[nabs-l] MicroSoft Word question: Spelling and Grammar check

Sat Jan 10 18:16:19 UTC 2015

Hi all, When I was grading papers, I would check homophones by just
scrolling one character at a time over the most commonly confused ones
like there and their. It's tedious, but if you know there are certain
words that give you trouble, it's the most reliable way to check. I
also agree with having someone proof your paper who's less attached to
it.
Arielle

On 1/10/15, Karl Martin Adam via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 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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