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When it comes to working on individual competencies, grammar is hardly the favorite of most learners. <\/span><\/p>\n Many of us have been traumatized by the standard teaching approach in foreign language classes, where we were made to believe that communication can\u2019t happen without flawless grammar\u2014and that the best way to learn it is to slog through textbooks and memorize complex rules.<\/span><\/p>\n At the same time, it is not that hard to find blog posts claiming that we should all stop worrying about \u201cproper grammar\u201d, as it is in no way a necessary component of fluency (which is exactly what most disillusioned learners would like to hear).<\/span><\/p>\n Fair enough, you don\u2019t really <\/span>need <\/span><\/i>to study grammar to achieve fluency. Just like a child learning their mother tongue, you can pick up correct grammar by exposing yourself to years\u2019 worth of input.<\/span> But if your goal is to learn the foreign language in the most time-efficient way possible, you should think twice before deciding to ignore it altogether.<\/span><\/p>\n The most reasonable approach to grammar is not about pretending that it doesn\u2019t matter or obsessing about every single rule and exception.<\/b> It\u2019s about finding the middle ground between the two. One way to achieve this is to prioritize activities that also let you develop other competencies at the same time.<\/span><\/p>\n In this article, I\u2019ll help you choose the right technique for you based on how long you\u2019ve been learning the foreign language and how you feel about studying grammar.<\/b><\/p>\n Poring over grammar books is rarely the optimal way to start your adventure with a foreign language. Truth be told, I don\u2019t think beginners should aim to isolate grammar at all. <\/span><\/p>\n Grammar explanations only start to make sense when you can compare them against your first-hand experience of the foreign language. If you haven\u2019t acquired it yet, you\u2019ll be better off focusing on developing a basic understanding of the grammar by interacting with simple language bits.<\/span><\/p>\n A good way to give your grammar an early boost is to build your own arsenal of language chunks\u2014prefabricated phrases and parts of sentences that can come in handy in a wide range of situations.<\/b><\/p>\n Memorizing the most valuable chunks (\u201cchunking\u201d) lets you improve your grammar and vocabulary at the same time. Most of all, it gives you something to work with when you\u2019re making your first attempts at communication in the foreign language. <\/span><\/p>\n What kind of expressions should you pay attention to? <\/b><\/p>\n Things like these will make a huge difference in your ability to make your point clear. Since it\u2019s unrealistic to expect that you\u2019ll always be able to come up with them on the spot, memorization is the surest way to start using them consistently. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBut how is memorizing strings of words supposed to improve my grammar?\u201d you might ask. <\/span><\/p>\n Learning grammar isn\u2019t just about analyzing the mechanics behind all the moving parts of the language. It\u2019s just as much, if not more, about burning certain patterns into your brain. And what better way to do so than by using them time after time?<\/b><\/p>\n You don\u2019t always need to understand how a grammatical structure works in order to internalize it. If some area of the grammar leaves you perplexed, you can be sure that many native speakers wouldn\u2019t be able to explain it either. But somehow they still manage to get it right (most of the time, anyway).<\/span><\/p>\n The <\/span><\/i>key<\/i><\/b> to understanding language chunks is that at first they\u2019re acquired <\/span><\/i>unanalyzed<\/i><\/b>. You just learn the whole thing without really thinking about it.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Donovan Nagel<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n So where should you get your chunks from, and how can you make sure you\u2019ll remember them well?<\/b><\/p>\n The most obvious place to check for useful chunks is a good phrasebook. Just don\u2019t copy over every single phrase you find\u2014try to find ones that might come in handy in different contexts or pick out the expressions that are relevant to your own needs and interests.<\/span><\/p>\n Another source of potential chunks is language learning apps like <\/span>Duolingo<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Clozemaster<\/span><\/a>. The main reason why they’re so good is the sheer amount of sentences you’ll be going through during the practice. Even if just 10% of them make good candidates for chunks, you can still expect to collect quite a lot of them.<\/span><\/p>\n If you keep your eyes and ears open, you will find that any piece of media you read, listen to or watch in the foreign language can be an exceptionally useful source of chunks.<\/b>\u00a0Just prepare to capture them\u2014a notepad or a note-taking app is your best bet. Once you\u2019ve gathered a few new phrases, transfer them to some external system that you will use to memorize them. The free flashcard app <\/span>Anki<\/span><\/a> can work wonders here\u2014thanks to the <\/span>spaced repetition algorithm<\/span><\/a>, committing new chunks to memory is as easy as spending a few minutes reviewing flashcards.<\/span><\/p>\n Though you\u2019ll memorize them as fixed structures, chunks can be pretty flexible. Once you get comfortable with them, you\u2019ll be able to change one or more words to express a different thought without much effort.<\/span><\/p>\n Starting from <\/span>What should we do about this?<\/i>\u00a0you can easily get to:<\/span><\/p>\n Of course, memorization can only take you so far\u2014to create a convincing illusion of fluency,\u00a0you\u2019d have to learn tens of thousands of chunks.<\/p>\n As you start learning grammar in more explicit ways, some of the chunks you\u2019ve been using automatically will suddenly start making sense to you at a deeper level.<\/b> Thus, the chunking approach should be seen as a stepping stone that helps you develop your communicative competence without bending over backwards to understand every grammatical nuance.<\/span><\/p>\n According to Stephen Krashen\u2019s theory of second language acquisition, the key to improving one\u2019s command of the grammar is exposure to <\/span>comprehensible input<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n Comprehensible input can be described as all kinds of utterances that can be understood by the learner without much difficulty, even if they wouldn\u2019t be able to produce them themselves.