Everything you need to know about online dictionaries.
Being a student in translation, my best friend has to be the dictionary. Here are some information about what type of dictionary to use depending on what you are looking for.
First of all, if you need a french to english dictionary in order to understand some words, any dictionaries like the Robert & Collins are great. But, if you need to work on a
translation, do not trust at 100% the bilingual dictionary. You need to look up words in a monolingual dictionary in order to get the right meaning you are looking for.
In my opinion, an English online dictionary I believe are useful because I do not need to spend time to look in my paper dictionary. The Merriam Webster Online Dictionary is the tool to use if you need to translate a text in American English. On the other hand, if you are looking for words of Canadian or British English, the Oxford English Dictionary is what you will need.
Finally, I strongly recommend to buy an electronic dictionary instead of one made in paper because it helps to save trees and it takes way less time to look up words on your computer than in a book.