Continuing with the theme of how to entice seniors to become truly computer literate, I have seen both ends of the spellcheck spectrum recently. A delightful and obviously talented young lady wrote to comment on this series and how reading the articles have helped her coach her parents in computer usage. However, I would not have needed to read the text in detail to determine that the writer was not a senior.

Without dropping into the morass of stereotyping, I think we can safely say that the younger generation that grew up with cell phones and instant messaging makes different types of error in standard English than the parents or grandparents. In particular, the way she misspelled certain words was a dead give away. We discussed that and I suggested to her how she could implement a realtime spellchecker (check as you go) without too much difficulty. She seemed to appreciate the feedback and agreed that proper spelling would enhance her writing.

Then I got the following letter from Dri-Anna Davis:

Howdy, Sherman:

I am interested in finding out if you have or do not have any problems in successfully encouraging us seniors to use a spellchecker.

I have noticed problems with younger adults not using a spellchecker for their e-mails generated with clients like Outlook Express, etc. For some reason, even when I provide instructions how to set the spellchecker to automatically check spelling when you push the SEND Button, they elect not to do it and then explain online how bad their spelling is… seniors understand what etiquette means; they are much more inclined to want their messages to have correct spelling.

It is very nice that mainstream e-mail clients have spell checking built in. Unfortunately, the majority of Web mail accounts do not, along with most forums…

However, it does not have to be like this. That is, there are spellcheckers out there that you can install in your Browser. There is one that is easy to use and has the same interface as My Outlook Express and Office Applications. In other words, it is very user friendly - you just have to click on the “abc” button in the tool bar.

The Add-0n Spellchecker that I reviewed and now use is named “iespell,” and it is free.

…I find it irritating to get an e-mail that is loaded with misspelled words.

Ya’ Take Care, Ya’ Hear?
Dri-Anna

No, I don’t have trouble convincing seniors they should use a spelling checker, but I do have difficulty getting them to learn how to turn it on and off. For someone just starting out, this is one extra thing to learn before they can start to do some real work. So I might activate a spellchecker and not make a big deal out of it until they are more comfortable.

However, all this begs a rather interesting question. What is proper spelling? The abbreviated semi-codes that are common in instant messaging serve a purpose. If that purpose is valid and enough people use some of the various shorthand cuts (”4″ for “for” or “4″ for “for”), then they will become mainstream. Proper spelling as we think of it is a rather recent invention. Shakespeare was no slouch at using English, but he spelled his own name several different ways.

And I will let you in on a secret, while I do use a spellchecker, I would never use a style editing aid. My experience with them is that instead of improving writing, they homogenize it. If I were writing daily memos to colleagues in a large corporation and wanted to blend in, then I would submit to having my timeless prose turned into the equivalent of fast food. Other than that, I suggest caution when using a style editor. They can help point out bad habits and overly complex sentences, but avoid becoming a slave to them.

In both spelling and style, some types of errors are just plain wrong. They are the result of not doing the job correctly. Perhaps seniors and their younger correspondents define “doing the job correctly” differently. That’s okay, but come the crunch, writing is about communication, and if your errors, or deliberate deviations, impede transfer of information, then they are wrong.

For more in-depth tips on tutoring seniors, see the complete tutorial here. I also have posted a tutorial on elementary decision theory for those who might question a physician’s diagnosis (important for seniors) or anti-terrorist activities (important for everyone) but haven’t had the framework to analyze the data. That tutorial can be found here.