Maybe you were thinking differently when you bought your Mac.
More likely, you were just thinking.
I hope Master Spell reinforces the habit.
Requirements
• A 32MHz 68030, 68040, or PowerPC Macintosh.
• System 7.1 or newer MacOS
• Version 1.5 or newer of Apple’s PlainTalk Text-to-Speech software. I highly
recommend using the voice “Fred” which is installed with Macintalk 3. All of the
words and internal text is optimized to be most understandable with this voice.
• Apple's Plaintalk software is available at http://www.speech.apple.com/
Features
Master Spell administers spelling drills using the Mac’s speech capabilities. It’s a FAT binary application which means it runs at optimal speed regardless of whether you have a PowerPC Macintosh or a 68K Macintosh. The front panel will fit on even the smallest color monitor (512 x 384).
Custom spelling word lists
Master Spell uses plain text files for its spelling tests. These can be easily created, edited and tested for correct pronunciation in SimpleText. (See Custom Spelling Lists).
Anti-redundancy routines
Master Spell picks words randomly and, in so doing, tries to avoid giving the same word more than once in a test. On a PowerPC Macintosh, redundancy will likely never occur within a test unless the test list contains less words than the number of words you choose to have administered. On a 68K Macintosh, Master Spell makes a valiant attempt to avoid redundancy.
Alternate Spellings
Master Spell accepts alternate spellings for words. If the word is spelled correctly, Master Spell will present you with the alternate spelling. If the word is spelled incorrectly, Master Spell will present both spellings.
Adjustable pronunciation and definitive clues
Master Spell lists allow the ability to give definitions, examples and clarification for words that are pronounced the same way but have different spellings and different meanings.
Audible and visible correction
Misspelled words are presented letter by letter visually and audibly.
Review of Misspelled words
At the end of a test, Master Spell prompts you to option for retrying the words you spelled incorrectly. At the end of retrying these words, you are presented with an itemized summary containing words you spelled correctly, incorrectly and correctly on the second try.
Individual Test Histories
Individual histories are kept in individual files. Master Spell always calculates one's current per word average in the Test History window. The last test file one had open is also remembered.
The Aim of Master Spell
I was very happy to hear the news from one of my beta testers that his nine year-old daughter, who has particular trouble with spelling, now aces her spelling tests at school. She considers Master Spell to be her secret weapon.
The Master Spell interface is best for ages 8 and up. I saw a wide opening for such a program because most of the other spelling word teaching programs are geared toward beginning spellers. If you find you need a program to teach beginning spelling using a much simpler interface, search HyperArchive with the keyword “Spell”.
Use the "Speech" control panel to change the voice and rate of speech. I recommend "Fred" which is installed with Macintalk 3. I have done all I can to overcome any problems with understanding what Fred is saying by adding clarifications for all of the Master Spell words. Just think of Fred as having a strange accent that you have to get used to. I understand everything Fred says now cause I’ve been listening to him and the original Macintalk since the early Talking Moose days.
Custom Spelling Lists
A spelling word test file can be made with SimpleText or any other text editor that can save its contents as a plain text file. SimpleText is probably the best because you can test out the pronunciation of a word before using it in the test.
The syntax of a spelling words text file is as follows:
grey/gray; gray, as in gray is such a gloomy color.
The first word, “grey”, is the actual spelling word
A second word followed by a slash, “gray”, is the alternate spelling word.
A semicolon following a spelling word indicates to Master Spell that it should say whatever follows the semicolon on that line. The text following the semicolon may be phonetically spelled. In this case, “gray, as in gray is such a gloomy color.” will be spoken. If you add a semicolon and do not add any text after it, Master Spell will say, "Spell..." and nothing else at which point you can play a not so fun guessing game or you can test your psychic friend.
To make a pause in the text the Master Spell will say, use a comma since the semicolon indicates the seperation between the spelling word and the text Master Spell will say.
If you don’t provide spoken text after the semicolon, Master Spell will say the spelling word or it will say the alternate spelling if it is present.
Other examples of valid spelling word entries:
three
traveler/traveller
repetitious; repehtih shus, as in, I try not to be repehtih shus
See the spelling word test file, “Syntax Example”.
