You Don’t Have to Be Well-Versed in English Grammar Terms to Speak Well!

This week we have a special guest writer – Robby Kukurs from English Harmony, a blog dedicated to helping learners of English improve their spoken English confidence. He writes about some of the barriers learners face, with tips and strategies on how to overcome them. I can relate to today’s topic, as lately I’ve started to think more about grammar terms in Czech – and this can be a hindrance at times:

… … …

Would you like to learn how to stop analysing your speech from the grammar standpoint which results in a slow and hesitant speech and often times prevents you from expressing your opinion properly?

Then read my guest posts on Get Into English this week, and you’re also very welcome to ask any questions or share your experiences in the comments below!

The Past Perfect Progressive Tense is used when speaking about events that happened before a certain point in time, but the Future II Simple Tense is used when referring to finished actions that are only going to happen at some point down the line.

Hold on, did I just say Future II Simple Tense? Is it not the same as the Future Perfect Tense?

Well, I’m pretty sure it is, but I’d better check my English grammar textbook to make sure I’m using the correct grammar term. After all, they’re super-relevant to all English learners and improvers, and you’ve just got to know all those grammar-related terms when you speak and write in English. Isn’t that right?

Not really!

What I’ve learned

My past experience tells me that in order to become a fluent English speaker and writer, you don’t have to be very well-versed in grammar terms.

Personally I’ve experienced the biggest improvement of my English fluency since I stopped referring to English grammar books and textbooks for answers as to WHY things are said in a certain way in English.

Now I just learn HOW things are said in the English language without descending into a thorough analysis. It’s helped me greatly with my English fluency improvement mainly for two reasons:

• It takes an awful lot of pressure off my mind when I speak because I don’t try to apply certain grammar rules as I speak
• It makes it so much easier to learn new English vocabulary and phrases because I don’t try to structure everything I hear according to strict rules!

Want to find out more about acquiring natural English grammar without learning specific industry terms?

Do Away With the Academic Side of Yourself – Unless It Is Your Goal!

Just because English grammar books and textbooks provide thorough syntax analysis and give you industry-related terms and descriptions, doesn’t mean you have to adopt the same approach in your English improvement routine.

It probably has never been pointed out to you before, but there are two main routes an English student can go down in his or her life:

• The academic route which basically means becoming an English teacher at some stage
• Professional route when you use English as means of communication at work, to socialize etc.

While the two aren’t exclusive of each other, it’s essential to realize that for most professionals it’s actually irrelevant to know, for example, if the first part of a two noun phrase is called a ‘noun adjunct’ as in “a road sign” and that’s why it doesn’t demand a possessive case to be applied – “a road’s sign” is therefore incorrect.

All you need to know is that it’s called “a road sign”, that’s all!

If you’re studying English with an end-goal in mind of becoming a teacher, you have to know what a ‘noun adjunct’ is in order to obtain all the necessary certification, and also to pass on that knowledge to your future students.

If you’re an average Joe, however, those terms may actually impede your fluency because you may start over-analysing every word you say.

Even worse, you may develop a habit of constantly questioning yourself to make sure you structure English sentences according to the respective grammar rules.

The hidden bullet

Let’s take the following sentence as an example:

“I was out doing grocery shopping this morning when I saw the aftermath of the accident you told me about the night before.”

I wrote this sentence without much thinking, and it sounded fine to my ears at first. But when I read it over three or so times, I start having second thoughts about the correctness of the last part of the sentence:
“… you told me about the night before.”

The action takes place BEFORE a certain point in the past, therefore it demands the Past Perfect Tense, does it not? The sentence should be “… you HAD told me about the night before”!

Well, you see – such analysing works fine when you’re writing because there’s nothing wrong with proofreading a piece of writing and editing it.

In real life conversations, though, such a habit may prove lethal to your fluency and ability to speak without much thinking.

That’s why I warmly suggest to all my fellow foreigners who wish to use English as a means of communication at work or in their social life not to scrutinize everything they say and not to worry about learning English grammar terms too seriously.

– Robby Kukurs

This is a guest post from English fluency expert Robby Kukurs. Robby writes about improving spoken English on his blog EnglishHarmony.com. He also regularly posts videos about improving English fluency on his YouTube channel.

Here is an example video:

You may also like:

Acquire English grammar through naturally occurring speech patterns
Who learns English most effectively: Pavel, Lucka, or Simona?

Photo credits

Image by Mahalie
Licence (CC by 2.0)