Learn and study is correlated with meaning, but they are different in sense. The word “learn” means to gain knowledge or skills while “study” means to read, to study anything, remember words, to go to schools, etc.
So, going back to the main question – Can you learn grammar by reading? The answer is, NO, you cannot.
You can STUDY grammar by reading but, YOU CANNOT LEARN grammar by ONLY reading, because learning grammar is through PRACTICE in real conversations, and to WRITE in script, NOT by reading only.
Now, to be clear from all these theories, gaining knowledge in grammar by only reading, is not learning. But, if the question states that, Can you study grammar by reading? The answer is yes!
Learn vs. Study
The question states that “Can you learn grammar by reading?” Meaning, can anyone or can someone gain knowledge in grammar by solely reading.
That is why I cited and differentiated earlier the meaning of the words “learn and study” to be clearly understood.
Anyone can study grammar by reading because the word “study” means to read and to study anything. Yes, you can study grammar but, learning grammar by “only reading,” the answer is no you cannot!
Now, going forward let’s define Grammar and its uses.
What is Grammar?
According to the Dictionary, “Grammar is the whole system and structure of a language or languages in general, usually taken as consist of syntax and morphology (including inflections) and sometimes also phonology and semantics.”
Grammar is very vital to a language
“Grammar” is very vital to a language similar, in humans, the “blood” is essential to the body. Without grammar, language has no life at all and without the grammar rules you can’t distinguish the differences of the language and the similarities too.
Grammar is simply the rules that people need to follow when they use a language.
We want those rules in the same way, as we oblige the rules in our respective Government to where we dwell. If there are no rules, everyone has its own rules. When it happens, all States and countries would be in trouble.
It’s similar to the language, without rules, we would not be able to communicate accurately, and linguistic studies appeared nonsense.
Some aspirants are very interested in learning grammar and not tired of discovering, and doing a lot of exercises of the grammar rules.
On the contrary, a lot of people hate grammar and think it’s very hazardous to study the complications of the rules.
So, do you hate grammatical rules too? Or perhaps you are enjoying and wanting to take the challenges that bear on it.
Whatever view you have, however, you cannot avoid grammar when learning a language. That is the truth, and you must face it whatever the difficulties you encounter.
11 Tips on How to Learn Grammar
Grammar is regularly difficult in the beginning, but, if you grasp the grammar rules, how the word order goes, and the rules, everything will fall into place.
Every language has distinct grammar patterns, and you can’t ignore it. For example, English and Japanese, grammar are both completely different systems and can take more time to learn.
So, you cannot bypass grammar. Now, what are some tips on how to learn grammar?
Knowing the best way to learn grammar is very important. To guide you, here are tips on how to learn grammar;
Think of the Grammar rules the same as the Game Rules
How these two correlated?
You can learn the rules of the game, by just playing the game. Similar in the language, you can learn the grammar by practice, and speaking.
Moreover, in the game, you will make slips, you may even get hurt too. The same in a language, you make errors, and you will sense the difficulty of learning the language.
Ultimately, however, you know how to play the game by following the rules. You know how to use the language also, by working and understanding the grammar rules as well.
The grammatical rules of a language are more profound, but this is the reality of a language that every learner needs to embrace.
Be conscious of the grammar your learning.
Identify the aspects and grammatical structure of the language.
For example, observe the English and the German languages are closely related. Learn how the language states and deliver uniquely to how it arranged in your mother tongue.
If you notice grammar relationships and differences, you will learn the rules more quickly.
Focus on the hard part of the grammar rules.
Focus on the features of grammar you find most confusing. Especially in your writing, you can concentrate on these elements when revising your work.
If you’re tired to do grammar exercises, you can study it at any time. You should try to work out the sentence structures, and rules of the language for yourself.
When practicing grammar exercises, try to go deeper filling in gaps or try to create different answers. Create some sentences of your own that follow the rules you are practicing.
If you are learning English grammar there are many sites that can help you.
Discover the common irregular verbs
If you can grasp these verbs accurately, you will have the chance to concentrate on other features. Irregular verbs are very easy to learn if you keep on practicing it.
Most people do not want to tell you if you use a word mistakenly because they think you might get offended. Ask people to correct you when needed so that you can learn from your mistakes then check your notes to see where you went wrong. Get a list of all the changes, the mistakes you encountered, and study it until you get familiar.
Give more time to learn
Dedicating time to learn a language is an essential part of all these. If you don’t have time to learn, it is impossible to be successful in learning grammar rules to the extent.
Read and Learn
Read many books of the prepared language you are learning. Through reading, you can remember many words, word order, and grammatical rules. Then apply and practice it by conversing with your partner (native speaker) using your new language to learn the grammar rules conversationally.
Be brave
Learning a language is like preparing for war. If you are brave enough to attack the enemies, you have the edge to win the war. Similar to learning a new language, you must be ready, and brave to face the blocks, difficulties, and challenges that may come your way.
Know what language close to your mother tongue
If you are an English speaker you are suited to learn German, Scandinavian languages and so forth. Meaning you should know the relation between your native language and the projected language you likely to learn. In this way you can learn the grammar not struggling and it is more comfortable for you to understand and learn the grammar.
Find more resources
Look for added resources available to sharpen your learning journey. You can search online or purchase some materials that provide quick learning method. Remember to find resources that are useful and worth the price.
Be keen
When you don’t have the courage, and interest in learning the grammar of a particular language you will end up unsuccessful on your learning journey. Set your mind, that you are making these things to be fluent, or to be fruitful, on this journey. Without the interest, and motivation in learning especially grammar, you are only wasting your time, effort and money.
