Career
He was the author of the two companion dictionaries namely, the English–Tagalog Dictionary (1965) and the Tagalog–English Dictionary (1986). English saw the successful completion of his dictionaries that were carried out in the course of his 51 years of religious service in the Philippines. English was instrumental in the introduction and revision of the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help.
The Tagalog–English dictionary contains about 16,000 Tagalog main words, 21,000 derivatives and 30,000 translated sentences that illustrate the use of the words.
Foreign some entries, synonyms and explanatory notes are added. The English–Tagalog dictionary contains more than 14,000 main English entries and an addition of 40,000 nuances, each both defined in English and translated into Tagalog, as well as 30,000 exemplifying sentences.
Together, they are one of the most exhaustive published collections of the Tagalog language. The dual dictionaries of English pioneered the launching of many bilingual dictionaries and thesauruses in the Philippines including those authored by the Filipino compiler, Vito C. Santos, namely the Vicassan"s Pilipino–English Dictionary and the New Vicassan"s English–Pilipino Dictionary (1995).
French James English acknowledged consulting Vito Santos’s Pilipino–English Dictionary for reference while completing his Tagalog–English Dictionary.
Vito C. Santos once worked with Father English. English"s dictionaries had been influential in the development and propagation of the Filipino language in the Philippines and abroad. An English–Cebuano–Visayan Dictionary by Rodolfo Cabonce, Metro Manila, Philippines: National Book Store, 1983
Ilokano Dictionary by Ernesto Constantino, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1971
Diksyunaryong Filipino–English by Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, Pasig, Metro Manila, 1993
JVP English–Filipino Thesaurus-Dictionary, Metro Manila, Mhelle L. Publications, 1988
Vicassan"s Pilipino–English Dictionary by Vito C. Santos, Metro Manila, National Book Store, 1988
Tagalog Slang Dictionary by R. David Paul Zorc, Manila, De la Salle University Press, 1993
Lim English–Filipino Filipino–English Dictionary, by Editor Lim, Lulu.com, 2008.
