Recently I\u2019ve been having quite a lot of discussions about grammar. I don\u2019t know why \u2013 it just simply started to come up in conversations all of a sudden. And you\u2019d think that grammar would be a sure conversation killer, right? After all, who wants to discuss the finer points of subordinate clauses in a social setting? But guess what? People don\u2019t really mind talking about grammar and such conversations can get quite heated actually. Especially so when it comes to foreign languages.<\/p>\n
Lately, I\u2019ve participated in several such discussion, and inevitably the topic, regardless of what it was at the beginning of the conversation, always morphs into something like: \u201cWhy do we need to learn all this stupid grammar when studying foreign languages?\u201d<\/em> and \u201cDo babies learn grammar when THEY learn to speak?\u201d<\/em> and \u201cSpeaking is more important than proper grammatical constructions.\u201d<\/em> And so on\u2026 You get the idea.<\/p>\n Such discussions are giving me a headache. Really. You see, I\u2019m not a fan of grammar. In fact, I quite despise the whole issue, and frankly, if I could I would never even open a single grammar textbook in my life.<\/p>\n But I also understand that grammar is important. Whether we like it or not, having at least some basic idea of the quirks and rules of the foreign language one is learning is essential. Otherwise, we end up speaking that language like a bunch of idiots.<\/p>\n And the questions of: \u201cwhat is more important \u2013 speaking or grammar?\u201d<\/em> and \u201cwhy should we study grammar if babies learning to speak never have to deal with stuff like possessive pronouns or passive voice?\u201d<\/em> are quite pointless. At least they are to me.<\/p>\n I\u2019m no linguist, but even I have enough common sense to see that we, as adults, are do not learn foreign languages the way babies learn their native language. And hence, speaking without any grammatical backbone whatsoever can only get us so far (and it won’t be very far – trust me, I’ve been there and done that). I think the post about \u201csin, sitt, sina<\/strong>\u201d kind of illustrates what I\u2019m talking about here.<\/p>\n So yes, if you are just interested in the most basic communication skills, then sure – you can survive those two weeks in a foreign country while butchering the local lingo. But if you want to get to know the language and the whole mentality that comes with speaking it on a daily basis, then unfortunately, you have no choice but to grab a grammar book and study it every so often.<\/p>\n Otherwise how would you know that a possessive pronoun in English often corresponds to the definite article in Swedish, huh?<\/p>\n Now that you know what I think about it, please tell me your opinion \u2013 is grammar important or not? And what are some of your<\/span> best ways to learn Swedish grammar?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recently I\u2019ve been having quite a lot of discussions about grammar. I don\u2019t know why \u2013 it just simply started to come up in conversations all of a sudden. And you\u2019d think that grammar would be a sure conversation killer, right? After all, who wants to discuss the finer points of subordinate clauses in a…<\/p>\n\n