KidzSearch Encyclopedia:Aids for writing Simple English

Here are a few electronic aids for writing Simple English.

Hard word identification

Offline

OpenOffice.org (OOo) is a program that does everything that Microsoft Office Professional does. OpenOffice is a free download (115MB) or can be bought on Compact disc (CD). The Basic English Institute has a spell checking word list download

Replace the one of the number of languages of OOo spell checker with the Basic English word list of 5,000+ spellings. This Includes derivatives and compound words which most other spell checkers overlook. Non-Basic words are marked as if they were spelled wrong.

The B.E.I now offers a Simple English spell checking wordlist for Open Office software. Each non-Simple English word is underlined in red. Readme

Online

WriteIdea (bad link, needs update) is an Open Source writers' tool for simplifying English text. There is a java-based version you can download, and a web-based version (bad link, needs update) you can use online.

There is a free Simple English dictionary for Firefox. Add the dictionary to Firefox. When you change an article, change the spelling dictionary to the new Simple English dictionary (marked "English").

Automated translation into Simple English

Offline

Internet Dictionary Project software called IDP Companion translates between several languages. Replace one of the minor languages with the Basic English definitions from the Institute download page. Enter the "misspelled" word and copy and paste the desired Basic replacement.

A beta release of a thesaurus-like drop-down list for translation of the non-Simple English words into Basic English is also available. Readme . Help from a Unix programmer to compile an update the Beta of the thesaurus would be appreciated.

Online

An opensource web app (dead/seized; no longer functioning) specifically for simple.wikipedia that translates—to some degree—regular English to simple English automatically, using a different, editable, and context-sensitive wordlist. Leaves links, quotes, references and headings untranslated. Can pull random en.wikipedia articles, in an effort to streamline simple.wiki development using en.wikipedia as a source.

Textual difficulty

Tools for measuring textual difficulty (long words, long sentences, etc.) include:

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