Student Guide #5:
How you know when you've (finally) cracked a grammar point.
What do you think about when you reflect on the reasons why you enjoy your work? There must be thousands of reasons why our jobs leave us coming back for more, and I’m not referring to the pennies in your bank account at the end of the month. When I find myself asking why on earth I chose this career path, the first thing that jumps into my head is the
success my work brings to others. I have seen my students change careers, get promotions, gain qualifications, and win business. Sometimes I play a role in these life-changing moments, which is certainly satisfying. But when I dig a bit deeper, I realise that this is not the biggest reason why I love my job.
You see, we, as English teachers, like to see our students do well in their careers; of course we do. But hearing them finally use a grammar point you taught them in free-flowing natural conversation... it’s like winning the World Cup. We don’t celebrate as if we scored the winning goal in extra time, though. We take a quick note of the accurate usage of the grammar point and save the celebrating for the end of the class. There’s still work to do, after all.
Accurately using a grammar point that was once challenging is a truly magnificent achievement. You’ve been through a lot to get to that point and it is a sure sign that you’ve just about cracked that small aspect of the language. We spot it and we tell you how far you’ve come and what greatness lies ahead of you from here. But how do you truly know that you have indeed cracked it? And that it wasn’t just a fluke?
Once you’ve been introduced to a grammar point, it’s a good idea to spend a bit of time studying it. You will enter a sort of silent period
where you are aware of the new way to express yourself but haven’t seen or heard it enough to give you the confidence to produce it yourself. You are likely to start spotting it being used everywhere, and you will wonder why you didn’t notice it before.Throughout this process, you will become accustomed to the grammar point being around. Eventually, you will be having a chat with someone or writing something when you suddenly feel the need to use it. You might not do so the first time around, but gradually you will build up your confidence and it will start to enter your everyday speech/writing and become a tool in your toolshed that you can use at will.
Joe, this blog post is titled, ‘how you know when you’ve finally cracked a grammar point’- are you not going to tell us? I’m getting there, hold on.
It’s quite easy for a teacher to tell when you’ve fully got to grips with a grammar point you’ve been taught because it simply stops being an issue. Developmental errors become slips, and slips start to drop off, giving way to fluent, natural speech. It’s after a few perfect deliveries of a grammar point in different contexts that I start to get that warm glow of victory over grammar that I so crave.
But when you are studying independently and you don’t have that constant feedback from a teacher, it can be tough to know when to let a grammar point be. My advice for you is to ask yourself these 4 questions:
Can you read it?
Can you hear it?
Can you write it?
Can you say it?
The first two sound easy. It’s just recognising grammar being used by others, right? But if you are really honest with yourself, how often do you highlight grammar points you come across in a text you are reading? Or note down a turn of phrase that you spotted when listening to a colleague in a meeting? If you can recognise these grammar points in different contexts, from different writers/speakers, the chances are you have just about cracked the grammar point. A good way to show your recognition of the grammar point being used is to highlight it if it is written or jot it down if it is spoken. That way you can check the context, form and usage later to make sure you really did catch it.
The productive tasks take a bit more time, and must appear spontaneously. Not in some kind of pre-planned I’m gonna smash that grammar point kind of way. I would say that if you use the grammar point when speaking and writing, and actually recognise that you are doing it, the reason why you are doing it, and the impact it will have on the listener/reader, then you’ve cracked it. And if you do take the time to record these little grammar point victories, not only will it show you the amazing learning journey you have been on, but it will also motivate you to keep going down the rabbit hole into the mad world of English grammar. Good luck!
I’ve attached a little table below to give you an idea of how you could record your grammar point successes as you go.
Disclaimer: I’m not suggesting that that you should study one grammar point relentlessly until you’ve cracked it, ignoring everything else as you go. I’m simply giving you a way of acknowledging your progress through the levels of language acquisition.
It can be rather challenging to keep track of your grammar wins on your own, but the more aware you are of your progress, the clearer your path to fluency will be. That’s why at Genuine English, we always show you why you are learning something, how it relates to your goals, and what level you are currently working at. This is vital because it gives you an idea of where you are and allows you to plot a path to where you want to be.
Genuine English teachers love to plan your route to success and keep you moving in the right direction. If you want to celebrate your grammar victories with an experienced professional who is working hard to help you get results, please contact us today.
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