Over the last three weeks, we have looked at online safety with the Tech Review. Following on from this, we will start to look at different writing Apps/technologies to improve spelling, grammar and writing. We asked Tony McGovern to check out Grammarly. This is what Tony had to say.
What is Grammarly?
This is an App which was founded in 2009 by Max Lytvyn, Alex Shevchenko, and Dmytro Lider. Grammarly is currently used by over 2000 institutions and enterprise clients, as well as an impressive 30,000,000+ active daily users.
Grammarly is an App which checks spelling and grammar. It (Grammarly) allows you to easily check and ensure your work does not have any easily missed mistakes. And it ensures your work looks and reads more professional. The App (Grammarly) is free to use but also has the paid Premium option.
Grammarly is available via multi-browser extensions and Microsoft Office. You can amend the Grammarly Editor to change the type of suggestions you see if you are aiming for your writing to have a certain feel to it (especially great for writing to targeted audiences).
The App uses an AI-powered writing assistant to ensure you are getting the best aspects of your writing available. This really stops short of having an English professor standing over your shoulder correcting you as you write.
Getting started
Grammarly only works using the English language to include American, British, Canadian and Australian English. The writing App is easy to use. Once you log into your account (free or paid), simply download and activate Grammarly. You can also use Grammarly as a plug-in to your web browser, such as Chrome.
What can Grammarly be used for?
Grammarly can be used for many types of writing needs:
You will get checks constantly as you work. It’s great for reports, homework or the occasional letter. There will be no more spelling issues or using the wrong words. In addition, you get rephrases and the option to choose the tone of the writing. If you want to reach a targeted market group this is ideal.
Your documents will become better structured and easier to read. This is great when working in a business as you can use a formal writing standard. This will make any documents immediately professional.
This (Grammarly) has great potential for education. While teachers can encourage students to use this to ensure students improve their writing and wording. This means students can ensure they are not handing in work with spelling or grammar mistakes.
While using Grammarly to ensure written work is in good shape, you can relax while knowing the use of Grammarly does not plagiarize any of your work. Grammarly also provides plagiarism checks. Not only are you going to hand in a great coursework write-ups, you can ensure it does not have any plagiarism.
Privacy Issues
Grammarly does not sell any of your data and they also do not help companies advertise their products to you.
Conclusion
Grammarly is useful for anyone who regularly types and creates content. With the free service, it is a handy tool to have and available to use when you need it. It ensures your work is correct, uses punctuation and is presentable.
If your work relies heavily on correct grammar and you want your writing to stand out, Grammarly provides all you need with word rephrasing, tone adjustments and tells you the formality level of your writing. This is a good thing to have, especially in the days of social media where the smallest typo error will be pointed out to you. Repeatedly!
My experience of Grammarly
Installing
Once I installed Grammarly, this was a simple click and add to the Chrome browser. And it’s now an extension. I signed in using my credentials and chose from several options of what I wanted help with. Spelling and grammar were a no-brainer for me. Tone and delivery was a must. And clear communion would definitely help.
I was able to choose how I would like to sound. Informative, friendly, defensive, neutral, forceful, and even angry are a few options. Choose wisely!
While looking at these options, I thought this is going to be essential for my phone when texting. As you know, tone can be difficult to convey in text message conversations and I wonder how many miscommunications could be avoided by simply having this available when texting people.
Improve work communications
My emails and work communications are going to get an injection of professionalism. Then the sales pitch sneaks in! Premium. See what you’re missing! Free vs Premium, in the hopes of getting you to go the extra bit and sign onto Premium.
When you start, you get a quick tour of useful functions as standard for the new App. You can upload files to start working on, simply copy and paste info or start a new document.
Personal assistant
Grammarly has a useful assistant which makes you aware how your writing is going. This is done by showing you the correctness, clarity, engagement and delivery of your writing. On top of this, there is an overall score to ensure you have got the correct idea about your writing.
With every new document you can change the settings to ensure you are setting the right mood and tone of your work. The settings can also be changed during or after a document is finished.
Going Premium
The Premium version neatly put suggestions to the side of the screen such as “yes it’s going good, but it can get better.” But don’t worry, the free option works well (Premium is only a suggestion). There are NO ads or distractions. If you’re not a Premium user, you do not have Premium features. Simple.
Grammarly keeps features simple and you are not bombarded with content. You are able to see there are Beta features which show Grammarly are bringing in new features and upgrading your experience.
The display of Grammarly is neat, clean, visually appealing, and intuitive to use. I have enjoyed using Grammarly. I can see many ways Grammarly can help me in both my personal and professional life.
Why not give it a go and see for yourself?
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