Spell checkers, boon or bane?

[RawrRibbon]

If there was a Spell check god, I would fallow it. I think it should be one of the Mods next projects for gaia. With this people wouldnt have to conctenly re-read there posts, and it would fix th mistakes gaian's misses. If it was available I would use it every time.

 

[aritehgeek]

I have to say, I adore spell checkers. I'm good at grammar, but my spelling is... lacking. I can spell short words, but give me a long word and I'm dead. I also make a lot of stupid mistakes when I type fast, so it's nice to have them there. I compulsively proofread, though, so it's not like I'm not paying attention to my writing.  

[Tis muffin]

I like them they catch the words that I think are spelt right and tell me when im wrong  

[writerserenyty]

Personally I like spell-checkers.

As human beings, we aren't able to know how to spell every single word completely correct. Personally I'm good at spelling, but sometimes we can't know everything. And while proof-reading is still necessary, spell-checkers are just another step to making your piece better.  

[Ambrey]

They're good on the computer, but you should at least know when to trust what they say. Also, they don't help at all when you're writing an essay on an exam on paper or taking a test in school.  

[Mizufusion]

If I need to spell-check something, I usually use dictionary.com. That way, I can also be sure it's the right word, in case I'm unsure.. sweatdrop

Like most things, though, spell-checkers can be good or bad. It all depends on how you use it. A couple of my friends on Gaia are from Europe, and English is not their native language. To help themselves learn, they use spell-checkers and dictionary tools for Firefox. That doesn't mean they always get everything right, but it does help quite a bit.  

[shouldbedeleted23]

I say they are good, but they aren't a subsitute for proof reading.
Because sometimes, they don't catch things and the errors can slip by.  

[Javatom]

I only use them if I'm doing a report and I want to make absolutely sure that everything is spelled correctly.

The human brain far outstrips the spellcheckers though. Only use spellcheck for individual words. I could say:

Merry hat hey lid tell lam, ids fleas woes wide has know.

Spellcheck would tell me it had no errors, but you know that that's incorrect.  

[Zealot of Insanity]

I usually use spell-check on grammatical errors (i.e. syntax). I usually correct spelling errors on the spot.  

[Explosive Lotus]

Personally, I love spell checkers. They help me catch what little mistakes my eyes happen to miss during a proof reading. As Shinobi said they are not one hundred percent accurate so one shouldn't simply toss proof reading out of the window, but they're hardly a bane. Those who use the spell checkers and still make mistakes will soon, hopefully, learn that they aren't all you can rely on.

All in all I wouldn't do without them.  

[SilverMaple]

What I hate is when I'm writing a story on MS Word and I invent a name, and of course, MS word doesn't recognize it... I hate that little paper clip, I feel like twisting him in knots until he can't move... stare  

[lola_siannodel]

Shinobi 1977

I'd like everyone's opinion on spell checkers, like the one built into MS Word and the Firefox extensions that can be downloaded. Are these a good thing because they catch spelling mistakes, or do they encourage laziness because people don't feel the need to proofread anymore?

I think they're alright, but should never be used as a substitute for proof reading. For one, they're not entirely accurate. "Ewe like two go too there house" wouldn't be flagged because all the words in the sentence are in the dictionary. When I first started using Word with its spell checker, I noticed that it lets some stuff get by, so now I do use it to run through what I write, but I also proof read.

Yeah. Some people just plain aren't good spellers. I'm one of them. Even if I try hard, some things are still misspelled. But, I've noticed on some spell and grammar checks, that it will advise me to change something, when if you read through it, the change would make no sence at all. And there are plenty of spell checkers that try to correct, let's say, names of anime characters because they aren't in the dictionary. With MS Word, you can add the words, but some you have to register in order to add. Like if you go to taintedink.com/forums, you cna choose to have your work spell checked, and it often annoys me because I'll haev to press ignore 20 times in one thing. It can support lazyness, but if your like me, you'll notcie some problems will be let go. Personaly, I have pretty good grammar, adn alot of times these spell chekers that acctualy do grammar will correct things that don't need to be corrected, and once I had it say that it was a possible question when it wasn't any where near one. Over all, you should still try your best. The spell checkers will only help. But personaly, I'm one of those people who love seeing if I can misspell a word so badly, that the spell checker knows and says that it's wrong, but has no correct spelling for it. I don't know why. It's weird, I know.  

[Ithaya]

I like them, they catch typos, but, as with writing on paper, I wouldn't neglect proof-reading because of them. I

t makes typing similar to writing on paper. if you're on paper you're unlikely to write something like 'teh' or 'tjhey'; spellchecker catches these quicker than your eye would, making it easier.

But on paper you can still make mistakes like too instead of to. These aren't picked up by spellchecker, so must be noticed by careful proof-reading, as they would on paper.

Thing is, typing's quicker (because I type fast), neater, and easier to correct. Therefore spellchecker is a great tool.

Although I hate the way they try and shove semi-colons in everywhere and pluralise words that so obviously don't need pluralising. And the name thing, that annoys me too.  

[randomfuzzy]

Spellcheckers suck. Word XP drives me mad because the spellchecker doesn't 'recognise' a lot of my basic vocabulary. At other times, it misses crucial mistakes because its default setting is to American English. xp  

[Ithaya]

randomfuzzy

Spellcheckers suck. Word XP drives me mad because the spellchecker doesn't 'recognise' a lot of my basic vocabulary. At other times, it misses crucial mistakes because its default setting is to American English. xp

Well change it then. (Tools > language > set language.) It seems you can also tell it not to check automatically.