Why Starting with Grammar, Made You Fail.

If you ever learned a language in school, I can guess that before the 5th class you were already learning about grammar. I can also take an educated bet and say that it is at THIS EXACT MOMENT that you hated learning a new language. 

Chances are that you even said to yourself: 

   ”I am so bad at learning a new language, maybe I should just try to get the passing grade right now. I can always learn it later if I really need it”.

This awful and discouraging moment happened to probably 90% of learners. It really is a shame. We often like to find a culprit for what happens to us, and I will deliver him to you for free. 

His name is: GRAMMAR. 

All our lives, we’ve always depicted language learning as a grammar and rot memorization trick—when it is something else entirely. 

We can clearly see the middle-aged woman on a plane, headset on, repeating phrases in French from an audio course she bought before traveling to Paris, her lifelong dream. 

The problem is that, even though she repeats it dozens, even hundreds of times, her method (and that of probably many millions of people across time) is as inefficient as it gets. 

It will lead to results, sure. But is it the best use of her time? 

Most certainly not. 

Don’t get me wrong—grammar is important. In fact, it is what makes you sound like you got a sizable mastery of the language or not. It will make the difference if you get your point across 1% or  90% of the time. 

It also makes people less likely to switch to English or your native language. 

That being said, there is a time and place for it—and it’s surely not in the first phase of language learning.

If you are not a native English speaker, chances are that you clearly remember spending countless hours trying to memorize: 

• which verbs are irregular

• what the proper conjugation is in ten different verb tenses 

Were you able to use them correctly and efficiently? I doubt it. 

Why? 

Because, in all likelihood, you were lacking a ton of vocabulary. 

Without sufficient exposition to the language, it made little sense. So you were obliged every time to: 

1. Think about what you wanted to say

2. Translate it word for word 

3. Try to recall the exact conjugation

4. Then say it or write it. 

This whole process is time- and energy-consuming. 

To add insult to injury, you were being graded on the exactness of your recalling and not on the ease with which you got an answer close enough to the perfect one. 

Everyone remembers exercises like: 

   ”Name one possessive determiner you could use to complete the following sentence:” 

   or

   ”Complete the this sentence by conjugating the verb X using the right pronoun and tense.”

You Need to Understand if You Want to Learn

Don’t misunderstand me, these kinds of exercises are not completely useless. They are, however, a horrible use of your time. 

Even worse, they complicate the mental process of producing in the target language by adding a layer to it. 

What is often overlooked is that you first need to be able to grasp about 70% of a sentence in order to understand the full meaning of it. 

Trying to answer a complex grammar question by filling a blank in a sentence you barely understand is like trying to select an ingredient for a recipe that you don’t even know the expected result of. 

You may get it right, by sheer luck, but you will not be able to repeat the process more than once with confidence. 

That’ why grammar learning should not take precedence over vocabulary building.

Exercise Construction

The construction of exercises also matters.

Consider the following two exercises:

Exercise #1: 

Complete the following sentence in the present tense using the right conjugated verb: 

______ (To eat, 1st person singular) una manzana mientras mi hermana come pan. 

Exercise #2: 

Complete the following sentence in the present tense using the right conjugation.

(Yo) _______ (comer) una manzana mientras mi hermana come pan.

Answer: Como

Both mean: I eat an apple while my sister eats bread.

In the first exercise you have to think about what is the translation of the verb and the pronoun. It is useless. All that does is complicate your mental process. It is difficult enough as it is, you don’t need an extra layer on top of it. Here’s the reasoning:

Mental process of exercise #1: 

• What does ”to eat” mean in Spanish? --> Comer

• What is 1st person singular in English? —> I

• What is ”I” in Spanish? —> Yo

• How do I conjugate the verb comer in the present if I use the pronoun yo? —> Como

Mental process of exercise #2: 

- How do I conjugate the verb comer in the present if I use the pronoun yo? —> Como

Which one of these seems the most efficient? 

You are exactly right: the second one. 

It may seem only a minor detail. The thing is, it all adds up. 

Every single bit of information that you can simplify in your mind is primordial. The difference it makes at the end is night and day. 

Every effort you don’t have to make renders the process less painful and much more enjoyable. It also fastens it in a way that is pretty hard to put a figure on. 

Although it won’t be easy, it’s possible to avoid developing PTSD.

It is mathematically impossible to put an exact number on the number of students that failed to learn a language because of inefficient grammar-focused learning classes, but you and I both know:

 It must be astronomical.

”Grammar is a piano I play by ear, since I seem to have been out of school the year the rules were mentioned. All I know about grammar is its infinite power.” —  Joan Didion

So … When Should You Learn Grammar?

This is where it gets a little more complicated and nuanced. There are a couple of things that you should learn in the first moments of your learning adventure and the rest you will pick it up along the way. 

For advanced learners, you will need to dedicate time to it at a later stage, but this is beyond the scope of this article. 

Listed below are a pretty comprehensive number of items that are utterly important in the beginning if you want to use the language and make simple phrases. You may have to adjust it a little to fit the language you are learning.

Important Grammar Points to Learn in the Beginning: 

• Word order.

• Present tense conjugation of the most common verbs and patterns when it applies. For example: in Spanish there are 3 verb endings and learning them will help you conjugate about 70 to 80% of the verbs (which represent the percentage of regular verbs). You will still need to learn a couple of irregular verbs but if they are not used all the time (like estar (to be) and ser (also to be..) you don’t need to memorize them now. 

• Genders (the general rules about word endings and the common determiners. Don’t focus on it too much, you will pick it up quickly.)

• Pronouns

• Items indispensable but specific to your target language

That’s pretty much it. Beyond that, reserve it for further down the road. 

You’ve got bigger fish to fry.

Does it Sound Overwhelming? 

No, it doesn’t. You know why? 

Once you clarify the process and narrow it down to the most important stuff to learn, the sky clears up and suddenly everything appears so much more manageable. 

You might not, after all, be the worst language learner to ever live!

For the first couple of weeks/months of the journey, focus on learning: 

• Greetings

• Numbers

• Days of the week

• Months of the year

• Asking for directions (this implies learning things like; left, right, behind, in front of, next to, bus, train station, church, plane, etc.)

• How to address people based on their status (i.e. polite form vs informal speech)

Other than that, focus on building your vocabulary. This is KEY. 

Learn the words for the common things that you use on a daily basis and for the things related to at least one subject that passionate you. Make it relevant, personal, and fun. 

Remember, learning a new language should not be tedious. 

It should be exalting and make you proud daily to see what you can now achieve with the use of your newfound skill.

As you can see, by reimagining what language learning is and can be, you can eliminate all the negative grammar-induced baggage you’ve accumulated over the years. Take a moment to structure your learning and your future self will thank you for it. 

Until then, happy learning!

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