I recently posted in a lively discussion about scores from the editors at Intelli-shop. In that discussion I admitted that I always get scores of 8 with deductions for grammar. I used to get the same score for deductions of grammar & spelling. Then I downloaded a free app called "TinySpell" and that resolved my spelling problems. It works great with IE and Chrome. Then after my post, it occured to me that there may be a downloadable solution to correct my grammar.

I did an Internet search and found plenty of leads to follow-up. The main point of this message is that I found a page that allowed me to paste my text into a window and have it evaluated. For those of you interested, here is the webpage link:

[www.grammarly.com]

Wow! According to the results, I had 21 major grammatical errors. The report did not identify my errors though, for that I have to pay for the service. I found several apps that can be downloaded for free and then there are plenty that cost money. I am prepared to buy one of the top 5 grammar checkers on-line.

I admit to be astonished. I had no clue that my grammar was so poor. I did not do well English class, so I should not be surprised. Before I spend more than $130, I thought other professionals might give me some feedback on this topic.

If it is a solution for me, it may benefit others. TinySpell resolvled my problems with spelling and maybe there is the same solution for grammar.

Any recommendations for a program would be appreciated. I do not want to subscribe to a monthly service, so I don't need tips on that option. Others may appreciate that informatio though, if you have it available.

Thanks in advance.

UPDATE: I am still researching and stumbled onto a review conducted by: Grammarist Grammarist is an on-line grammar service. According to their post, they were providing links to purchase this software. Then they decided it should be checked before they continue with the apparent approval of the software and it's service. The article is from 2012 and there may have been changes that I am yet unable to confirm. None-the-less, they posted the link is being taken down and no longer recommended. Their reasons are copied and pasted in the following paragraphs.

Copied from on-line review of Grammarly software:

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Conclusion

Grammarly doesn’t work. As the above results show, Grammarly did not catch several of our intentional grammar and spelling errors, it had nothing to say about any of our intentionally misused words, and it makes recommendations based on 19th-century grammar superstitions. This last point is especially interesting considering that Grammarly is rather laissez-faire with new words such as winningest. Elsewhere, Grammarly is inconsistent in applying its rules. And there is no way to tell Grammarly that we are American writers, so we could spell everything in the British manner and Grammarly would not question it. There’s also no way to indicate to Grammarly the level of formality of the text being checked.

We might be tempted to suggest Grammarly for students or learners of English, but the fact that Grammarly has nothing to say about so many of our intentionally incorrect sentences leads us to the sad conclusion that Grammarly is useless for everyone. Grammarly might improve, but as of early 2012, we can’t in good conscience keep advertising it on our site.

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The end result is a declaration that the software is useless. Based on this review, I will not purchase this software.
But I am still looking for something to help me.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/2013 04:43AM by Assuredd.

So you would be prepared to pay $130 to raise your scores from an 8 to a 10? Even though you get paid regardless. I give almost no thought to my scores, I couldn't care less unless they're bad enough I won't get paid, and that's never happened.

Do you think you're not getting Intelli's plum shops because your ratings are 8, or that you can increase your income by improving your grammar?

Regarding spell check, I already get that with the browsers I use. Grammar checkers don't have a lot of credibility, as the English language is tricky. I understand your post perfectly, and my untrained eye sees only a few grammatical and spelling errors.

"21 major grammatical errors", how long was your text? And then, they will only show you the errors after you buy the product for $130? Baloney. First, show me the errors of my sample submission, then I will decide if the product is worth the money.

Grammar and spelling are part of a good report, I agree, but the rating system is not important to me. Anyway, I still get paid, and usually get feedback - sometimes good feedback and sometimes not. My point is, Mystery Shopping is a business in my case and if I get paid and deliver good quality work, I don't care about ratings, citations, etc.

As a trained educator, let me advise you not to bother. Here's the easy way to correct: read it out loud. Spelling corrections easy and free online. Use caution since many words are not in spell check programs.

I agree on some points. I like to write a well report, however if the guideline say "you have to take at lease one person" I tend to think they don't care too much about good reports. I'm sure we all have some MS that don't even give ratings or feedback, so you just figure it was good enough and keep applying for more.

An editor created a really fun thread making grammar and punctuation a game. It offered some really good tips, was fun and free. Whatever happened to that thing? It may be time to resurrect it since all of us can use some refreshers. Oh yeah, did I mention it was FREE?

