Welcome to "Tea with Julie," a weekly missive by me, Julie Bogart. My wish is to give you food for thought over a cup of tea to enhance your life as an educator, parent, and awesome adult. Glad you're here. Pinkies up!
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Cincinnati, August 26, 2023
Hi Friend,
Most of us already have a strong grasp of English grammar. Native speakers of any language know if a sentence is correctly formed by how it sounds. That is the first level of grammar awareness: being able to form sentences that sound right to other native speakers. Any native speaker over the age of five does this effortlessly.
By and large, if a person reads and writes, speaks and listens, a native speaker will learn 95% of the grammar patterns that they need to function successfully as both a writer and speaker.
So what about that five percent?
Should we work on grammar and punctuation every single year of school, cycling through the same terms and constructions, beating those terms into hormonally resistant brains, when native speakers don’t really grasp the meaning of “adverbial clauses,” but use them successfully whenever they chat for sixteen hours on the phone, never taking a single breath, feet flopped over the sides of the “good chairs” in the living room, reminding me when I get a call that they are “…on the other line. Can you make it short, please?”
I say “Stop the madness!” (And give me the phone…)
I have a few tips for how to handle that five percent of grammar we misuse:
- Read
Read widely. Read fiction and non-fiction. Read newspaper articles, online reviews of movies and music, blogs, magazines, Shakespeare’s sonnets, poetry, field guides, flyers from the supermarket, classics and contemporary authors. Read it all.
- Copywork
Copy good writing. Copy favorite passages. Copy poems.
- Watch TV
I’m serious. Actors express their native language in the most sophisticated and nuanced use you will hear. Television writers design scripts to cause viewers to laugh, feel suspense, and to engage with the story. The actors take the written words and bring them to life correctly. It is rare that you hear a glaring misuse of English in a sit-com. If you do, it is because it is a part of the character’s personality. Movies and books on tape also fill a similar function. Listen to radio countdowns and talk radio shows. Go to live performances (plays). Get around masterful native speakers any time you can.
- Dictation
For written skills, I still think dictation is the way to grow. Kids are learning usage in context and are gently challenging themselves at a higher and higher level as they age and select harder material.
- Foreign language instruction
Learning another language does more to teach the content of grammar (what it is, why it works, how it works) than studying English grammar. Can you think why? It’s because you can’t rely on your ear to guide you. You are required to learn the rules in order to speak in coherent sentences. Suddenly prepositional phrases matter. Knowing whether the adjective comes before the noun or after is really important, and relevant. As a result, foreign language study is a fabulous way to learn grammar with your kids.
- Use grammar references for the rest
Seriously. We all do. Editors have more grammar references than anyone. Whenever I am confused or uncertain, I pop open Nitty Gritty Grammar or Woe is I and double check. Grammar check on the computer is marvelous for at least making you rethink your choice. Sometimes grammar check is wrong… and you know how you know? It sounds wrong to you. That’s how it works.
The Bottom Line
Grammar matters, but not in the way you might remember from school. A sturdy knowledge of grammar gives kids the ability to play with language (turning nouns into verbs or adjectives into nouns). Manipulation of grammar offers writers the chance to subvert reader expectations, which in turn creates delight or surprise!
Grammatical accuracy is important but not nearly as elusive to native speakers as some writing programs suggest. Rather, you want grammar instruction to offer your children the higher order skills: grammar as glamour—a gateway to power in writing.
If you're new to Brave Writer, we teach grammar using literature. You can try us for a month using one of our Literature Singles!
Warmly,
P.S. Catch up on all the “Tea with Julie” emails here!
Julie Bogart
© 2023 Brave Writer LLC™
help@bravewriter.com
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