French language writing skills are online

EDMONTON, Alberta, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- University of Alberta scientists have developed a technique to help people master verbal French to learn to write the language using the Web.

The Web site "Le Patron" (www.lepatron.ca) was developed by Terry Nadasdi and Stefan Sinclair to help second-language learners write in French.

Available to anyone with an Internet connection, the technology scans a person's written submission for common errors and provides advice for improving the text.

For example, if a person enters "...une petit maison," Le Patron will highlight the phrase and inform the student the adjective in front of maison should be feminine (petite).

"The goal of the Web site is not simply to provide a quick checking mechanism, but to ensure students learn from interacting with the site," said Nadasdi, a sociolinguist. "The project is exciting for me since in this way I can actually help millions of people learn, which is far beyond what I can do with classroom teaching alone."

The researchers say their Web site, launched in September, averages about 7,000 hits per day from about 75 countries.

Nadasdi is considering using the technology to help second-language learners in other languages, such as Spanish.