Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

najma · Joined: 11 Mar 2005 Posts: 10

grammar is important for English?

asterix · Joined: 26 Jan 2003 Posts: 1654

najma · Joined: 11 Mar 2005 Posts: 10

yes, is importan but is hard to understand, confuyus for me but I traying to learnig.

gear2000 · Joined: 12 Feb 2005 Posts: 48 Location: atlanta,USA

dont start with grammar.
delivering meaning is the first thing then u can learn grammar to make ur language better

najma · Joined: 11 Mar 2005 Posts: 10

Hey najma again to ask you tell me easy way I learning grammar?
example, I mixed up 8 part a speech like pnonoun,adjective, but if tell me easy way can you repost me again.
thank you.

tiima005 · Joined: 23 Mar 2005 Posts: 6

I think english is easy to learn

yasin omer · Joined: 11 Mar 2005 Posts: 6

HAI Najma English is very easy langouge, so just do your best. :roll:

Macarena P�rez de Castro · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 5 Location: Santiago, Chile

Hi,

I'm Macarena from Chile. I'm studying to become an English Teacher, and though I have worked with English all my life (I'm 42), it seems that getting a grip with grammar is going to be much tougher than what I thought.

Any suggestions, tips...?

coffeedecafe · Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 140 Location: michigan,usa

you have formed well written sentences. perhaps confidence is neccessary?
perhaps as a teacher you know it is harder to answer the question 'why' in grammar than to speak or write in a way other people can understand.

perhaps a key to give good teaching is to always improve every day instead of expecting perfection?
a definition of grammar might be speaking or writing in a manner the average native child will understand?
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coffeedecafe

Macarena P�rez de Castro · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 5 Location: Santiago, Chile

coffeedecafe,

Thanks for your comments! You hit the point: when I asked my Grammar teacher what was the purpose behind this excruciating learning process, he said exactly, that: what are you going to do when a student asks you why? The thing is I want to teach English Literature for high school students, so that they already know how to spell and write. I don't know, because here in Chile you get this type fo student only at private and very exclusive schools... and then, I also would like to teach English at schools where kids get very poor english classes...

What do you do, where do you live?
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i would like to be contacted by techers of english literature.

coffeedecafe · Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 140 Location: michigan,usa

thank you for your kind comments. i live in the state of michigan, u.s.a.
i am presently semi-retired and do not consider myself a teacher of literature. i am somewhat of a bookworm, and just happened to stumble into this esl site. i am acquainted with some of the international students at a nearby university. sometimes i answer some of the "how do you say" questions they have, but i am not employed as a teacher. who knows? this may lead me into something like that, but i do not have the degrees that the more established schools would require. of course, if i was typing classroom materials i would probably have to master capital letters...
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coffeedecafe

Macarena P�rez de Castro · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 5 Location: Santiago, Chile

Thanks for getting back to me. On Thursday I had my first Grammar test and despite of my nervousness I think I did much better of what I was expecting.

I'm also a big book lover... so, what is it you like to read? I love good, intelligent novels... but my favorite are short stories.

Presently I'm working at a local school (Santiago College) from where I graduated 25 years ago! I'm the Public Relations & Communications Officer. A lot of work, but quite exciting.

Now I have to focus on Phonetics, any comments on that field? I think I kind of lost my accent after living almost 2 years in Missouri... I know, I know, no one (not even Americans) go to Missouri...

Hope to hear from you again.
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i would like to be contacted by techers of english literature.

coffeedecafe · Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 140 Location: michigan,usa

has it really been since may day that i have been here?
i have been to missouri- i have even been to kansas!
i have both a brother and a niece who live in that general area. the niece works with a group that takes rural, unwritten languages into written form, complete with dictionaries, beginners books and readers as well as bible translation. that group is called new tribes bible mission, and they are experts on phonetics, which is very closely related to translation work. if you punched in that name as a search you might get some information which you could surprise your teacher with.
some people confuse phonetics with phonics, which was a theory of teaching reading which thought young children should write words however they thought the word sounded. as they gained experience, the theory went, they would automatically learn to spell correctly. where this was tried, there were many very intelligent students who never did learn how to spell.
if you were in missouri for only two years, it was probably college times, and you lived in either saint louis or kansas city and never saw much of the beautiful lakes and country. am i right?
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coffeedecafe