If you think that grammar isn’t important in the Information Age, you’re so mistaken. Not only does it help you make and structure sentences, but also communicate your ideas more effectively. Grammar is important for both written and spoken language, since it provides the rules necessary for its common use. The ability to use grammar rules to your advantage can set you apart from other people in terms of eloquence, speech smoothness, coherence, and logic.
No less importance is attached to spelling, which is another important skill and component of successful writing. So, if you want to become a more efficient communicator and writer, take a look at some simple yet effective tips that can help you boost your grammar and improve spelling.
Go the Traditional Route
One approach you may adopt a traditional approach to learn grammar and spelling rules. To this end, you may want to take language classes at your school or college, put your hands on some good grammar books and references. It’s a good idea to take advantage of a vast range of online educational resources that provide access to grammar materials, exercises, and tests that can help you evaluate your achievements.
Make sure to break down grammar material into manageable parts. Pay special attention to grammar rules, try to spell out the words you find complicated as often as possible. Make sure to apply the newly learned rules in everyday communication. You can ask your mentors or friends who have a good command of English to help you with improving your skills. To spruce up your spoken language skills, try to use language whenever and wherever possible.
Discuss mundane situations, verbalize your thoughts and ideas, and ask more questions. Pay attention not only to grammar, but also the style of your language. To improve spelling and writing, make it your rule to write at least half a page of original text every day. Over a relatively short period of time, you’ll notice a considerable improvement in grammar, spelling, and style of your writing.
Use Specialized Software
There are plenty of dedicated tools that can help you enhance your writing skills. The simplest way is to rely on spell checkers that are now integrated in virtually all word processing apps and programs. There are also standalone spell check programs that can help you detect errors in your writing. Among the time-tested options are Grammarly, Hemingway App, Scrivener, and Spellcheck.net. Let’s take a closer look at them.
- Grammarly. It’s a rare writer who has never used or at least heard of the Grammarly tool. Grammarly is a versatile app that ensures that everything you write isn’t only grammatically correct, but also reader-friendly. You can use the free version of Grammarly to detect spelling and grammar errors in your writing. Just copy the text and insert it into the corresponding box. The system will flag the potential issues and alert you to them. Though you’re free to ignore Grammaly’s suggestions if they don’t seem reasonable enough for you, we highly recommend that you take them into consideration and double check your writing for punctuation, grammar, wordiness, syntax, and other issues. To get access to advanced checks and a wide range of sophisticated features, consider upgrading to the paid premium plan.
- Hemingway App. Do you want to write like Ernest Hemingway? Who doesn’t! Of course, no app can improve your writing style so that it can at least remotely resemble that of the outstanding novelist, but what Hemingway App can promise is that your grammar, syntax, and punctuation will be up to par. Hemingway App will highlight misspelled words, awkward phrasings, punctuation errors, and redundancies in your text. It will use different colors for your convenience.
Source: The Writing Cooperative - Scrivener. Scrivener is a professional writing app which helps writers enhance their style and communicate their message in a more effective manner. Once you start your project, Scrivener will ask you what assignment you are working on. Based on the option you’ve selected, it will provide you with the proper template and highlight the most useful features for your specific project. You can navigate to the binder area and plan your book, manuscript, or dissertation out before you even start it. There are tons of other handy features you can try out if you avail yourself of the free trial version of Scrivener or purchase it for a one-time fee.
- Spellcheck.net. Spellchecker.net is a relatively new tool in the grammar checker software market. Nevertheless, it has already become very popular with millions of users worldwide. This ease-to-use tool can check your document for grammar and spelling errors in more time and provide you with succinct recommendations on how to improve your writing. You can choose between the basic and advanced check at the Spellcheck.net official website. Though both options can be effective in helping you spot potential writing issues, the latter will scan your text more thoroughly.
Some people mistakenly assume that using spell checker and grammar checking tools is not conducive to developing and improving literacy skills. Still, as you may know, the best way to remember is through repetition. Grammar and spell checking tools can be effective not only in automatically correcting mistakes and lending your final paper a more presentable look, but also helping you become a more grammar- and spelling-conscious writer. So, you shouldn’t shy away from using some outside help during your quest for improving your writing skills.
Don’t Stop
Learning is a life-long process which requires stamina, diligence, and effort. There will be times where you find yourself stuck or unable to figure out how to say or write something. But you shouldn’t get frustrated. Any gap in your knowledge gives you an excellent opportunity to master new grammar blocks and take new spelling challenges. It’s a good idea to use some mnemonic devices, which allows you to effectively memorize boring and hard-to-remember rules. Furthermore, you may want to learn commonly misspelled words and make sure you don’t make the same errors in writing.
You may also compile a list of words you have trouble spelling. Similarly, you may list the grammar rules that seem too difficult to comprehend. Once again, it’s regular repetition that comes a long way towards helping you improve the necessary skills. Make sure to spell the world you find particularly complicated and read through grammar rules that confuse you. When learning grammar, pay special attention to rules that are intended to illustrate how this or that rule works in sentences.
Learning a language brings a life-time advantage. So, even though you will have obstacles, you should know that overcoming them will bring you closer to achieving your goal. Sometimes is hard to go through the whole process alone. So, if you are feeling unmotivated to continuing by yourself, you can always try some online classes. In that way, you can make the experience of learning a new language even more interesting. Language Trainers can help you achieve your goal and make the learning procedure more fun, productive, and efficient. Also, you can even choose to be a part of the group and make new friends.
These are only some tips that can help you start writing more effectively. Undoubtedly, you’ll be crafting your own rules and adopting new tricks as you move along. Hopefully, your hard work and diligence will pay off down the line.
These are only some tips that can help you start writing more effectively. Undoubtedly, you’ll be crafting your own rules and adopting new tricks as you move along. Hopefully, your hard work and diligence will pay off down the line.
