[nabs-l] MicroSoft Word question: Spelling and Grammar check
Karl Martin Adam
kmaent1 at gmail.com
Sat Jan 10 14:20:24 UTC 2015
Hi All, my experience with grammar check is that it tends to be
very stupid and not particularly good at figuring out what you're
trying to say. Homophones are a problem for me as well--even
though I intellectually know how to use them correctly, I often
type the wrong one. The best thing I've found to do is have
someone else look at my papers if they're long and important,
like a term paper. That's a good idea anyway because for any
writer what you write makes sense to you but may make less sense
to your audience. As far as style guides go, I would recommend
the Turabian manuel, which is also available on Bookshare. The
long name is _A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses,
and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers_ by
Kate Turabian. It has a very good grammar section, an excellent
overview of how to write research papers, and it gives you the
style guide for both kinds of Chicago citations, which is used by
almost everyone in higher level academia (sometimes slightly
modified for certain disciplines) except for psychology and
sociology (who use APA) and literary criticism (which uses MLA).
Best,
Karl
----- Original Message -----
From: Michael D Ausbun via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
To: Derek Manners <dmanners at jd16.law.harvard.edu>, "National
Association ofBlind Students mailing list" <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 07:01:33 +0000
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] MicroSoft Word question: Spelling and
Grammar check
Hello all (but especially kaiti),
A quick update, from shortly after receiving Derek’s
extremely useful link:
Microsoft word has this cool setting, which I cannot seem to
get to permanently stay on, but it is cool never the less.
If you are using JAWS and your Microsoft word is 2013, you
need to press the Alt key plus F, then T, then arrow down
twice to proofing. Once you are here, tab over until you
find the area, which says, “Writing Style.” If you make sure
it says “Grammar and writing style,” Microsoft word will
catch all grammatical mistakes. Sadly, the contextual
checker fails to catch all but the most obvious homophones
(I tested it on a document where I knew for sure I
misspelled suite as sweet).
If I find anything else by being proactive, I will let you guys
know. If I do not, perhaps someone with more knowledge in this
area will come forth. As it stands, all the suggestions have been
fantastic (I downloaded the Elements of language fourth Ed. From
bookshare and it is brilliant).
Thanks everyone,
Michael
________________________________________
From: nabs-l [nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] on behalf of Derek
Manners via nabs-l [nabs-l at nfbnet.org]
Sent: Friday, January 09, 2015 10:06 PM
To: Michael D Ausbun via nabs-l
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] MicroSoft Word question: Spelling and
Grammar check
Here's something for office 2007.
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/microsoft-office/use-word-2007s-
contextual-spell-checker-to-avoid-embarrassing-errors/
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 10, 2015, at 12:55 AM, Michael D Ausbun via nabs-l
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
I would say pausing on each one to double check is your best
bet. I know I pay special attention to those even though I use
zoomtext because I frequently just misuse them out of
carelessness. Ideally, grammar checks will continue to become
smarter. There may also be a setting you can adjust to make it
more stringent. When I'm not on a train, I can look and see how
to get to the menu. But I know you can have it mark when you do
one or two spaces after a period as incorrect grammatically so
there may be an option to catch more grammar.
Best wishes
Derek Manners
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 10, 2015, at 12:55 AM, Michael D Ausbun via nabs-l
<nabs-l at nfbnet..org> wrote:
Hello All:
Alright, but in the case of just listening to a document, if
one is using JAWS or another screen reader, how does one catch
spelling or grammar errors? For example, if one accidentally uses
wile instead of while, even though they actually know that while
ought to be used instead of wile, how do they catch that they
used the wrong while? Would they just have to pause every time
they come to a homophone, and ensure it is the correct one?
I believe most of my issues arise from this problem, and since
a professor recently commented on this, I probably should make it
go away. I apologize, if I’m being overly persistent.
Best Regards,
Michael
________________________________________
From: kcj21 [kcj21 at bellsouth.net]
Sent: Friday, January 09, 2015 9:33 PM
To: Kaiti Shelton; Michael D Ausbun; National Association of
Blind Students mailing list; National Association of Blind
Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] MicroSoft Word question: Spelling and
Grammar check
Hi all,
When checking for grammar and spelling mistakes, I
generally just read through my papers several times. If you have
grammar or citation questions, I suggest reading Strunk and
White's The Elements of Style and Purdue Online Writing Lab
respectively. As for commas, you use them before the
conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or , yet,so (FANBOYS). You also
use them in a list, after a preposition, after an if clause, and
around nonrestrictive appositives.
Hope this helps,
Kaley
On Saturday, January 10, 2015 12:17 AM, Kaiti Shelton via nabs-l
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
To be honest, I would be interested in an answer to this
question too.
Especially since I have chosen English classes in college based
more
on their theme and reading material than their writing, I think
I'm
becoming rusty for lack of practice. My biggest problem seems
to be
that I overuse commas, placing them in places where I think it
would
be natural to pause when speaking because that's how my brain
works.
Grammar check doesn't catch these issues most of the time and I
honestly don't remember a lot of my grammar lessons from almost
4
years ago.
Michael, I'm an advocate for more braille, but even though I
read
books in braille all the time this is still an issue for me.
Don't
feel too bad. :)
On 1/9/15, Michael D Ausbun via nabs-l
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org<mailto:nabs-l at nfbnet.org>> wrote:
Hello Nabs!
This is probably a silly question, easily solved if I were to
read more
braille; however, because I don't have the resources or time, I
figured I'd
give this a shot.
I've found that it is becoming recently more common, that I
tend to miss
spelling and grammar mistakes, even after I do a spelling and
grammar check
on my documents (school, work, etc.). I was wondering, is there
a saves-all
trick that you guys use, in order to catch the homophones or
random, but
easily made, Grammar mistakes?
Respectfully,
Michael
Secretary, Nevada Association of Blind Student, National
Federation of the
Blind
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Kaiti
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