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Should I quit studying grammar? | ||
Tags: Learning Strategy | Grammar | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| LaughingChimp Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4699 days ago 346 posts - 594 votes  Speaks: Czech* | Message 9 of 22 28 August 2012 at 8:14pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yes, I think I've written it before: Trying to explain every little detail is a waste of time, just accept it as it is. Read native materials, listen to people. You will start gaining the intuitive knowledge of what sounds right.
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| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5430 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 10 of 22 28 August 2012 at 8:34pm | IP Logged | ||
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Much of the problem stems from the fact that most grammar book, and especially second language textbooks, are prescriptive and not descriptive. They don't tell you how the language is really spoken but rather how it should be written and then spoken. There is a huge gap between the two especially in the area of the spoken language.
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| atama warui Triglot Senior Member Japan Joined 4701 days ago 594 posts - 985 votes Speaks: German*, English, Japanese | Message 11 of 22 28 August 2012 at 8:55pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yeah, but then again, textbooks only take you to the first or second checkpoint. From there on, you have to find the way on your own.
Advancing from 100% grammatical to 20% natural is a huge step that'll take time, and immersion is the top contributor. And the more you do actively with the language and the more feedback you receive, the easier it will get, and at some point it'll just make sense. Hard to describe all the "hidden vibes in a language" in a textbook. Why does Japanese use passive all the time? Why does German try to avoid passive if possible? It doesn't matter. It's important for you to know that that's how it is. Deeper understanding is something you might develop over time. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| outcast Bilingual Heptaglot Senior Member China Joined 4949 days ago 869 posts - 1364 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English*, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Mandarin Studies: Korean | Message 12 of 22 28 August 2012 at 9:08pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thank you all. Unfortunately, I don't have any feedback from natives in my languages, so I just have to read a lot and watch lots of tv.
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| atama warui Triglot Senior Member Japan Joined 4701 days ago 594 posts - 985 votes Speaks: German*, English, Japanese | Message 13 of 22 28 August 2012 at 9:13pm | IP Logged | ||
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Or you start SNSing (Twitter maybe) and other activities like Lang-8 or that RS chat thingy to get in touch with natives.
Will also make your road to fluency so much more fun. Edited by atama warui on 28 August 2012 at 9:14pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| outcast Bilingual Heptaglot Senior Member China Joined 4949 days ago 869 posts - 1364 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English*, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Mandarin Studies: Korean | Message 14 of 22 28 August 2012 at 9:48pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yeah, that's my problem, I'm not into twitter.
Maybe you guys can help. I'm looking for discussion forums, just like this one (in format), where people talk about anything and everything. Newspapers don't help because it is just placing a comment with little feedback. The only place I sort of do is Yahoo! Answers (in French, German, etc), but again, it is mostly one-way and not two-way. I'm thinking that natives will know the good and popular forums in their languages :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4533 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 15 of 22 30 August 2012 at 1:43pm | IP Logged | ||
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The grammar you'll need depends a bit on the level you are at.
I found as a native English speaker, it particularly helpful to read style guides in English, when I started writing. There are lots of subtle grammatical points that native speakers make errors about or subtle points they don't understand. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4828 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 16 of 22 30 August 2012 at 4:12pm | IP Logged | ||
What languages would this be for? I know some UK newspapers have a reader comments section where there are usually "lively" discussions taking place. These refer to specific items that appeared in the online version of the paper, or journalists' blogs in the online paper. If you could find some of those in your target languages, it might be what you are looking for. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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