How do you know if your texts are correct and easy to read?

Let the Hemingway App check them for you.

Hemingway App is a tool that can help you improve your writing. It points out your mistakes in grammar, fluency and sentence structure.

It’s simple to use

1. Open the website and click on the “Write” button.
2. Add your text.
3. Click on the “Edit” button to see areas that may need your attention.

Over to your text

You’ll see a score that shows how easy or hard the text is to read, how long it will take to read, and the number of letters, characters, and words in the text.

• Remember, adverbs weaken verbs. To help you cut them out, Hemingway highlights them in blue.
• The passive voice can make your writing less clear and less direct. Hemingway highlights every instance in green.
• Hemingway himself said, “… there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use.”. That’s why complicated words are highlighted in purple.
• Difficult-to-read sentences are highlighted in yellow.
• Very difficult-to-read sentences are highlighted in red.

The advantages of using an editing tool

Give it a try and see if your writing is clearer and more polished. And if it helps your readers to understand and engage with your message better.

I believe it will.

The other day I read the word Aibohphobia meaning the fear of palindromes*.

I wanted to learn more about uncommon phobias and found an article on the BBC website about five of them.

But what are phobias anyway?

Phobias are intense, irrational fears of specific things or situations. They can cause a lot of anxiety and panic. Even when there is no real danger present.

Phobias can make it difficult to do everyday tasks and can interfere with your daily life.

Which phobias does the BBC website mention?

1. Sesquipedalophobia – the fear of long words (like “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”)
2. Nomophobia – the fear of being without your mobile
3. Omphalophobia – the fear of belly buttons (Bauchnabel)
4. Turophobia – the fear of cheese
5. Phobophobia – the fear of having a phobia

*By the way, palindromes are words or phrases that are spelt the same forwards and backwards.

Examples are “racecar,” “level,” and “A Santa at NASA.”

Do you know of any other examples? Even in your own language?

In education, considerable emphasis is placed on numeracy and literacy – the ability to understand and work with numbers and the ability to read and write. But what about the capacity to listen and to speak? Why is so little importance attached to oracy?
David Gurteen

I have often asked myself the same question.

I left school not being able to speak my two foreign languages (French and German) well.

And I hear this from the people who come to me to improve their English speaking skills.

But we might have different reasons for learning a foreign language.

You might want to:

• gain insight into a culture and its customs, beliefs and way of life;
• have more job opportunities, particularly in fields such as international business and translation;
• study abroad or participate in exchange programs;
• improve your cognitive abilities and increase your self-confidence;
• read, watch and listen to stories, music and art from other cultures;
• improve your memory, attention, and problem-solving skills.

But if we want to be able to communicate with people who speak that language, we might have to change something in the system.

What do you think?

————-

numeracy – understanding and working with numbers
literacy – reading and writing
oracy – listening and speaking
A-level – similar to the German Abitur

The easiest success measurement tool is a simple question. What did you do today to move forward?

The easiest project plan on earth is also a simple question. What will you do tomorrow to move forward?

At the end of each day, document your success and design your next move.

Rich DiGirolamo

Here are some possible answers to the two questions, with a focus on learning English:

1. What did you do today to improve or progress?

“Today, I listened to a podcast in English and watched a short YouTube video—and wrote down new words and phrases that I discovered.”

2. What will you do tomorrow to improve or progress?

“Tomorrow, I plan to spend some time reading a news article in English and practise vocabulary by reviewing my flashcards and doing some online exercises.” 

Doesn’t that sound good?

Of course, I have lots of other examples of activities that you might like do to boost your language skills.

You can:

• watch English-language films or TV shows,
• listen to music in English,
• attend one of our free Speed Networking sessions,
• join my Chilipeper Your English community, or even
• work with me on a 1:1 basis!

Whatever you choose, the key is to find activities that are enjoyable and engaging.

My fingers fly over my Mac’s keyboard like a hummingbird flitting from flower to flower.

But if you find it difficult or tiring to type, you might like to use the magic of speech recognition. And generate written text by speaking into a microphone.

Go over to Dictation.io (best using Google Chrome). Choose your language and start dictating.

There’s no need to register, log in, download or install anything.

Just check that you know the voice commands beforehand.

Or can you recommend a different site?

We often use icebreakers at the beginning of our online meetings, workshops or other group events to help our participants feel more relaxed, connected and engaged.

We want to help our people get to know each other, break (or rather melt) the ice—and create a friendly and comfortable atmosphere in the group.

But where can we find great questions to ask?

You’ll find lots of ideas here:

https://icebreaker.range.co

https://tscheck.in

https://checkinsuccess.com/question-archive

https://hypercontext.com/meeting-questions-bot

https://checkin.daresay.io

https://questionsgenerator.com

Tell me, where do you get inspiration for your questions?