I have had dyslexia since I was a child, which has made writing and reading hard for me. Especially, problematic is proofreading texts I have written. No matter what text I am reading I almost always read them correctly, simple mistakes avoid my eyes. So I wanted to ask if there are any good ways to proofread your own texts?
So far I have heard of ReadPlease, I have not gotten a chance to try it out yet. Another trick that has helped me, is to read the text sentence by sentence from end to the beginning.
Dyslexia - Proofreading
Moderators: Celeste Stewart, Ed, Constant
I just wanted to mention that I've downloaded and tried out ReadPlease. Not only does it help me to find mistakes (because sometimes you can hear a word spoken that just sounds wrong) but it's also helped me to improve the flow of my articles. Sometimes I just don't notice how awkward something sounds until I've heard it outside of my own head. I like to listen to it both with my eyes closed, and reading along on the screen.
If you do try the program, I'd recommend for you to listen with more than one of the voices as you are editing, because I noticed that sometimes different voices seem to sound more natural with different sentences, so it is easier to hear the problem areas. I also try to listen to a few different voices from start to finish after I finish editing my work just to see if anything else pops up at me that needs changing.
Also, I'm not sure if it will help... but I have much more luck trying to find errors if I'm reading something off a printed copy. I think my eyes get tired from staring at a computer screen, so I see things a little differently when I read from an actual printed version. Plus, I can mark that up all I need as I'm reading through so I am sure to change my mistakes later on.
And right when you think you've found everything and made all your changes, make sure to read it over again. I'm always amazed at the mistakes I seem to make in my corrections. Once it's finally perfect in a 'final' read through, then I leave it to sit a day or two and read through it again. If I like what I read, then I submit it
If you do try the program, I'd recommend for you to listen with more than one of the voices as you are editing, because I noticed that sometimes different voices seem to sound more natural with different sentences, so it is easier to hear the problem areas. I also try to listen to a few different voices from start to finish after I finish editing my work just to see if anything else pops up at me that needs changing.
Also, I'm not sure if it will help... but I have much more luck trying to find errors if I'm reading something off a printed copy. I think my eyes get tired from staring at a computer screen, so I see things a little differently when I read from an actual printed version. Plus, I can mark that up all I need as I'm reading through so I am sure to change my mistakes later on.
And right when you think you've found everything and made all your changes, make sure to read it over again. I'm always amazed at the mistakes I seem to make in my corrections. Once it's finally perfect in a 'final' read through, then I leave it to sit a day or two and read through it again. If I like what I read, then I submit it
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Tuomas Tapola
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Sat Apr 12, 2008 3:46 am
[quote="Nessiee"]I just wanted to mention that I've downloaded and tried out ReadPlease. Not only does it help me to find mistakes (because sometimes you can hear a word spoken that just sounds wrong) but it's also helped me to improve the flow of my articles. Sometimes I just don't notice how awkward something sounds until I've heard it outside of my own head. I like to listen to it both with my eyes closed, and reading along on the screen.
If you do try the program, I'd recommend for you to listen with more than one of the voices as you are editing, because I noticed that sometimes different voices seem to sound more natural with different sentences, so it is easier to hear the problem areas. I also try to listen to a few different voices from start to finish after I finish editing my work just to see if anything else pops up at me that needs changing.[/quote]
I was definitely planning to try out the program. After what you have told, I think it will help with my proofreading as well. I should go and get that program as soon as possible and start checking anything I have written with it.
[quote]Also, I'm not sure if it will help... but I have much more luck trying to find errors if I'm reading something off a printed copy. I think my eyes get tired from staring at a computer screen, so I see things a little differently when I read from an actual printed version. Plus, I can mark that up all I need as I'm reading through so I am sure to change my mistakes later on.[/quote]
For me it is the other way around; reading something from paper is harder than reading something on a screen. This was especially annoying when I was in school.
[quote]And right when you think you've found everything and made all your changes, make sure to read it over again. I'm always amazed at the mistakes I seem to make in my corrections. Once it's finally perfect in a 'final' read through, then I leave it to sit a day or two and read through it again. If I like what I read, then I submit it[/quote]
For a while, I have started to re-check anything that I write hoping that it will help with proofreading other stuff later on. I do re-read my articles few times to make sure that it is as good as I can make it.
I usually do it like this when I write an article: Write it and re-read it from end to the top. Then I do my best to get my mind of the text again; for example by reading something totally different from what I have written. When I have forgotten what I wrote, I re-read it first from end to the beginning. After that I read it normally again. I repeat until I am satisfied with the result.
If you do try the program, I'd recommend for you to listen with more than one of the voices as you are editing, because I noticed that sometimes different voices seem to sound more natural with different sentences, so it is easier to hear the problem areas. I also try to listen to a few different voices from start to finish after I finish editing my work just to see if anything else pops up at me that needs changing.[/quote]
I was definitely planning to try out the program. After what you have told, I think it will help with my proofreading as well. I should go and get that program as soon as possible and start checking anything I have written with it.
[quote]Also, I'm not sure if it will help... but I have much more luck trying to find errors if I'm reading something off a printed copy. I think my eyes get tired from staring at a computer screen, so I see things a little differently when I read from an actual printed version. Plus, I can mark that up all I need as I'm reading through so I am sure to change my mistakes later on.[/quote]
For me it is the other way around; reading something from paper is harder than reading something on a screen. This was especially annoying when I was in school.
[quote]And right when you think you've found everything and made all your changes, make sure to read it over again. I'm always amazed at the mistakes I seem to make in my corrections. Once it's finally perfect in a 'final' read through, then I leave it to sit a day or two and read through it again. If I like what I read, then I submit it
[/quote]For a while, I have started to re-check anything that I write hoping that it will help with proofreading other stuff later on. I do re-read my articles few times to make sure that it is as good as I can make it.
I usually do it like this when I write an article: Write it and re-read it from end to the top. Then I do my best to get my mind of the text again; for example by reading something totally different from what I have written. When I have forgotten what I wrote, I re-read it first from end to the beginning. After that I read it normally again. I repeat until I am satisfied with the result.