English without grammar

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Milczek

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Hi guys,
I'm learning English and I wonder, the grammar should be very important during learning? I enjoy listening English , writing and talking with people. But when I sat in front of a grammar book I thought that I will sleep. It was very boring and useless. I think can I learn English as a kid?I mean, don't focus on grammar but only try to use English all time. Just as I learnt my mother Polish language.I'm a the age of 19. I can't arrived to the United Kingdom but I don't think so It's nessecery to learn English very good. :-|

What do you think about it and what can you advise me ?

Edit. I keen on history of Scotland and Irland.I try to develop both my hobbies and English. I'm going to study in the next year and I want to use with a student exchange. Maybe I'll come out abroad so I have to learn English very well.
 
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Certainly you can make yourself understood by speaking even very broken English. As long as you live in a country where English is not the primary language, you will be fine. Billions of people worldwide lead happy and successful lives without speaking English.

If, however, you plan to move to an English-speaking country, then you will be a second-class citizen until you learn to express yourself intelligently- by using proper grammar. You needn't be perfect- native speakers make mistakes- but it should be better:

"I can't arrived to the United Kingdom but I don't think so It's nessecery to learn English very good."

I have no idea what that means.

You're 19- old enough to make your own decisions and abide by the success or failure of those decisions.
 

Milczek

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I can't come out to the United Kingdom in order to learn English but I don't think so, It's nesecery to learn English very good. . Maybe now do you understand?
 

Milczek

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I understand you, but I always read that grammar isn't the most important so I think dispense with English.
 

Lumia625

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I understand you, but I always read that grammar isn't the most important so I think dispense with English.

Do you know what can differentiate a native speaker of English with a non-native?

The answer is grammar.

You can buy a dictionary and try to memorise all of its entries. Even a native speaker of English do not know all of the English vocabulary, but they can make grammatical sentences that you with memorisation of thousands of vocabulary can't.
 

Milczek

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Ok, but Native don't think about grammar when he speaks. As me, I don't think about grammar when I speak in Polish.I feel me language. I've never learnt grammar my mother language. I ask you , is it possible learn the second language in the similar way. Can I feel the second language in the same level as my the first language.

Example, Families with their children who emigrated to other country. Probably, Their children will be use two languages. One of them will be environment's language and the second will be parents' language.

I know that grammar is important. But when I red book about english grammar, I saw much hard definitions. A lot of them I saw first time. I wrote my last posts not enough obvious. But I my country for teachers the most important thing in English is grammar. We don't focus on speaking, listening, writting. And then , Students who finished school, can't speak in any foreign language becouse they studied only books with grammar. I want to learn English in any other way. :p

Guys, Thank you very much for the conversation
 

tkacka15

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I understand you, but I always read that grammar isn't the most important so I think dispense with English.

Hi Milczek.

I'm Polish as well. My piece of advice to you is that you have to study English grammar if you want to master English language. You may be surprised how many points in Polish grammar are similar to those in English one. Of course, there are also differences between them, especially in numerous idiomatic structures, both grammatical and lexical ones, but you should take it up as a challenge if you, again, want to be relatively fluent in English.
 

TheParser

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Hello, Milczek:

Siince this is a discussion forum, I guess that I can give you my opinion.

I basically agree with you: grammar is a big bore if your goal is to simply speak English and to understand it.

Yes, I have also heard that many students in many countries know all the rules of English, French, etc., but when they open their mouths, nothing comes out.

I have often read that some famous athletes claim that they learned English simply by watching American movies.

In fact, one young man from an Asian country emigrated to Europe. When people asked him why he spoke such good English, he claimed that he learned it by watching American cowboy movies!

Some people have an ear for language. Supposedly that's why little children learn it so fast. They are not interested in rules. They listen and repeat. They don't care about mistakes, which eventually go away anyway. We adults are afraid to embarrass ourselves. So we are afraid to speak a foreign language.

I have known some people who did not know a word of English when they came to the United States. After they were here for a few years working and associating with Americans, the magical moment suddenly came: They realized that they could speak and understand English naturally.

Of course, if you are seeking a university education, you do not necessarily have to know the rules of grammar, but you WILL need to know how to write grammatical sentences.

I am sure that you are the first person to admit that your writing would NOT get you into a university. And -- based on your writing -- no company would hire you.

Here in the United States, many professors, I hear, are going crazy because many of their students can speak English "fluently," but they can't write a decent sentence. And forget about any sense of punctuation!

Since you are interested in British history, then you should read all that you can on that topic. And during a student exchange, you WILL improve your English, especially if the other students do NOT speak Polish.

The best and most interesting way to improve your English, of course, is to have a significant other (a boyfriend or girlfriend) or -- at least -- a roommate who speaks ONLY English!
 
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Milczek

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I am sure that you are the first person to admit that your writing would NOT get you into a university. And -- based on your writing -- no company would hire you.
Of Course , I agree.It's one of reasons that I try to improve my English.
Thank you very much :)
 

Skrej

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Your question is actually part of an on-going and ever-changing dialogue between linguists, language educators, and academics. The pedagogues for teaching language seem to change every thirty years or so to reflect this ongoing debate.


You can read through some of these here, and use your own judgement.

My personal opinion is that there isn't one 'perfect' method. Everyone learns differently, and while one approach will work for some students, it will discourage those whose learning style is different.

I don't subscribe to any one particular theory when teaching - I try blending several techniques, depending upon what students' needs are.

Eventually, though, you will need to acquire some grammar to advance in a language, especially if you want to write and read in a foreign language. The question of when and how you acquire that grammar is, in my opinion, based on student learning styles and needs.
 

Tdol

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Grammar is a useful tool when learning a second language. It isn't the only one available, but it can be a powerful one, so deciding to ignore it completely may be reducing your efficiency.
 

Raymott

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It's generally considered that, at the age of 19, you are past the age where you can learn a second language in the same way you learnt your first. I would guess that it's impossible to do so unless you are deeply immersed in the language - not only living in the community, but being intimately associated with someone who speaks the language.

PS: Learning a second language at 19 is completely different from learning your mother language without knowing its grammar. Learning grammar is not necessary in learning a mother tongue.
 
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BobK

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I lost a teaching gig because a student (from the Czech Republic) was adamant that he should be able to learn English in exactly the same way as he had acquired his mother tongue. He was in his late 20s, and at that age you can't learn a language without a bit of effort. (But "learning grammar" doesn't have to mean ploughing through Murphy. ;-))

b
 

Tdol

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No, but it might provide a quick fix for I can't arrived.
 

probus

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It's generally considered that, at the age of 19, you are past the age where you can learn a second language in the same way you learnt your first.

Yes, and 19 is indeed an upper limit. In my admittedly very limited experience a few people are still able to acquire a language
in a purely intuitive way in their mid-teens, but in most of us that ability is completely gone by the time we are 10.

Therefore, grammar is necessary.
 
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Nuala01

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hey friend,
i can understand your problem.some time i also face same problem.
I am also trying to learn English with grammar. For this i set schedule, i give half an hour for grammar.I try to learn as much i can and use those grammar words and uses those sentence on daily bases. you can also try this.Hope you will also enjoy this learning technique as i am enjoying.
 

FulcrumFlame

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Hi, Milczek!

I think you just need more patience to study English Grammar. Sometimes it's a hard work, but it always gives great rewards.
When you note your first results, you will be happy and satisfied! It can help you persevere.
 
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