Which Grammar Checker to Use? A small sample to try.

Here is a short list of some Grammar Checkers for your consideration. They are helpful tools for writing but are not perfect. You still need to rely on your English Language training.

I was looking for some Grammar Checkers and tried to use them to check my blog post.
Here is the original blog post (a subset only) that I wrote:

Multi-Brains Whole-Man Thinking & Behavioral Model

Thinking and making the right decisions and plans are very important for successful living. To increase our thinking power we need make good use of the multiple brains that we have access to. Besides the popularized creative right and rational left brains model, we need to see that can enhance our brain power with the digital brain of computer and software. Furthermore, we can draw upon the brains of our friends. Stretching even further, with the connected world of internet, there is this powerful brain of the digital cloud that we can gain much knowledge and help. This is the Multi-Brains model that we need to master better to cope well with this increasing volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous and deceptive world.

However, without the motivation to take action and to persevere in the face of challenges faced in the execution of the plans are equally important. Any behavioral change requires the study of the whole-man besides the brains. The whole man model shows that man is made up of body, mind and heart as an individual and the man's relationships with others which also impact the behavior of the man.

Here are the results of a few of the Grammar Checker:

1. Microsoft Word 2003

Word did not pick up any error.

2. Virtual Writing Tutor:

http://virtualwritingtutor.com

No error was picked up when this post was written on 7 Aug 2013.

However, the latest version (as tested on 30 Mar 2015, see comments on this post), picked up 8 errors and give useful feedback as shown below:

3. After-the-Deadline:

http://www.polishmywriting.com/

There are some suggestions but no errors. The explanation is helpful.

4. Grammarchecker

http://www.grammarchecker.co.uk/

There are no errors besides the US spelling and the haven in Whole-man.

5. Grammarly

http://www.grammarly.com/

There were many remarks. I did not sign up for the trial and could not provide the answers. You can probably guess.

6. Ginger:

http://www.gingersoftware.com/
Ginger picked up four errors as shown below:

I can agree to "need to make", an error missed by the others. I will leave the "right and left brains" as in the original. I do not think I need to add the 'the' to internet since I already have 'the connected world of internet".  I also agree to "persevere in the face of" rather than "persevere in face of". But on reflection, in the face of challenged faced is rather redundant and needs to be rephrased. 

7. There is also http://www.serenity-software.com/ Editor to be considered. I just uninstalled the trial and could not use against the text. It is a very good checker too except for the user interface.

This is not a post to tell you which Grammer Checker to use but rather a quick survey of some of the possible ones for your search.

I also discovered that when my speed of writing was slower than the speed of my mind, I will end up with very confusing writing as illustrated in the 2nd paragraph. It is important for me to write in short sentences as in Chinese. The 2nd paragraph should read:

"However, the motivation to take action and to persevere in the face of challenges during execution are as important as thinking effectively with Multi-Brains. Any behavioral change requires the study of the whole-man and not just the brains. The whole man model shows that man is made up of body, mind and heart as an individual. Man's relationships with others which also impact the behavior of the man is an important 4th factor of the Whole-Man model."

Such improvement is not possible with present Grammar Checkers (Ginger software has a rephrase feature but it works more like a theasuarus suggesting alternative words such as replacing "impact" with "affect", "as important" with "equally important"). Let me know if you find one that can rephrase my English writing.

Lim Liat (c) 7 Aug 2013

Integrated Success Principles - Adding the 5 Secrets of Richard Branson

Does 5 Secrets for Starting a Business from great man like Richard Branson add any new knowledge to what I already known? I can tell when I have a existing knowledge base of wisdom on success. 

The Five Secrets to Starting a Business written by Richard Branson in his book "Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won't Teach You at Business School" is integrated to my "Integrated Success Principles v8" mind-map for a comprehensive and concise secrets for success. This illustrates how we can grow our knowledge through building mind-maps. 

Friends in Facebook lead me to the book "Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won't Teach You at Business School" by Richard Branson.  In the book, he mention 5 secrets for starting a business. It immediately strikes a nerve (brain or neuron) that it will be great if I can integrate them into my existing "Integrated Success Principles". I can then discover whether there be anything new.

The Five Secrets for Starting a Business
Here is the mind-map:

Some of the branch headings could be unclear, like point 5 Be Visible. On reading the text of the book, Visible means don't stand at the desk but to go out and interact with staff, customers and others. It includes listening to them, taking notes and taking action. So I change the heading to "5 Be Visible - interact, listen, act" to make the point clearer. Point 4 Lead by listening is more about not imposing one's ideas on others. It is about listening and having a debate of ideas to getting buy-in. It then goes even further into praising others. So, I changed it to read "4 Lead by Listen and praise too". Point 3 on pride is about the pride from associating with working for a good and reputable company. There is the motivation to do well and not to let the company reputation and image down. So I think it is about having or building up a good brand or image. 

Adding into the Grand Integrated Success Principles Mind-Map:

I can easily find similar statements by others in the v8 map. However, I think I like to emphasize "Branding" in the new map. In the v8 map, branding was included under communications. But I think it is important enough to bring it out of communication and stand out as a main topic.

The Version 9 Integrated Success Principles Mind-Map:

So, here is the latest mind-map that includes Branson's five secrets. There isn't anything new that I did not know before, but does cause me to bring up 'Branding' as an important point. Branson's points are highlighted in green in the map. You can read about other masters' quotes too to get a better overall and more detailed picture. 

I hope this is a good illustration for knowledge building over time using the mind-map concept.

Lim Liat (c) 18 July 2013