Monday, January 11, 2010
Grammar!?#%*)#$%#
I'm trying to remember how I learned grammar. It's difficult because I feel like it was so long ago. Not because I'm old, just because my memory is failing me. I can't remember what it was like not to know grammar because now writing in standard English is so natural to me. It just happens. Though I know it wasn't easy for me at first because English was my second language. I remember having teachers asking me if I spoke English at home and it always embarrassed me. At home, both my parents spoke to me in our native language and when I spoke English, I had an accent for my first few years at school. I didn't always use the right form of the verb, and sometimes kids made fun of my accent. So I know that my grammar wasn't always standard and that I had to learn standard English in order to compete in the "real world." But how did I do it? What strategies did my teachers use? Is it just a matter of practice?
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2 comments:
Escapist, I agree with you. I myself think the same way about grammar,I don't think if it's a skill that you can master in a month, or a year, or even a lifetime, but it's something that you need to improve on to get better. I take extra Engish (and math) classes every summer, and the teachers that I had, all had their own ways of teaching grammar, though I don't think it was any help, lol...
Good point. It's interesting that you've been taking grammar classes and they don't help. What do you think is the best way to learn about grammar to improve writing? When I think back to when I was in school, I think I learned the most when a teacher sat down with me and went over my paper with me, sentence by sentences. But as a teacher, that's almost impossible to do with every student. Any suggestions?
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