Text Analyser - Updated Version

The RoadToGrammar Text Analyzer is a free-to-use web app that will analyse the difficulty level of a piece of text.

To use it, simply go to http://www.roadtogrammar.com/textanalysis/ and paste in a block of text. Click SUBMIT and the app will tell you the difficulty level according to the CEFR framework. For example, a text rated B1 is most suitable for use with students at B1 level. It can help you simplify a text because it shows picks out the more difficult words, which you can then simplify.

The app will also give a list of suggested vocabulary items, and you can even see the definitions of the items.

The upgraded version features the following changes:

• based on a larger corpus (200,000 words) than the previous version
• better ability to ignore proper nouns and names
• ability to show complexity word for word
• other statistics now shown

Step 1: Paste a text selection and click SUBMIT:

 Step 2: View the results

Step 3: Get the definitions

 Step 4: View the advanced statistics

Text Analysis Tool for ESL Teachers

I have just completed a nifty little tool for ESL teachers who enjoy using various texts with their students.

Using the he Text Analysis Tool (http://www.roadtogrammar.com/textanalysis), you can copy and paste in a text from a word document or webpage and the tool will analyse it for you. The tool will give the text a rating using both the CEF standards and the IELTS standards. At the same time, it will generate a vocabulary list of suggested words to review before reading. You can even click to get the definitions for words on the list via ninjawords.com, which will generate all the meanings on a single page.


The tool works by comparing each word in the submitted text to a list of the 10,000 most commonly used words in English. Based on each word’s position on the list, an algorithm is used to rate the difficulty of the text. The rating has been calibrated (roughly) against the CEF and IELTS levels.