Spelling Test Practice Free Edition for Windows

Spelling Test Practice Free Edition is a free program that helps you with your spelling by letting you record and hear the words in your own voice. It's suitable for all who want to brush up on their spelling (or diction) or prepare for tests and spelling bees. It's case-sensitive and can randomize word lists and print reports such as lists of misspelled words, as well as user vocabularies and test grades. To use Spelling Test Practice's voice recording feature, you'll need a microphone for your PC, though many laptops have built-in microphones. It's free, too, but you must obtain a free registration after 30 days to keep using it.

As you'd expect with educational software suitable for nearly any user, Spelling Test Practice is easy to set up and use, with large fonts and entry fields, uncluttered layouts, and few options to configure. We entered a name and password on the startup screen. You can log on to the program with a blank password or select an automatic log-on option. The program's Start Page let us create, open, and edit spelling lists; switch users; play Word Scramble or Missing Letters; practice spelling words; or take a spelling test. We began by creating a spelling list, which involves typing in words via a wizard that includes a voice-recording feature. The recorder is easy to use: Press Start Recording, speak into the microphone, and press Stop Recording. Once we'd set up, edited, and saved our list, we returned to the Start Page and clicked Practice Spelling Words. This involved listening to our recorded list, typing in the (hopefully) correct spelling, and clicking Check. You can choose to have the program repeat the entry until you get it right before it moves on to the next word in the list. The program also let us randomize the selection, which is handy if you use the same list over and over again. The Test page is basically identical; what is different is the way Spelling Test Practice tracks and reports the results.

Spelling Test Practice Free Edition is an interesting concept in educational software and a great idea for serious students. Our only concern is creating word lists. It's an involved process that requires some time to do an adequate job.