A writing advisor program (20) receives a proposed text in an author's second language (L2) and determines at least one candidate replacement word for a selected word based on a determined language model (p(c)) and a determined corruption model (p(r|c)). The determined language model reflects correct usage of the text in the second language, independent of the native or first language (L1) of the author, based on (L2) corpora. The determined corruption model is based on some a priori knowledge about probable corruption paths leading the author to realize some inadequate expression in the second language instead of the correct, intended expression. Different types of corruption paths may be used that include bidirectional translations, false-friends, synonyms, common semantic features, second language internal cognates, preposition alternatives, and first language inserts.