Afrikaans spell checker in Web-browser (Firefox)

I have been using Facebook more and more recently to send messages to my friends. Because my first language is Afrikaans I write some of my messages in the language but unlike English there is no default spellchecker in Afrikaans that ships with Firefox.

To get a Afrikaans spellchecker for Firefox is easy just follow these simple steps:

1. Get Firefox
Firefox isn’t just a Web-browser it is THE Web-browser. Running on multiple systems like Linux, Windows and the Mac Firefox is a modern secure browser used by million’s around the world. I think it is hard to find a IT expert that wouldn’t recommend Firefox. But you get a lot more with Firefox like add-ons that can extend the browser in multiple ways. My favorite add-on is called Adblock Plus that blocks the adds on different pages using filters. Firefox is free to download and use.

So if you dont already use Firefox go here download and install Linux users will probably already be using Firefox since the browser comes standard with most distributions

firefox-web-browser-faster-more-secure-customizable

2. Get the Afrikaans dictionary for Firefox
This is the easy part. Open your Firefox browser and hear over to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5127. This will lead you to the place were you can install the Afrikaans dictionary for Firefox. Click on the green button that says “Add to firefox”.

afrikaans-dictionary-firefox-add-ons-mozilla-firefox

A window will pop up asking if you want to install. After waiting a few seconds click on the install button.

screenshot-software-installation

Wait a few seconds for the small download to complete (588 KB) and click the restart firefox button in the window.

screenshot-add-ons

And that is it the dictionary is installed. The dictionary is provided by Translate.org.za. Visit them for more South African languages like Zulu, Xhosa, Venda ect. for Firefox, Open Office (Word processing) and Thunderbird (Email client). Thank you Translate.org.za and all the people working on the project.

3. Select your language
The last thing to do is test our new Afrikaans spell checker. I tested mine in Facebook by writing a new message to one of my friends. To select the Afrikaans dictionary right-click in the box you are writing you message. In the popup window select Languages –> Afrikaans/South…

screenshot-facebook-compose-new-message

You are now using the Afrikaans dictionary. If according to the dictionary you didn’t spell the word correctly a red line will appear under the word. Right-click on the word and check the list for another word that is suggested.

screenshot-facebook-compose-new-message2

Head over to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browse/type:3 to find more language dictionaries.

Once again thank you to all the people working on free and open source software and people like the Translate.org.za group that help us get this software in the language of our choice.