Index: graphspell-js/spellchecker.js
==================================================================
--- graphspell-js/spellchecker.js
+++ graphspell-js/spellchecker.js
@@ -49,14 +49,15 @@
             } else {
                 return new IBDAWG(dictionary, sPath);  // dictionary can be a filename or a JSON object
             }
         }
         catch (e) {
-            console.log(e.message);
             if (bNecessary) {
-                throw e.message;
+                throw "Error: <" + sfDictionary + "> not loaded. " + e.message;
             }
+            console.log("Error: <" + sfDictionary + "> not loaded.")
+            console.log(e.message);
             return null;
         }
     }
 
     setMainDictionary (dictionary) {

Index: graphspell/spellchecker.py
==================================================================
--- graphspell/spellchecker.py
+++ graphspell/spellchecker.py
@@ -24,21 +24,23 @@
     def __init__ (self, sLangCode, sfMainDic="", sfExtendedDic="", sfPersonalDic=""):
         "returns True if the main dictionary is loaded"
         self.sLangCode = sLangCode
         if not sfMainDic:
             sfMainDic = dDefaultDictionaries.get(sLangCode, "")
-        self.oMainDic = self._loadDictionary(sfMainDic)
+        self.oMainDic = self._loadDictionary(sfMainDic, True)
         self.oExtendedDic = self._loadDictionary(sfExtendedDic)
         self.oPersonalDic = self._loadDictionary(sfPersonalDic)
 
-    def _loadDictionary (self, sfDictionary):
+    def _loadDictionary (self, sfDictionary, bNecessary=False):
         "returns an IBDAWG object"
         if not sfDictionary:
             return None
         try:
             return ibdawg.IBDAWG(sfDictionary)
-        except:
+        except Exception as e:
+            if bNecessary:
+                raise Exception(str(e), "Error: <" + sfDictionary + "> not loaded.")
             print("Error: <" + sfDictionary + "> not loaded.")
             traceback.print_exc()
             return None
 
     def setMainDictionary (self, sfDictionary):