Apr 3, 2009
If you speak, you know grammar. If you’ve been told otherwise you were deceived.
Well-taught grammar increases kids’ linguistic confidence.
(It’s their language!)
It never makes them so insecure they claim falsely, “I’m bad at grammar.”
* * * * *
I’m poor at grammar. Poor. Just kidding. I don’t even know if that’s classically correct.
I think it’s funny when people say “I’m no good at English” as if the subject were different than the language they are so fluent in, and have been speaking their entire life.
I usually say, “Seems like you are pretty good at it to me.”
I also know very well-spoken people who couldn’t recreate their spoken grammar on paper if their life depended on it.
As a grammar teacher, I must disagree with Joel. I spend most of my time unteaching children the poor grammar that their spoken language contains.
In my experience, well-spoken people are also people who write well. As Abraham’s post said, it is *well taught grammar* (and I would add early to that) that creates eloquence and confidence.
I live in and around physics all day, but I’m not good at the subject. Grammar is the same thing.
Oh, uh, the second Joel. Just realized both comments above mine were by Joels.
Compare and Contrast:
Well-taught arithmetic increases kids’ mathematic confidence.
It never makes them so insecure they claim falsely, “I’m bad at math.”
I speak grammar, I promise you I do not know grammar
Abraham, always the encourager…keep up the good work.
[...] Or something like that. Blogroll [...]