March 2005

There are two sorts of grammar, two ways of learning grammar and two sorts of people when it comes to grammar learning. Which does make it all far simpler than you might believe.
Sorts of grammar
If you've read any linguistics books, such as Words and Rules by Steven Pinker, then you may already be familiar with some of what I'm about to posit.
Despite the variety of grammatical styles you can come across when learning different languages, e.g. whether you use endings or auxiliary verbs to create tenses, there are only two types of grammar that count, which we can think of as explicit and implicit.
Explicit grammar is the sort you learn at school, the set of sometimes arbitrary rules which tell you how you should construct the perfect sentence. This is the sort of grammar that most of us hate. You know: don't split an infinitive; never end a sentence with a preposition; never kick a man in the goolies unless you can do it really, really hard. Oh, wait, that last one's something different.
Implicit grammar is the grammar you learn without thinking about it when learning to talk as a wee bairn. This is the grammar that's really important – it's what allows you to make sense of 'cat chimney up' or 'he tea make' even though those sentences get a definite F grade insofar as your English teacher goes.
The reason that sentences which pass the implicit grammar test but fail the explicit grammar test work is because implicit grammar is all about how your brain processes language. 'Cat chimney up' contains enough information for your brain to make sense of it. The data that is missing – like the words 'the' and 'is', and correct word order – are just the icing on the cake, they just refine or confirm the basic meaning.
Basically, you can break explicit grammar rules and till have a sentence that makes sense, because it doesn't break the implicit grammar rules. Break implicit grammar and you're stuffed. In some languages, implicit and explicit grammars are very similar, but English, for example, is particularly flexible, allowing you to totally murder 'proper' grammar and still be understood.
Two ways to learn grammar
There are two basic ways to learn grammar – through rules and through examples.
Most books use rules to teach grammar. You know: add '-ing' to form the continuous present tense; add '-s/-es' to form a plural; add vodka to melted chocolate to form a chocolate martini. Oops. There I go again.
Anyway, what happens with rule-based grammar teaching is that you memorise the rules, then every time you recognise that a rule needs applying, you remember the rule, apply it, and that helps you create your phrase or sentence. This means you have to both remember the rule and be able to recognise when you need to apply it. Eventually, your brain assimilates the information and you start applying the rule subconsciously, which is the point at which you've really properly learnt that bit of grammar.
Rule-based teaching depends upon explicit grammar.
Example-based learning skips the rule-learning stage and goes straight to assimilation stage. When we were children, we learnt language by the example of those around us. Admittedly our brains were wired for learning and we sucked up all the data without really thinking about it, but even as adults we can still benefit from child-like learning habits. The more examples we see of a given grammatical point, the easier we find it to learn, the more instinctive our understanding. (This is all tied into the way that memory works too, but that's a topic I am going to have to come back to.)
Example-based teaching depends upon implicit grammar.
Most language courses will give you the minimum number of examples that they think they can get away with, primarily I suspect, because it's easier not to have to sit down and think of them. My experiences with Get Fluent, which teaches through providing lots of examples alongside grammatical explanations (so that you know what the examples are illustrating), and the very positive feedback I had from people about this methodology emphasised that this was a good way of helping people get to grips with grammar.
Two types of people
In the years I've been running the Clwb Malu Cachu Welsh discussion group, I've seen two basic types of people when it comes to learning grammar: grammar fiends and grammarphobics.
Grammar fiends love grammar, they love rule-based learning, they love having everything set out in a net and tidy way that they can categorise and memorise. Fiends get on very well with explicit grammar.
Grammarphobics hate grammar, hate memorising rules and find explicit grammar to be scary, unwieldy and a major hurdle to the learning of languages. Grammarphobics prefer example-based learning and depend upon subconsciously learning implicit grammar.
It's very, very important that you know where on the fiend-phobic continuum you are, because that will influence which methodology suits you. Often grammarphobics feel overwhelmed when they try to learn through rule-based systems and grammar fiends feel disappointed with 'fuzzy' example-based systems.
In reality, we're all a bit fiendish and a bit phobic, but understanding how your mind functions will help you to create a set of learning techniques which work best for you.
Note: This post was updated after the discussions in the comments and on IRC helped me refine what I was trying to say. See, I love this blogging lark – I get to tell you what I think, and you get to correct me!

