Grammar fascination

General discussion about learning languages

Your relationship with Grammar

Grammar and I fell in love the first time we met.
23
36%
Grammar grew on me.
29
45%
Grammar and I never really kicked it off.
12
19%
 
Total votes: 64

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Magnoliophyta
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Languages: English (N), French (C?), German (C1)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=17953
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Re: Grammar fascination

Postby Magnoliophyta » Sun Oct 03, 2021 9:29 pm

Vordhosbn wrote:I've come to realize, however, that long term one needs more than just grammatical curiosity to go beyond the intermediate level, since by that point the language's most superficial secrets will have been revealed to you. What was once novel soon becomes habit, so a deep cultural interest is ultimately necessary to carry on towards mastery.

These comments resonated with me based on my experience. I'm someone who has always enjoyed thinking about grammar. When I first started learning my first foreign language (French) back in school, my curiosity about grammar was a big source of motivation behind my enthusiasm for the language. With time, though, being able to engage with other cultures, literatures, perspectives, and people became a more meaningful and long-lasting source of language-learning inspiration for me. It also took time for me to realize that speaking in another language is more than just formulating sentences that are, theoretically, grammatically correct -- it's also a matter, in my experience, of taking in examples of how the language is actually used by its speakers, and getting to know the patterns and chunks of language that will be useful to me in actual situations of trying to communicate with others. (I do still enjoy learning grammar, though, and I find a solid foundation in grammar to be very helpful in my language study!)
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