Celebrate International Literacy Day with Grammarly

I've posted about online grammar- and plagiarism-checking service Grammarly before.  Today, Grammarly is sharing an infographic about international literacy rates.  If you go to their blog, you'll also find ways to help.

Image courtesy of Grammarly

Sponsored Post: Grammarly

I use Grammarly's online grammar check because the technology to implant a second pair of eyes into my skull doesn't exist yet.  Let's face it: we often overlook our own flaws.

I'm a big believer in grammar.  I spent a couple of years subsisting on freelance copy editing while I looked for a full time job, and my current job involves a large amount of copy editing.  And you know what?  My job pays well.  When I'm freelancing, I often charge $50 an hour (or the equivalent in dollars per page/cents per word).  And you know why I can charge that?  Because it is a specialized skill.  Because you have to keep the rules in your head, have access to good resources, and be able to use your common sense about when the author is breaking the rules well.

I'm very good at it.  It's still hard to apply that skill to my own writing sometimes.

In addition to being a second pair of eyes, Grammarly is a good resource to help build your grammar skills.  When you run your text through the program, it breaks down the issues.  No trying to decode a green squiggly line.  It might point out style, or structure, punctuation, or spelling.  (And unlike Word, it checks spelling in context.)

Another useful feature is that Grammarly checks for plagiarism.  As Shia LaBeouf has demonstrated recently, some people have difficultly with the concept.  Or perhaps you're just subconsciously repeating a phrasing - still useful.

If you're interested, just click on the link in the first sentence.  There is a seven-day free trial.