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One of the easiest things to do when you've just started to learn a new language is learning your numbers. They're useful to know and submit well to chanting out aloud (and doing that will help you with pronunciation too).
So in the spirit of keeping your learning relevant to you, may I take this opportunity to suggest that you go through your address book, translate your ten most important telephone numbers into your target language and then memorise them. You can do that by chanting them out aloud, writing them down in your address book, and/or leaving notes by the phone and reading them out as you dial. Remember to memorise numbers in groups of five or less – it's easier on your grey matter that way.
And of course, the benefit of this is not just linguistic – if you lose your mobile phone or address book or adress book, you'll have at least ten numbers safely committed to memory.

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Back in school, French lessons were based on what might possibly have been one of the most tedious language courses known to man. I remember that it followed the plights of a French boy called Xavier and his family. I also remember wondering why I was supposed to give a toss about him as he was a boring, annoying little shit with all the personality of a brick.
Latin was slightly better, because at least there was a bit of mystique around the Roman Caecilius and his exploits in the Forum. Maybe it was down to the intonation in the voice of Mr Briggs, my erstwhile Latin teacher, but there always seemed to be a hint of some dirty little secret in the goings on at Caecilius' house. I never knew quite what the puella was up to in the culina, but I had a feeling it was something that innocent country girls should probably read up on.
Almost all of the course books I've seen since – and trust me, I've seen a lot – concentrate on a cast of characters in order to try to fake some sort of everyday life, to put what you're learning into the context. They all fail, because it's clear to anyone with half a brain cell that these scenarios are about as contrived as it is possible to be. Any American man who starts chatting up a Japanese woman, uninvited, at an airport these days more is likely to find himself clapped in irons and shipped off to an uncertain fate than talking about whether or not he can speak Japanese.
Maybe I'm just being cynical. But what I do know is that you absolutely have to bring your new language into your life, to give it context, to make it relevant. Relevance is essential. Do you really care whether or not the monkey is in the tree, under the table, or in the oven with an apple in its mouth, roasting slowly at Gas Mark 6 in a pan of olive oil with a rosemary garnish?
No. You care about being able to ask your friend if she wants a cup of tea, or finding out how to get back to your hotel, or telling someone that you can't understand a word they are saying and could they point to the phrase in the phrase book please. Even more importantly, you care about which phrases will be most effective in getting you into your dearly beloved's pants. (Pity me – I'm having to learn American for that.)
When I started writing the Get Fluent worksheets, everything revolved around the concept of giving people exercises to do which they could make relevant to their own life. Learning Xavier's sister's name is pointless. Learning that your own sister is your 'chwaer' and your brother is your 'brawd' is far more likely to stick.
Over the coming weeks, I am going to repurpose as many of the Get Fluent exercises as I can for you to take away and do on your own. In the worksheets as they originally were written, I set everything up, ensuring you had the vocabulary you needed, the grammar, all that stuff, but as I have no idea which language you're trying to learn, I'm afraid you're going to have to do all that work on your own. Don't fret – it'll be good for you.
One word of caution about digging up new vocabulary from your dictionary – make sure that the vocab you learn actually means what you think it means. If possible, find a fluent speaker, maybe a friend or someone on a mailing list, who can double check any words that you're unsure of. I have many times been told 'oh, yes, but that's a dictionary word. No one really says that.' So be careful. No point memorising a word that's archaic or doesn't mean what you think it means.
Keep your eyes peeled for Exercise 1 – it'll be coming your way shortly.

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