Learning grammar

When acquiring a new language, you are automatically confronted with grammar.

But what is grammar exactly?

Grammar is defined as “the whole system and structure of a language or of languages in general, usually taken as consisting of syntax and morphology (including inflections) and sometimes also phonology and semantics.” (source:http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/grammar)

Well, that is very complicated!

How about this definition? “The study of how words and their component parts combine to form sentences.” (source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/grammar) I think now it is a bit easier to understand and grasp.

We use grammar every day without even realising it. As soon as we start speaking we use a set of rules to make ourselves understandable to others. But we do not really think about grammar as long as we do not acquire another language.

Why do we need to study grammar?

Grammar does not need to be a confusion
(source: http://www.strategicl2.com/
grammar-as-a-way-to-measure-speaking-skills/)

In order to speak a language you do not necessarily need to know its grammar. But if you want to speak a language very well and try not to make any mistakes, you should know the grammar of that language. If you know a grammar of a language it will save you a lot of time because you already know about the rules and constructions. Studying grammar also helps you when you want to study a new language because you are familiar with the terms. If the languages belong to the same language families it is even easier for you.

Fortunately, English is a relatively easy grammatical language concerning the basics. It has a set of non-changeable rules concerning grammar.

The classical sentence in English
(source: http://clubweb.interbaun.com/
~mward/gmc/gramm01.html)

Basically, every sentence has the same construction: Subject – Verb – Object. You cannot change that order when speaking English correctly.

Questions are usually easy as well: Question Word– Verb – Object OR Auxiliary – Subject – Verb – Object. Again, these are the basics.

Of course, English is slightly more complicated than that. But, at least this is something to start with.

Unfortunately, English has a lot of exceptions concerning grammar. It will take too long to describe the English grammar in detail.

But I can help you with some tips to facilitate studying the grammar of a language:

1. You should start slowly. Study ONE section of grammar, like tenses or adverbs. First of all, you should read and understand the rule. If you have some problems, ask someone to help you or search for other explanations. In order to facilitate memorising grammar rules, you can have a look at my blog entry called “memory and language learning”.
2. Have a look at various examples. Usually grammar rules can be understood as mathematics. You have a certain formula you can apply in most cases. Try to figure out that certain rule and memorise it.
3. After understanding the rule, you should practice this particular rule. In order to internalise a grammatical rule, you need to practice that rule a lot of times. Fortunately, you will find a lot of exercises online which help you training.
4. Try implementing the new learned rule in your everyday usage. This will help to store the grammatical rule in your long-term memory, but also to retrieve the grammar rule very easily.

There are also a lot of books
concerning grammatical rules
(source:http://bookysh.wordpress.com/
2012/07/10/reading-eats-shoots-leaves/)

When I studied for grammar tests, I used the following homepages, which I highly recommend. All of them cover most aspects concerning grammar:

• http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/alle_grammar.htm
• http://www.english-4u.de/grammar_exercises.htm
• http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/grammar-exercises

Of course, there are many many more homepages offering grammar exercises. Almost all of them are interactive and give you help and solutions right away. Therefore, you should have a look online yourself and figure out which homepage suits you best.