HOW TO DEAL WITH GRAMMAR?
As you saw in the introduction already, it´s always better to start expressing yourself in the language and only after that deal with any grammar issues.
We have all had quite the opposite experience at school – before we start to express the language, we are lead to believe that we have to know the system, the grammar, of the language to even be capable of producing something worthwhile.
In other words – before we are worthy and capable of producing something so natural as a language, we have to have a set of rules to do so. When you think about how you learned your mother tongue, I´m sure that you´ll see a fundamental problem with this thought process.
Yes, it would seem reasonable that before starting to speak, you would need a firm foundation on which to stand. That´s what we have experienced at school and it really seems like the logical progression.
But science doesn´t bear this out. As we have pointed out many times throughout this book already, science shows that if you learn something (like a grammar rule) without a meaningful context – without a sentence that you heard on the streets in Malaga or a sentence you imitated from your interest based text – then it will not be memorized efficiently.
Only after your memory has received a life-related context or an interests related idea, will it be able to acquire the grammar as well.
Therefore, the first rule of grammar for your language learning journey is the following:
All grammar explanations have to be related to specific questions that you yourself have during your imitation of the language!
What do I mean?
Keep in mind that when you learn something that is not directly linked to your present interest or a direct question that you have at this very moment, then your memorization of this fact is very low – about 4-5%. For example in the classroom – if the teacher is explaining something that you didn´t ask about (which is usually the case) then just because of the fact that you don´t have an inner openness to knowing about it, the chance of you memorizing it is minimal.
Now let´s imagine that you have a specific question about grammar and you get an answer to this question, then about 80% of it will be memorized because you had interest in it. And you had a specific question. Quite logical, isn´t it?
I´ll give you an example.
Let´s say that the Spanish text that you are using to imitate the language with the pronunciation tool contains a Spanish sentence “Quiero ir a la playa con mi novia”. It means “I want to go to the beach with my girlfriend”.
When you imitate this sentence – as described above in this chapter – then you will get a pretty quick understanding of all the words, because you have the translation before your eyes and if you need then you can check some words separately with Google Translate as well (though usually it´s not necessary and you will understand everything well just by using the automatic translation that we talked about).
Now if you feel that you have a question – for example “OK, “quiero” means “I want”, but what is the root form of this verb and how do I say “We want” and other forms of this verb?” Then this is a direct question and the solution is extremely easy.
STEP 1: Open Google and type QUIERO + VERB + ESPAÑOL to the search box. Click “search”.
STEP 2: You will see many links with the verb “QUERER” and its conjugations (about how to use it). Click on the first link and you will see all the tenses of the verb QUERER.
STEP 3: If you want then print this sheet out, so that you could have an overview of an important verb as “TO LIKE”.
We advise you to always address grammar on a case-by- case basis. That is, if you have a specific question always search an answer to that specific question, and only that question. Do not be tempted to broaden it in any way. For example, if you find out that QUERER in the present tense is “Yo quiero, tu quieres….” then don´t start researching the patterns of other verbs.
Just always keep your focus on expressing yourself and imitating the language from your chosen interest-based article.
Otherwise used, research shows that a detailed study of grammar can close up your ability to acquire new knowledge, because you are hard-wired to believe that grammar is something difficult. Therefore, the only way to solve this situation successfully is to SIMPLIFY and move from one question to another.
You can simplify the grammar system of a language by focusing only on the things at hand, without broadening the field of interest. This will assure that you will not be overwhelmed by the grammar, which otherwise has the potential to dampen your confidence the second you start diving into it.
Therefore, a smart learner always knows how to find answers to specific questions they have while expressing themselves in the given language.
But there are also some other very cool tricks that you as