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Hello!
I am still looking for a reliable spell- and grammar checker program. Thanks a lot Joe for helping me out! I want to translate my sociological articles into English but I do not want to take away the spare free time of anyone and I cannot afford to pay for a lectorate service.
Christian the writer wannabe....
Well, if you're worried about grammar - don't be. The post on this thread seems pretty fine to me. But, if you do need one you could check this out: http://www.paperrater.com. Never used it much though.
For German I use http://www.duden.de/rechtschreibpruefung-online before somebody tells me off I know that Christian is German ;-) For English the build-in spell checker in Firefox does well for me (a second language English speaker). Grammar check in English is something more complicated as the grammar is far more versatile and less restricted here. Reading your text out loud helps big time to make sure it sounds native .... SY
This one is quite good and inexpensive
http://spellcheckplus.com/
Christian - no program can help you sound like a native speaker. I would try to find a native English conversation partner who is willing to correct you without mercy. 
Also, read books in English, and write down all the different things you notice re: phrasing, sentence structure, punctuation, etc.
All native speakers construct their sentences in different ways, even if they use the same or similar words. When writing online one is looking to find a 'voice' - one that is 'you'. Be yourself: construct sentences in a way that is unique to you. German is not too dissimilar to English in word order: well not as dissimilar as Latin-based languages anyway.
It may be useful for you to translate into Esperanto first and then to English. And then to do as Chef says: find someone that would answer your question 'does this sound right?'.
The only real way to write in another language is to think in that language in the first place (rather than to try to translate it verbatim).
As for a spellchecker - why not do what I do? Just copy and paste into Google and let it ask you 'do you mean......?
This is how I would have written your opening post of this thread (corrections in bold):
I am still looking for a reliable spell- and grammar checker program.
I am still looking for a reliable spell and grammar checker.
Thanks a lot Joe for helping me out! I want to translate my sociological articles into English but I do not want to take away the spare free time of anyone and I cannot afford to pay for a lectorate service.
Thanks a lot, Jo, for helping me out! I want to translate my sociology articles into English but I cannot afford to pay for editorial services. Furthermore, I don't want to constantly bother you guys with my problems.
What I mean to say, is that grammar and spell checkers can't help you with proper phrasing and wording.
On the bright side, your English is pretty good, and people can understand you.
You're welcome, Christian.
As for a good place to learn conversational English, you've found it. Why not change your forum footer to: 'English is my second language. If you spot a typo or something grammatically incorrect, please private message me with the correction.'
Then join in every forum thread!
Sam: 12/25/2012 - 12:11 PMFor German I use http://www.duden.de/rechtschreibpruefung-online before somebody tells me off I know that Christian is German ;-) For English the build-in spell checker in Firefox does well for me (a second language English speaker). Grammar check in English is something more complicated as the grammar is far more versatile and less restricted here. Reading your text out loud helps big time to make sure it sounds native .... SY
I am a proud Austrian :P
CADoerr: 12/27/2012 - 12:38 PM
I am a proud Austrian :P
Opps, my bad, sorry about that ... SY
