Grammar, First or Second?
If you are an English learner, this topic is debatable and various opinion rise up. English is my third language (please this is not a brand tagline but it’s true) and I learned it since elementary school. Of course, my mother tongue is Bahasa Indonesia followed by Javanese.
Right now, I find out that I am confident enough to talk, write, listen and speak in this international language. Also, I graduated with language degree. I think, that’s enough for me to learn this language. I feel like I’m tired to learn this but when I read English literature, I don’t have enough vocabulary.
Well, I know that English has more than one million words compare to Bahasa Indonesia. That’s why I always encourage myself to read anything in this language.
Also, when you learn a language, grammar also follows. If you are curious, I am not that proficient in grammar, just for the advance one. Of course, tenses is my best friend even though I have to search on Google to classify it. Haha.
Most of my friends always ask the same question.
“Should I learn grammar thoroughly?”
“Grammar first or speaking first?”
If you ask this question to the other learners or professors they will have different opinion. In this article, let me tell you how I will answer it.
Learning language is complex. That’s why there is curriculum made by expert. Different expert has different taste of teaching. When you are learning new language and want to make it proficient, you have to learn and practice hard.
While learning it, your confident is must. Yes, applying the target language in daily life or practicing it is must with confident. Don’t give a fck when you make mistake, learner always makes mistake.
Then, what about grammar? In my opinion, in English, you have to differentiate between past, present and future. Differently with Indonesia, English time is shown in verb changes, not in the adverb.
I think, don’t mind about the rest of tenses. You have to focus on present tense, past tense and future tense. If you have master it, you can move to the other tenses.
What if I make grammar mistake when speak or write in English? It’s okay. You can ask you mentor or your proficient friend to be your editor. You can also revise it. However, if you want to go to academical or governmental field, grammar is must. I think it’s to avoid double meaning and well, I’m not using English as first language. Maybe the native will have different opinion about the professional field.
In the end, you have to confident during your learning journey. People who are more proficient than you will understand what you are going to say even though you lack of grammar knowledge. Just boost your vocab and always curious with grammar.
Cheers
#100dayschallenge #day60 #englishgrammar