To Learn Grammar or Not? That is the Question!

Recently I’ve been having quite a lot of discussions about grammar. I don’t know why – it just simply started to come up in conversations all of a sudden. And you’d think that grammar would be a sure conversation killer, right? After all, who wants to discuss the finer points of subordinate clauses in a social setting? But guess what? People don’t really mind talking about grammar and such conversations can get quite heated actually. Especially so when it comes to foreign languages.

What do you intend to do with English Grammar?

Lately, I’ve participated in several such discussion, and inevitably the topic, regardless of what it was at the beginning of the conversation, always morphs into something like: “Why do we need to learn all this stupid grammar when studying foreign languages?” and “Do babies learn grammar when THEY learn to speak?” and “Speaking is more important than proper grammatical constructions.” And so on… You get the idea.

 

Such discussions are giving me a headache. Really. You see, I’m not a fan of grammar. In fact, I quite despise the whole issue, and frankly, if I could I would never even open a single grammar textbook in my life.

But I also understand that grammar is important. Whether we like it or not, having at least some basic idea of the quirks and rules of the foreign language one is learning is essential. Otherwise, we end up speaking that language like a bunch of idiots.

And the questions of: “what is more important – speaking or grammar?” and “why should we study grammar if babies learning to speak never have to deal with stuff like possessive pronouns or passive voice?” are quite pointless. At least they are to me.

I’m no linguist, but even I have enough common sense to see that we, as adults, are do not learn foreign languages the way babies learn their native language. And hence, speaking without any grammatical backbone whatsoever can only get us so far (and it won’t be very far – trust me, I’ve been there and done that).

Academic English needs logical state of mind

So yes, if you are just interested in the most basic communication skills, then sure – you can survive those two weeks in a foreign country while butchering the local lingo. But if you want to get to know the language and the whole mentality that comes with speaking it on a daily basis, then unfortunately, you have no choice but to grab a grammar book and study it every so often.

Otherwise how would you know that a possessive adjectives in English often corresponds to the definite article in Vietnamese, huh?

* Tôi phải giặt đồ của tôi. – I must wash my clothes.
* Anh ấy bỏ một tay của anh ấy vào túi. – He put his hand in his pocket.
* Cô ấy mất thăng bằng. – She lost her balance.

Now that you know what I think about it, please tell me your opinion – is grammar important or not? And what are some of your best ways to learn English grammar?

Author: Transparent Language

22/7/2010

Hồ Quốc Nam