Hello everyone!
Today I would like to share a free online dictionary called Wiktionary. It's available at en.wiktionary.org. This application lets you search for words in English to find definitions and links to find out more about it. Wikipedia offers definitions that might be difficult for nonnative readers to understand since it is aimed at native speakers, but this is a good place to start to try to read in English before jumping to an English-Japanese English dictionary. I feel that it's better to try to understand what you can first and build connections from there. Here is a snapshot of a page for the word climate change.
The page copied below might be enlargeable, but if not, the direct link is here [opens in a new window]: the link is https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/climate_change#Translations if you need to copy it).
You can see a couple simpler definitions here along with some more difficult discussion under Usage notes.
There are a couple interesting features. One feature is the link under Further reading which links to climate change on Wikipedia. The second interesting feature is the option to look for pages in written in other languages. Sometimes there are direct links to translations in Japanese, but clicking on 日本語 in this case doesn't.
However, clicking on climate change for Wikipedia does lead to a page in English that does link to a page in Japanese on 地球温暖化.
It's important to remember that any Wiki resource should just be a first place to look! The page will give you a very broad first look into the topic and will include some references and links for further reading.
However, it's important to remember these pages are crowdsourced and although there is some effort to make the pages accurate, it is safer to find other resources as well! Sometimes there will be a comment at the top of the pages suggesting there are problems with the page in terms of content. The wiki page for 地球温暖化 shows that there is some unhappiness with the page in Japanese. However, the English page offers some references that may be useful.
Simple Wiktionary
There is a website aimed at making simpler definitions for Wiktionary accessible for English language learners. This page is available at simple.wikipedia.org. Simple Wiktionary doesn't include all words--it doesn't include climate change, for example--but it does offer a chance to read definitions in easier English, which I believe will help you make connections within English and again, not translated into your own language.
Smartphone Apps
There are also free smartphone apps available to access Wiktionary and Wikipedia. You can find these on Google Play for Android apps and Apple Apps for the iPhone. I don't use Android, so I'm not sure I can recommend anything. Please email me if you find a good one!
I hope you find these resources useful! Please let me know!
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