Writing Irish (software tools)
Writing Irish with a pen, paper, and your choice of dictionary, is the best way to practice your writing skills. But if you’re writing on your computer, there’s a couple of solutions available. You may find that there is no fast free solution for word processing…
Free: GaelSpell Firefox extention
(On the linked page, select Irish/Gaeilge dictionary install.)
GaelSpell can be installed as a dictionary extention for the Firefox browser. This checks the spelling for Irish when you’re entering forms online. You can always de-activate the extention when you don’t use it.
Tip: Because it’s so straight-forward, I even use the extention for text that’s not meant for online. Just open up a web page with a text input box (for example, a blog comment box). Paste your Irish text into the box, and GaelSpell will show you spelling errors. Then copy-paste the text back into your application.
GaelSpell 2007 for Microsoft Office
For 24euro, you can download GaelSpell, a spelling checker for Microsoft Office. It’s for the PC only. You can download an earlier version (GaelSpell 3) for free on that page, but it only supports Office XP.
Ceart: Grammar checker
From the same people who developed GaelSpell, Ceart is stand-alone Apple Mac software. A PC version is on its way, according to the site.
It’s stand-alone, so it doesn’t work inside of your word processor. It costs a hefty 65euro. It’s a grammar checker, so more advanced that GaelSpell alone.
EasyReader: includes “writing editor”
EasyReader is a $75 program for learning to read, speak and write Irish. As part of this, it includes an editor for written Irish. Supposedly, the editor not only helps with spelling and grammar, but teaches you how to say things “in the Irish way”.
