It is likely as an international student (F1 visa students, J1 visa students, M1 visa students) studying in the U.S.A., you would need to write essays in English for class and a way to quickly help improve the quality of your writing would be to use a spelling and grammar checking software or application.
Microsoft Word has its own grammar and spelling checking function, however, sometimes it is not enough. The following article introduces some commonly well-known grammar and spelling checking software that you can use to help improve the quality of your essays in English as an international student in the U.S.A.
Table of Contents
Grammarly
Grammarly is the best-known spelling and grammar checking app in the U.S.A. It has a free version and a paid version. You can check if your U.S. school offers students paid versions for free. The free version of Grammarly gives you suggestions on your spelling, grammar, punctuation, conciseness of your writing. The paid version of Grammarly gives you extra suggestions on issues such as the structure of your sentences, the tone and formality level for your writing, giving you examples on how to rephrase your sentences to make it easier to understand, providing alternative word choices, and detecting possible plagiarism.
International students in the U.S.A. can use Grammarly in multiple ways:
- Website version: You just copy and paste your text in the box to check for spelling and grammar errors without downloading anything.
- Software application version: You can also upload documents to check for spelling and grammar errors.
- Microsoft Word and Outlook extension: Grammarly shows up to check your spelling and grammar when you are writing in your Word document and Outlook email.
- Browser extension: Grammarly shows up to check your writing on Gmail, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Docs, and other platforms online.
- Grammarly Keyboard: You can download the Grammarly on your phone as a keyboard to type and check your grammar and spelling at the same time.
Google Docs
Google Docs is free and similar to Microsoft Word where it can check the spelling and grammar of your essay. Red underlines under words show spelling mistakes. Blue underlines under words show grammatical mistakes.
ProWritingAid
ProWritingAid is similar to Grammarly where it checks your spelling and grammar in the free version, however ProWritingAid is more limited in the ways you can use it when using the free version. The desktop app and Google Docs or Microsoft Word extensions for ProWritingAid are only accessible for the paid version.
Hemingway Editor
The Hemingway Editor is a good tool for international students (F1 visa students, J1 visa students, M1 visa students) in the U.S.A. to check on the writing style of an essay. The Hemingway Editor focuses on giving suggestions on whether the sentences are simple and easy enough to understand and whether there is too much passive voice in the writing. The Hemingway Editor is free for the online website version and the desktop software application is its paid version.
READ MORE ABOUT ENGLISH GRAMMER & PUNCTUATION
International students (F1 visa students, J1 visa students, M1 visa students) in the U.S.A. who want to learn more about English grammar and punctuations, such as how to use semicolons correctly or when to use the word whom, can read more on the rules in The Punctuation Guide and The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation.
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