Make friends with the natives
Circle yourself with the native speakers of your new language. By how they converse with you, you can imitate them and speak like them. Grammar might be confusing, but through conversing in a real situation and you can bridge the gap naturally without having the problem of constructing the grammar in sentences.
Learning grammar is a process, and it is commonly hard. There is no reason why you can’t learn it while others can.
Through the tips and methods above, rest assured these can guide you on your path towards learning a new language.
Related Questions:
How to learn tenses easily?
Most of the learners are having a problem in learning the tenses and its uses. In this post, you can find some useful methods on how to learn the tenses without struggling much.
But, before going forward, let us know first, the uses of the tenses. The language has a verb that varies according to the Tenses. Also, the tense is a notifier when the action took place.
So, what’s the most reliable way to learn tenses?
- Make it personal
- Repetition
- Understanding
- Getting used to it through regular practice
- Asking and answering questions
The excellent way to learn tense is, to ‘personalize’ it by creating emotion sentence structures. Through repetition technique, you can remember the use of tenses, and how its constructed.
Asking and answering questions of tenses as well enables you to get a greater feel for how that particular tense form.
With these two steps, you will be able to recognize the grammatical structure, understand WHY a tense used, and practice the tenses.
How can you improve your tenses and grammar?
Tenses and grammar is the essence of learning a language. Commonly, it is in the language that makes it different.
When having trouble in understanding and learning tenses and grammar rules, you should find a way to make it easier and not just drop the language.
Listed here another way to enhance your tenses and grammar learning.
The best way to learn grammar and tense is by fulfilling practical lessons and viewing videos from real life.
It could be helpful if you should read the latest novels, and consider the self-help class. To be able to win this dilemma, don’t forget to practice to speak, and write as well.
When learning a word, study for how it looks in various contexts and conditions. Grammatical case is pointing the use a word acts in a sentence. This indicates that from sentence to order, the same word can be applied in many different ways, with varied different case endings.
So, when joining a word to your vocabulary, never fall on a single example as an evidence of how that word forms in all contexts. Rather, look for other areas the word is used. Concentrate on how it varies from one point to the other. If viable, try to create a set of example sentences and record them down, so that you fully understand how the word goes on a holistic level.
Language learning isn’t a day process, and it never stops. Even a Ph. D. in English can’t be said to understand everything about the language because it’s a very compelling thing.
Use this direct method, and the cases, too. It will enhance naturally, as you will rely not on synthetic, contrived declension charts and grammatical rules, become more conscious of how it feels to use cases accurately, and naturally in conversation.
Which language has the most cases?
If you don’t know with cases, both in your native tongue or previously learned foreign languages, you’ll notice that they can be one of the most intimidating hurdles in all of language learning.
If a language has some grammatical cases that indicate a diversity of roles, and that language have a case arrangement.
Most cases show roles like the subject of a sentence, the direct object of a verb, and the indirect object of a verb, amongst many others.
Most would think that this is because cases are naturally complex, or difficult to learn. This, however, is not right.
The highest number of cases has been the topic of some debate within the linguistic groups for decades. The language Tsez is considered of having the highest number of cases.
Let’s have a look why this language considered having the highest number of cases.
From the work of Comrie and Polinsky, Tsez has multiple non-native cases.
It includes:
- the absolutive
- ergative
- dative
- instrumental
- and two distinct genitival cases
Tsez language has a few other suffixes that strengthen the highest case hood of this language. It comprises:
- an indigent case
- a descriptive case
- And the two different equative cases.
Tsez has a large volume of morphological suffixes to designate spatial relationships, which is helpful in the rugged terrain. In Tsez, local cases can be sort by bearings, it has 7 suffixes, direction 4 suffixes, and distality of 2 suffixes.
However, Comrie and Polinsky cited that speaking about the case in this way deflects from the fundamental problem.
The reason is, the ‘cases’ are compounds of many discrete suffixes, case combinations, than having 126 or 252 or whatever unclear case suffixes.
What makes it confusing, it does not present a hypothesis of what a case suffix would be.
Conclusion:
A lot of people learning a new language do not have much time and such a typical situation.
So what is the most reliable way to learn grammar? Regrettably, there is no simple answer to the problem.
There are just like several various ideas about teaching grammar. Almost all teachers or tutors consider the value of grammar lessons dedicated to a study of language rules and loads of practice drills.
Mostly, teachers believe that grammar thoroughly learned by completing various language exercises in a fun way without concentrating so directly on the rules to make it easier to learn.
Tenses might be complex, and hard to learn but, through practice, commitment and focus, you can beat difficulties that may block your way into learning.
On the other hand, when concluding what language has the highest cases, it does not rely on the number of cases a language have.
Hence, the real question for linguists examining languages is how many affixes you’re dealing with, how rich they are, and what kinds of systematic restrictions placed on them.
These are the practical questions to ask to any language like Tsez.
Practically speaking, any problem you have with cases is simply because they are different, and hard to learn with a mature, grammar-based program.
If you desire to master cases as a kid does, then you need to change your way so that you learn like they do.
This means that you must concentrate on learning grammar from language and not any other way, stem patterns from various contexts, and speak early and frequently, using feedback to reduce your errors.
Whatever you’re belief about it, the method you used, the resources you have, and the way you practiced, these guides that are mentioned above may aid you to learn grammar more efficiently. Try these tips and you will feel ease in learning the complexity of Grammar rules.