Word Processing - Kenneth | Learn English at EnglishCafe

Listen to this selection on word processing. Use the picture below to help you with understanding. Key words and phrases used with word processing are listed below, and you'll also find a copy of the text in the listening selection.

Verbs Used with Word processing

to align text

to bold text

to choose a font

to create a document

to edit

to format

to italicize text

to make a typo

to make a typo

to perform an operation

to save a document

to single, double space

to spell check

to type

to underline text

Technological Nouns and Phrases

(default) margins

advanced functions

bullet points

font

formatting tools

hard drive

keyboard skills

spell check

standard operations

text editing software

typist

typo

word processing  

Text

Word processing is one of the most common productive uses for computers. There are a number of standard operations that you must be able to perform in order to be a top notch word processor. First and foremost, you'll need to become a fast typist. If your keyboard skills are not the best, there are lots of software programs which will help you improve your typing abilities. In order to begin word processing, you'll need some text editing software. Most computers come with basic text programs such as Notepad. However, if you want to use advanced functions, you'll need more advanced software such as Word for Windows.

Once you've launched your word processing software, you'll need to type, edit and format your document. Generally, the default margins work well. You can choose to single, double or even triple space your document. Generally, single or 1.5 line spacing works best. Using the formatting tools you can left, center or right align your text. When needed, you can add bullet points to your text. Most text editing software offers a wide variety of formatting options including bold, italic, underlining as well as a wide variety of fonts. Once you've finished your writing, make sure to spell check your spelling and grammar. It's easy to make a typo and using spell check is the best way to catch this type of error. Finally, save your document as a file  to your hard drive.