lunes, 13 de julio de 2015

Is Grammar important for learning a new language?


I deeply think that it really is. To understand which are the functions of words and, then to be able to identify these functions in a text, it may allow a better and easier comprenhension of another language. This is true for Spanish, for example.
Since English and Spanish are similar, basic notions of Grammar would be extremely useful to grasp the basic Spanish notions, for example:

- Mi carro (my car) [Possessive]
- Este es para mí. (this is for me) [pronoun acting as an object of a preposition]

Or a simple notion of "noun" (nombre o sustantivo in Spanish), for example: love, peace, house,  Rosa, he, they, you, Peru, Germany, etc.

I realized about this fact when I was explaining some basic notions of English to some technicias in Peru. They could not explain what a noun, adjective or adverb were, and I thought that they learned Grammar at their school. Unfortunately, it was not the case or they just forgot it.
After some days, I found myself explaining to them these ideas in Spanish first. It was really helpful and a rewarding experience for me.

Based on my experience, I can claim that Grammar is really helpful. Tutors should always ask students if Grammar explanation is necessary. Some students have told me that they can understand now how their own language works because of the Spanish grammar they are learning. This is amazing!

Everything has an order in the world and of course, a language has its order and rules. Grammar is for me like a puzzle, once you know how each piece works then everything becomes clear and the puzzle takes form little by little. In this process, practice (patience and affection for the language) is mandatory.

I found this video in Youtube about the importance of Grammar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzXMLtrKBqE and I find it extremely interesting. What do you think? I will be glad to read your comments.

Until the next time!

Rosa




1 comentario:

  1. Hello Rosa - lovely commentary. I would agree this is especially true for the adult learner, who is already fluent in their own language, and those people who are interesting in writing in their target language. However, for those only interested in conversing and very young language learners I don't believe grammar is as essential. Young learners can learn by mimicking those around them without understanding the structure of the language - in this way they can communicate effectively without really understanding the underlying grammar. As you allude to in your commentary - the key point is always to ask the student, what works for them and what the purpose of learning a new language might be.

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