German Spell-Checking in Microsoft word (Office XP for automatic Language Detection)

Created by Dr. Michael Shaughnessy at Washington & Jefferson College

Recommended: CAPL German-English Picture Dictionary

 

 

 With automatic language detection set, simply begin typing your essay in German. After the first sentence, the language will be set by the program. Any misspelled words will be underlined in red.

 

 

Now bring your cursor over to the misspelled word and RIGHT-CLICK.

 

The program will bring up a list of suggested words for you to choose from. Here, the choice is easy.

Question: "Why is zeiten underlined? I looked it up! And where is the correct spelling, then?"

 

 

 In German, a noun that starts with a lower case letter is misspelled! Here, because the noun ends in -en, the program thinks it's a verb and suggests similar verbs. This highlights the problem of always relying on the program for your spelling. The program is designed to help you, but you still need to know a good deal of German to make it work well for you.
 

Question: "So what's up with weiss? I know that is correct! I've seen it many times on the Internet!"

 

 Answer:

 

Microsoft Word uses the reformed German spelling rules for its spell-check program. Since weiss has a long vowel sound in it, it requires the ß. Conversely, daß should be dass since the vowel sound is short. While the spelling reform is still debated, many instructors require adherence to it. Just as with any spell-check program, there can be uncertainties and errors. If in doubt, look it up in your dictionary for a second opinion. The program is only meant to provide guidelines!

Question:

 

"Is this spell-check program supposed to be helpful? This is terrible!"

 Answer:

The spell check program will only prevent the most egregious of errors. This is why humans still need to learn languages and purchase old-fashioned paper dictionaries.
   
Question:

Where do I get this spell checking program?

As a service to Off Campus users...

For Downloading of certain files (Works Pre-XP) See Germanware. You can also purchase the entire Proofing Tools package directly from Microsoft.com