I wouldn't pay the $130. Only if I saw a positive return. I have been shopping for 7 years. I think I submit high quality and well written reports. Periodically I will get a 'here is something for next time'. Most of the time, looks great equivalent. Never affected pay. Earlier posts gave some great suggestions that are worth follow, especially read aloud. Good luck

Grammarly has an addon for Firefox. I tried it. It was nice for catching duplicate words, and it picked up some wrong tense verbs. It doesn't catch punctuation errors. I don't know if the paid version is any better, but the addon for Firefox slowed my computer down so badly that it wasn't worth the hassle of having it. I got it to help with my editing. I edit one report that totally puts me to sleep and I'm missing stupid stuff because it's just sooooooooooooooooo boring and most of the shoppers are submitting very poor reports. Anyway, I wouldn't pay for Grammarly if the Firefox addon is any indication of the usefulness of the paid version.

I'm half asleep right now, but your post was written well. As long as you put that much effort into your reports, you should be getting good scores. As an editor, I commend you for trying to improve your scores and the quality of your reports. I hope that you will continue to strive to be better. Editors are paid to catch typos, make sure that you shopped the correct location and followed the rules. We don't get paid enough to turn horribly written reports into a professional business document.

Thanks for all the input. I appreciate it very much. I submitted four long paragraphs for evaluation and that returned the report of 21 major grammatical errors. Maybe it's a bunch of hype and a come on like some of the software packages that we buy to speed up our computers. Most of them do not do any good at all.

I do think the best shops are given to people that are able to write superior reports. I have seen these posts and many of you have superior writing skills. Personally, $135 is an insignificant investment. Especially if your reports make it to "Exemplary" status and recognition that reaps special plum shops.

I think the general consensus is that the grammar checker software is not worth the investment. I am going to do more research. None-the-less, I have made up my mind that I will get something to help me with my reports. I might as well continue learning while I am working. That knowledge would not hurt me a bit.

Thanks everybody!

I'd think you would be better off paying that money to someone who could edit a few writing samples and teach you what is needed to have an exemplary report. I've never had a report marked down for grammatical or punctuation errors, yet I hardly think of my writing as eloquent. Your posts are so much clearer than many others I read on the board. I have a hard time believing that an automated grammar website could offer you anything of substance.

Karen IL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'd think you would be better off paying that
> money to someone who could edit a few writing
> samples and teach you what is needed to have an
> exemplary report. I've never had a report marked
> down for grammatical or punctuation errors, yet I
> hardly think of my writing as eloquent. Your
> posts are so much clearer than many others I read
> on the board. I have a hard time believing that
> an automated grammar website could offer you
> anything of substance.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. It is not so easy to find someone qualified to make such an analysis and then guidance to change habits of a lifetime. The money for a software program should end up being less expensive and educational at the same time. After all, with enough software corrections I will surely learn to make adjustments without the aid of the program.

It will be interesting to find out. I think there are many others that could benefit with use of TinySpell and Grammar Checking software. I see that some of you, reading my posts, do not think grammar checker software is necessary for me. However, I am more convinced than ever to give it a try. After giving it so much thought these last 20 hours, I believe I will benefit in more ways than my MS reports.

It looks like the link to the site you list has an affiliate ID attached to it. That means you will make money off anyone who uses the link to sign up, doesn't it?

I absolutely have to chime in here. Two days ago I did two shops for intellishop. Different stores etc...
One report by (insert number here) proofreader, got a 6, for spelling and grammar. The other report submitted 20 minutes after the first by (insert a different number here) proofreader, got a 10. It's amazing how my spelling and grammar improved in such a short time. I'm like a lot of us, I don't worry to much about the numbers. This caught my eye because of the last conversation here.!

If reports are still scoring in the 7 to 10 range, purchasing something to help with grammar and punctuation is a total waste of money. There are a variety of factors that influence one shopper being chosen over another. I am not suggesting we turn in crap reports, but do the best you can and let the chips fall where they may.

On a series of 30 phone "shops" which were virtually identical down to the report I received scores of 8, 9 and 10. I thanked the editor who was giving me the 10's and told him it would have been nice if he had scored all my shops. He was able to see who was editing the others and told me he was not surprised they had scored me lower and he disagreed. That taught me a valuable lesson. As much as we have to be objective, editing is subjective and we are not going to please everyone every time.

Keep trying to improve the grammar, punctuation and spelling, but remember your focus should be on the content of your report. The ability to provide pertinent, objective details in a succinct manner will have much more impact than flowery, overly long narratives containing opinion and unnecessary observations.