Embarrassed

[tolalala]

Hello,

I have spent the last couple of weeks reading up on English grammar in preparation for the start of my CELTA course.

Although English is my native language, I am dumbfounded at my lack of knowledge in this field. Like so many others, I cannot remember being taught much grammar at school. I am embarrassed that it takes me a long time to work out what specific tense a given sentence is in. I had never heard of phrasal and modal verbs before. I did not realise that verbs are active or passive. Understanding the English language seems like a minefield to me and yet I am able to communicate effectively and coherently.

I realise that the CELTA is not all about grammar, and even though I have not yet started the course, I am glad to have this opportunity to finally sit down and learn my mother tongue.

 

[RonBee]

You already know your mother tongue. You just don't know the grammar terminology.

 

[BobK]

Hello,

I have spent the last couple of weeks reading up on English grammar in preparation for the start of my CELTA course.

Although English is my native language, I am dumbfounded at my lack of knowledge in this field. Like so many others, I cannot remember being taught much grammar at school. ....

:hi: If you went to a state secondary school in England after the mid-sixties, the only grammar you'd be exposed to would be in foreign (or even classical) languages; and not everyone studied them. But it's nothing to be embarrassed about. as Ron says, you can use the language. Learning to talk about it and teach it are skills you can pick up*.

b

* One of the trickier phrasal verbs. It has more than a dozen meanings - so I should probably have avoided it!

 

[tolalala]

Now that I am studying for the CELTA, I am constantly thinking much harder about words that I use in a given sentence. It's ironic for me, as I am always complemented on the way in which I speak; I have what I guess you would refer to as the traditional BBC / Queen's English and I have a good command of vocabulary, but at the moment, I feel very conscientious when it comes to writing down my thoughts!

I hope that the components of grammar all fall into place sooner rather than later!

 

[RonBee]

I have found that there is a big difference between putting words together to form sentences and explaining why I said something a certain way. Telling somebody that one thing is better than another is a lot easier than explaining why. (Frequently the answer is simply that's just the way it is.)