Limitations
• Double-clicking Pupil files in the Finder opens Master Spell but does not load the
Pupil file, as one would expect.
• Test files are limited to 32K in size.
• Pupil History is limited to 32K in size (about 400 test entries).
Master Spell is Shareware
This copy of Master Spell contains a spelling words text file containing only words that start with the letters “A” through “C”.
The complete package of A - Z files contains at least 1,000 commonly misspelled words with tested pronunciations. The latest list will be available at:
When you register, I will send you the password to unlock that StuffIt archive for the file at this site.
All words also contain definitions or example sentences. If you don’t register, people are going to wonder why you can only spell words perfectly if they begin with the letters A through C.
Also, early support for this program will encourage me to release an improved version in the future, in which case I will offer a free upgrade to registered users. I have many ideas for improvements and I welcome ideas from users.
Registration is $15 for individual users,
$12 a copy for 3 or more copies,
$10 for students,
$150 for a site license,
and $1,000 for a world-wide license.
Run the included “Register Master Spell” application to register.
A Site License costs $150 (roughly equal to 12 users) and covers all locations for your organization within a 160 kilometer radius of your site (100 miles). One big advantage of a Site License is that you do not need to keep track of how many people at your site are using the software. A World-Wide License costs $1,000 and it covers all locations for your organization on the planet earth.
Paying for Master Spell is fairly simple. Open the “Register Master Spell” program that accompanies Master Spell. Enter your name, your email address, and the number of single user licenses you desire for each program you wish to purchase (or Site or World-Wide licenses). Save or Copy or Print the data from the Register program and send the data and payment to Kagi. Kagi handles my payment processing.
If paying with Credit Card or First Virtual, you can email or fax the data to Kagi. Their email address is sales@kagi.com and their fax number is +1 510 652-6589. You can either Copy the data from “Register Master Spell” and paste into the body of an email message or you can Save the data to a file and you can attach that file to an email message. There is no need to compress the data file, it's already pretty small. If you have a fax modem, just Print the data to the Kagi fax number.
Payments sent via email are processed within 3 to 4 days. You will receive an email acknowledgement when it is processed. Payments sent via fax take up to 10 days and if you provide a correct internet email address you will receive an email acknowledgement.
If you are paying with Cash or USD Check you should print the data using the Register application and send it to the address shown on the form, which is:
Kagi
1442-A Walnut Street #392-3X7
Berkeley, California 94709-1405
USA
You can pay with a wide variety of cash from different countries but at present if you pay via check, it must be a check drawn in US Dollars. Kagi cannot accept checks in other currencies, the conversion rate for non-USD checks is around USD 15 per check and that is just not practical.
If you have a purchasing department, you can enter all the data into the Register program and then select Invoice as your payment method. Print three copies of the form and send it to your accounts payable people. You might want to highlight the line that mentions that they must include a copy of the form with their payment.
Kagi can not invoice your company, you need to act on my behalf and generate the invoice and handle all the paperwork on your end.
Please do not fax or email payment forms that indicate Cash, Check or Invoice as the payment method. As far as we know, there is still no technology to transfer physical objects via fax or email and without the payment, the form cannot be processed. Payments send via postal mail take time to reach Kagi and then up to 10 days for processing. Again, if you include a correct email address, you will hear from Kagi when the form is processed.
Miscellaneous
I purposely made one spelling error in this document. What is it? Shame on me if there is more than one spelling error.
Version History
Changes in version 3.0 (December 1997)
• Rewritten from scratch as a stand-alone application
• Added clarification for all Master Spell words
• Added anti-redundancy, alternate spelling capacity, review of misspelled words,
a presentation of all the words spelled correctly, incorrectly and correctly on retry,
per word averaging, individual test history files, and audible and visible
letter-by-letter correction
Changes in version 2.0 (circa 1995) HyperCard
• Changed XCMD from Macintalk to Macintalk 3
• Redid pronunciation for Macintalk 3
Changes in version 1.1 (circa 1993) HyperCard
• Added compact stack on quit
• Improved pronunciation and added clarification for several words
