Spell checker and grammar checker in Open Office


I teach English and French at Molde Videregående skole, Molde. Norway.
In our county, Møre og Romsdal, upper secondary schools use Open Office.
I have been trying to get my students to use spell checker and grammar checker.
I make them download dictionaries, and the grammar checker called LanguageTool
(LT) found at the openoffice.org website:
http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/en/download/3172

I did this first in my French class, and taught the students how to read and use
the very good grammatical explanations given by the programme when there was a
blue line under their mistakes. For instance: when there is no accord
subject-verbal, the programme says so. When I have chosen the wrong gender, I am
told to check it.

Then I did the same in my English class, and discovered that LanguageTool was of
a poorer quality when it comes to helping with the English language. Mistakes in
singular/plural verbal, and who/which, for instance, are often not discovered. 

The help a student (and everybody else) gets when writing French is priceless.
LT helps to improve the language, and at the same time increases awareness of
linguistic problems by asking questions and explaining.

If anyone can help to make LT a better tool for English, many people will be
grateful. If I have problems because there is something wrong with the way I use
LT, please excuse me.
________________________________________________________________________________

Here are some language samples, full of all kinds of mistakes, for anyone who
would like to perform a quick test of spell checker and LT. 

ENGLISH SAMPLE:
I am a norwegian girl which likes to go too school. But sometimes many new
students comes in my class. And that is difficuelt. Many people thinks that it
is nice to meat new people, but I thinks it is an problem.  

FRENCH SAMPLE:
Je vais commencé a ecrire une document à francais. 
Cet document vas etre plain de fautes ou j'epele dans un maniere terrible.
Commant peut on coriger le erreurs que on fais?

GERMAN SAMPLE:
Ich binn ein schülerin aus Norvegen und ich studierst deutch in Molde.  Ich hab
sehr guten Lehrere. Warun is die banane krumm?

10 February 2010

Randi Fiksdal
Molde videregående skole
6414 Molde