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You and I had the same experience. I didn't understand grammar very well
when in elementary school, high school, etc., - in fact I DETESTED ths
subject. But I always spoke and wrote well because I read so much as a
child. I gleaned from what I read so that I spoke and wrote well naturally.
I am sure that this is what you had happen also. My parents, though born in
another country, spoke English very well, so I could imitate them. You too,
no doublt, had the benefit of being able to imitate your parents.
It was only when I got older and studied the grammar of Spanish that English
grammar clicked for me. When I started teaching Spanish and ESL, then I
could really understand the grammatical aspect of English, from a 'rules'
standpoint.
Unfortunately, foreigners trying to learn English as a Second Language do
not have the benefit of imitating parents who speak English, from the time
they (the foreigners) are infants to the time they are adults. Nor do they
have years of having read books in English from age 5 on, like you and I
did. Therefore, in my opinion, their ESL instruction is best supported with
at least some grammar - with some knowledge of why a + b = c.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Barbara Yanez - Sr. Technical Writer
Cogent Systems, Inc., World Leader
in Biometric Identification
(fingerprint, palm print)
and Other Law Enforcement Technology
209 Fair Oaks Avenue
South Pasadena, CA 91030
(626) 799-8090 x 419 http://www.cogentsystems.com
byanez -at- cogentsystems -dot- com
--------------------------------------------------
Editor - Inkspot Technical Writer's Resource http://www.inkspot.com/genres/tech/
barbara -at- inkspot -dot- com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jo Byrd writes:
For some reason I managed to get through grade school and most of high
school
without having a grasp of grammar. I could (and did) speak and write
correct
English, but I couldn't tell you one part of speech from another,
it was only after
studying
French grammar for over a year that English grammar clicked in my head,
So, yes, grammar IS important for understanding a language!
Jo Byrd
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