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Success Story
International Language
Teaching Services
Alcoda Software was contacted with the following email, asking an interesting question.
We are an educational publisher in Australia and we publish textbooks which conform to strict 3, 6, and 1,200 word word lists. We need a dictionary which we can check our word documents against to make sure they don't include any words outside of this word list. We also need it to be somewhat customisable as different clients require different sorts of words in their word lists. Is this possible? Is this the sort of thing you do? Could you give me an idea of pricing for this?"
At first, we thought that this would require a specialized application, but
after a few clarifying emails, it was determined that Spell Magic (or Word
Spring) could indeed provide this functionality. And we, at Alcoda Software, were quite frankly, excited about implementing this very
unique use of 'spell checking'.
The basic requirement:
"International Language Teaching Services produces books to teach students in non-English speaking countries how to speak English. These books written completely in English but they are based on what we call a core vocabulary of which there are five levels, Cores. There are 300 words in the first Core, 600 in the second Core (i.e the first 300 plus 300 more), 900 in the third Core (i.e. the 600 from Core 2 plus 300 more), 1200 in the fourth Core, and 1500 in the fifth Core.
What we need to be able to do is to check our manuscripts to make sure that they have not used any words except the ones from the core vocabulary. This means that we would need 5 dictionaries, and that they would operate like a spell check. Say, for example, a Core 2 book is put through the check, then any words not in the 600 word list would come up as an error. As with a Word dictionary, an editor could then correct or replace any 'wrong' words. We would need to use the word lists while working in Word documents."
The solution:
International Language Teaching Services provided the word lists and
Alcoda Software created 5 different dictionaries containing the core words, Core 1, Core 2, Core 3, Core 4 and Core 5. These dictionaries provide the foundation, the base words, from which the individual books are written. New words are added to this base to create different levels within the same Core series, for example there could be a Core 1 series with levels 1 to 4.
The author writes the book in Microsoft Word and uses Spell Magic to 'spell check' the book, which ensures that the words used in the book are the correct words for this particular Core book and that the words are correctly spelled. Spell magic is performing two functions at the same time; verifying that only the allowable words are being used and that those words are indeed correctly spelled.
As an example, the author composes the new Core 1 book, using only those allowed words, then "spell checks" the document using Spell Magic with the Core 1 dictionary selected as the Main Dictionary. Any words in the document that are not contained in the Core 1 dictionary are found to be "misspelled". The author can correct the word or replace it and in this way finalize a "correct" book, containing only Core 1 words.
Within each Core series there are progressively more difficult books (levels 1, 2, 3...) written, using new words which are not in the core dictionaries. For this task, a Custom User Dictionary is created with the new words, so that with each successive advanced book, the appropriate User dictionary can be selected.
Spell Magic's ability to use multiple Custom User Dictionaries provides the control and extensibility so the author can have a two or three different User dictionaries selected ('spell checking' and
verifying the Core level words) and adding new words to a completely new User dictionary.
"1) For most of the series that we produce, the basic structure is the same - students progress from one Core series to the next, increasing their vocabulary as they go. It is a cumulative process, so by the time students reach level 4 or 5 of a series, they will usually have learned over 1,000 new words and phrases. But since every series is different, the range of new words introduced at each level will vary from series to series. In order for us to keep the tight control over this process that is necessary, new User dictionaries will probably have to be created for every series we produce.
As an example, if I'm checking a book that is meant to be at level 4 in a particular series, in addition to having the Core 4 dictionary selected, I would need to have a User dictionary containing all the 'new' words from levels 1-3 of the series selected (or even possibly separate ones for each level), and also a new User dictionary to which I can add the 'new' words for level 4 as I go. That's a minimum of two User dictionaries selected during any one session.
2) This would be less common, but if we are writing a series that includes highly-specialized (and difficult to spell) vocabulary - about dinosaurs, for example - it is possible that we would want to create a separate User dictionary just for this vocabulary, to be used in conjunction with the Level 1 and User dictionaries for each level."
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