How to use Language Navigator

From: Translation Bureau

Would you like to learn how to search for content in Language Navigator or filter your search results? Read the instructions below.

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Searching for content in Language Navigator

There are two ways to access the many resources available through Language Navigator: search by keyword or search by theme.

The search by keyword option allows you to find pages containing the word(s) you’re looking for.

The search by theme option displays a list of all the pages related to a specific theme, such as:

  • grammar and syntax
  • spelling
  • punctuation
  • business communication
  • translation
  • vocabulary

Search by keyword

To search by keyword:

  1. Go to the main Language Navigator page or click on the “Search with Language Navigator” button (magnifying glass icon) in the navigation menu found in all of the Language Portal’s writing tools, on the Our Languages blog and in the Portal’s quizzes.
  2. Enter the search word(s) in the search field. For example, you could search for:
    • agreement (to find all the pages containing the word “agreement”)
    • agreement number (to find all the pages containing the word “agreement” and the word “number”)
    • “agree in number” (to find all the pages containing the expression “agree in number”)
  3. By default, the engine searches in all the Language Portal of Canada’s resources (writing tools, blog posts and quizzes), in English and French. If you’d like to search in one specific resource, select the resource from the “Language resources” drop-down menu. You can also limit your search to only English or French writing tools.
  4. If you’re searching from the main Language Navigator page, you can sort the results by relevance or by number of views. By default, the results are sorted by relevance. But you can also sort by number of views, an option which displays the most frequently viewed pages first. You can also choose the number of search results you’d like to see on the page.
  5. Select “Search.”

Search by theme

To search by theme:

  1. Go to the main Language Navigator page.
  2. Click on the “Search by theme” tab.
  3. Click on “English themes” to access English resources or “French themes” to access French resources.
  4. Choose a theme in the list. The English and French themes vary somewhat, as a result of the differences between the languages.
    • The English themes are:
      • Abbreviations, acronyms and symbols
      • Business communication
      • Clear communication
      • General knowledge
      • Grammar and syntax
      • Inclusive writing
      • Legal writing
      • Prepositions (to, for, with…)
      • Punctuation
      • Spelling
      • Translation
      • Vocabulary
      • Writing conventions
    • The French themes are:
      • Abréviations, sigles et symboles
      • Anglicismes
      • Communication claire
      • Conjugaison
      • Culture générale
      • Écriture inclusive
      • Grammaire et syntaxe
      • Langue juridique
      • Orthographe
      • Ponctuation
      • Prépositions (à, de, en…)
      • Rédaction administrative
      • Règles d’écriture
      • Traduction
      • Vocabulaire
  5. Select a subtheme to refine your search, or select “All” to see all the results related to the theme.

Understanding and filtering your search results

For each search result, the page title is followed by a short description of the content, an excerpt from the text (in which the keywords appear in bold), the source page and the number of times the page was viewed.

You can use the filters under “Filter your results” to refine your search results. The options are:

  • by language
  • by language resource
  • by content type
  • by English theme and subtheme
  • by French theme and subtheme

The number of search results related to each filter is shown in brackets.

To refine your search, simply select the desired filter, or check the box next to it. The pages that don’t match the selected filter will be eliminated from the list. You’ll then be able to select another filter, if necessary. The selected filters will be displayed above your search results, in the “Current selected search filters” box.

If you think that you’ve narrowed the results too much, deactivate one or more filters. To do so, you can:

  • click on the “X” next to the filter you want to deactivate in the “Current selected search filters” box
  • click on the “Delete selected filters” button to deactivate all the filters
  • uncheck the box on the left of the filter, below “Filter your results”

Once you’ve found the page you’re looking for, click on the title to see the content.

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