at using a specific vocabulary and through practice acquire a better understanding of the topic and using the words/terms in context.
Where are glossaries found?
In many textbooks, glossaries can be found at the back of each chapter or at the end of the book, just before the index. However you can also make your own along the school year and find it handy for revision time!
Building your own glossary has the added advantage that you write the word or term and the definition in your own individual way. You can create an example of how the word may be used in the field. This will improve the way you learn and use the vocabulary which is specific to the topic or subject!
Here is an example from a book:
English
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
Dutch
French
German
Italian
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish