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You might or might not know this surprising fact- according to Wikipedia, India is the 2nd largest English-speaking country in the world, after the USA!
With a booming population and a variety of languages spoken across the country, it makes sense that English is used widely as a common language of communication. With the internet at the tips of our fingers, it has become easier than ever to learn the language. One of the first things to consider when you begin improving your English is the usage of grammar. Past-perfect tense, future-continuous tense, present-perfect tense, adverbs, adjectives, punctuation, etc. can all get jumbled, leading to confusion. Mistakes in grammar and poor writing reduces the impact you are trying to create.
So, how can you tackle this? By using some easily available English writing tools, you can work on your grammar and writing skills to keep a check on t/he right usage. There are many tools for English language learners that help to improve. In this article, we share some of the most useful English language tools that will take you a step further to effective communication.
Probably the most well-known language correction tool is Grammarly. It checks whatever you write by correcting grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, and word choices. Though only some options are available to users for free, it is very accurate in its suggested corrections. A premium plan includes more options like checking the tone, fluency, and other advanced issues.
Pros
The basic plan is available for free.
It has extensions for different browsers including Chrome, Safari, and Firefox.
It corrects content written on GoogleDocs, Facebook posts, and all applications you use within the browser.
It is easy to understand and use.
Premium plans include detailed analysis including plagiarism checks.
Cons
For an amateur writer or someone new to English, the basic plan may not be enough.
Not everyone might opt for the premium plan.
Sometimes, the app may fail to correct sentences that are dependent on context (e.g., ‘have you gone there I haven’t’ will not be corrected to ‘Have you gone there? I haven’t.’ with proper punctuations)
An app similar to Grammarly, Ginger has extensions for a few browsers like Chrome and Safari. Ginger can also be downloaded as an application on your computer. It is a basic grammar and spell check software that helps refine your writing. Ginger has videos that teach you how to improve English grammar and understand the language, helps you find word meanings, synonyms and also helps in translation.
Pros
It has options to help improve grammar and vocabulary.
The website has very useful content to read and learn English (English Online sub-heading at the bottom of the website). ‘English Online’ has a number of resources for anyone to be able to learn. It includes a Spelling Book to help your spellings, Grammar Rules to improve English grammar, Phrase of The Day, Online Proofreader, Punctuation Checker, and more.
Cons
The premium plan gives you all the features but might not be within everyone’s budget.
It misses some context-based corrections related to tense. For example: “Tomorrow was a good day” will not auto correct to “Tomorrow will be a good day” or “I didn’t knew that” will not autocorrect to “I didn’t know that”.
By using these tools you can be assured that the basic grammar mistakes are taken care of. You need to now work on the refinement of your written content. Be it a blog post, an article, a research paper, a project proposal, or a resume, it is important to write in a precise manner to help your work shine. Let us look at some tools that can help you in your writing skills.
Hemingway is an editing app to help make your written content precise, engaging, and readable. The most important factor it measures is the ‘readability’. It tells you how complex or simple your text is by assigning “grades” to it. Like Grade 8 would mean good readability as the text is fairly simple to understand while Grade 12 or Post-Graduate would mean the readability needs to improve and that the content is complex. If your writing has a high grade, it means the text is difficult to understand and you can make it simpler. If the readability grade is low (like 7,8,9), then it is easy to understand. Apart from this, the app also indicates the quality of writing as “Good”, “Poor”, etc.
The app further highlights long and very long sentences in different colours. In such cases, you can choose to shorten the sentences which will improve the readability score. Simple alternatives for complex phrases are also suggested.
In English, for speech and writing, the active voice is almost always preferred. So, the use of passive voice anywhere in your text is also highlighted allowing you to make the change if required. Unnecessary use of adverbs is discouraged and the app tells you how many adverbs have been used. Overall, HemingwayApp is an excellent tool to refine your written content.
Pros
All the main features of this application can be used free-of-cost.
Cons
The app does not do grammar corrections (but that’s okay because we have other apps to take care of that now, don’t we?)
Just like the huge belly of a hippopotamus can hold lots of food, the WordHippo website holds all the brain-food you need to enrich your English vocabulary and aid your writing process. The website is more than a dictionary - providing definitions, antonyms (opposite words), synonyms (similar words), rhyming words, sentence formations, pronunciations, and more. It is an ideal rest-stop on a writer’s journey. You will want to keep referring to it time and again as it is a treasure-trove for English learners. You must check the website right away to understand all the words in this blog.
Pros
Free of cost, no premium to be paid.
Cons
Cannot be used without an Internet connection (this holds true for all the apps mentioned, except Ginger, which you can download onto your computer).
Have you ever had that feeling where a word is at the tip of your tongue, but you’re unable to remember it? You know what it means, but you can’t seem to remember the word itself. Yes, we have all been there. It’s an annoying feeling, but now there’s a solution for it - the Reverse Dictionary website!
As the name suggests, this website takes the word meaning (or any phrase you use to define it) and gives you word suggestions. For example, if you type in ‘colors of the rainbow’, it will give you suggestions like spectrum, prism, and iridescent. You can even click on each word suggestion to find its proper definition. It is a useful tool to keep close whenever you need a word for your thoughts.
It is now time for you to stop wondering how to improve your English and start learning! However, we recommend that you first take the FREE preliminary English test available on our website to understand how well you know the language.
While the Internet can offer plenty of knowledge through a screen, in-person communication can never get old and is, in fact, the need of the hour. English Pro+ is a comprehensive, blended program that is designed by language experts to make learning English easy. Aimed at creating confident communicators who are not afraid to use the language anywhere and with anyone, it is sure to transform the way people communicate at their workplace and elsewhere!
Happy learning!
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