<\/b> I\u2019m sure that in your own language learning journey, you\u2019ve noticed how large the gap between your comprehension and production skills can get. Krashen\u2019s theory tells us that with enough exposure and practice, we should be able to close that gap once and for all.<\/span><\/p>\n The complexity of the grammatical system to be mastered makes it highly unlikely that it can be taught and learned \u2026 \u00a0Even very complex rules, however, can be acquired (or \u201cabsorbed\u201d) through comprehensible input, especially through reading.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Stephen Krashen<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The best way to expose yourself to comprehensible input in the comfort of your home is simply to read, listen to and watch foreign language media.<\/b><\/p>\n If improving your grammar through media consumption sounds too good to be true, you have to remember that certain conditions must be met before the magic can happen.<\/span><\/p>\n First, you have to find content that is just the right difficulty for your current comprehension skills. <\/b>In one of my articles, I\u2019ve gathered some suggestions for types of content that can be useful across various levels of proficiency\u2014follow the links to learn more about the recommended written content<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>and listening materials<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Second, you must make sure that your consumption of foreign media isn\u2019t entirely passive. <\/b>Being genuinely engaged with the language makes you much more likely to gain valuable insights into its grammar. You have to force yourself to think about the underlying structures of the sentences you\u2019re exposing yourself to.<\/span><\/p>\n You can achieve this in several ways. Rewrite paragraphs from the text in a different tense. Repeat entire sentences after the speakers\/actors, and then try switching a few words around. Challenge yourself to find sentences using a specific grammatical feature (e.g. future tense, the subjunctive), write them down and look for patterns.\u00a0 You get the idea\u2014the point is to use your media consumption as an opportunity to play around with the scaffolding of the language, and not just passively observe it. <\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019d like to read about the best way to arrange active listening practice, check out\u00a0<\/span><\/i>6 Active Listening Exercises for Learning Languages<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Lastly, don\u2019t expect to see immediate improvements. <\/b>It takes time for grammatical patterns to sink in and become second nature. You can speed it up a bit if you follow my advice and optimize your consumption for engagement, but it will still be much slower than with explicit grammar practice.<\/span><\/p>\n If learning grammar by exposure takes so long to bring results, why should you even bother? <\/b><\/p>\n The reason why this mode of practice so valuable is that it allows you to make progress in multiple competencies (reading skills, listening skills, vocabulary, grammar) at the same time. It may not the best way to quickly develop your grammar skills, but it works wonders as an all-around long-term language learning strategy.<\/span><\/p>\n Ultimately, you\u2019ll reach a stage where some grammatical structures will just sound \u201cright\u201d to you. This is your end goal: your well-calibrated intuitions will let you make the right decisions without getting bogged down in technical details.<\/b><\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve built up your intuitions by exposing yourself to well-formed language, you\u2019ll want to hone them by subjecting them to as many little tests as possible. <\/span>Believe it or not, one of the best ways to improve your grammar in a foreign language is to make a ton of grammatical mistakes.<\/b><\/p>\n You have to keep in mind, however, that not all of them are created equal\u2014the most \u201cproductive\u201d mistakes are the ones that are followed by clear, immediate feedback. If you set up your practice in a way that allows for such feedback, you\u2019ll be sure to benefit from a phenomenon known as the <\/span>testing effect<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n From the point of view of learning effectiveness, it would be ideal if you never felt self-conscious about using grammar aspects that you haven\u2019t mastered yet. After all, every opportunity to put your skills to the test is a step in the right direction. <\/span>But since some ancient parts of our brains are terrified of looking stupid in front of others, the only sure way to feel comfortable with experimenting\u2014and making lots of mistakes\u2014is to do it in a safe environment.<\/b><\/p>\n Several generations of learners have built up their grammar skills by doing textbook exercises. Though this approach might seem a bit antiquated, it has the crucial features of an effective learning method: it forces you to play around with grammatical structures, provides you with a safe context, and give you access to clear feedback (in the answer key). It\u2019s self-testing boiled down to its purest form.<\/span><\/p>\n There are, of course, many more ways to test your grammar skills on a regular basis. Here are a few quick suggestions to give you the general idea:<\/span><\/p>\n The key to strengthening the connections in your brain and internalizing proper grammar is to regularly recall what you\u2019ve learned before, or better yet, put that knowledge into practice. <\/b>It doesn\u2019t really matter whether you\u2019re breezing through or struggling to get anything right\u2014as long as you\u2019re getting clear feedback, you\u2019re on the fast track to improvement.<\/span><\/p>\n When it comes to interactive grammar practice, you can hardly go wrong with Clozemaster<\/a>.<\/p>\n The language learning app takes all the principles described above and throws in a healthy dose of gamification to make learning grammar much more fun. <\/b><\/p>\n Clozemaster\u2019s core functionality lets you test and improve your language skills by filling in gaps in actual sentences sourced from an online database. The app takes the idea of a <\/span>cloze test<\/span><\/a> to the next level, giving you control over multiple aspects of your learning experience\u2014for example, you can adjust the difficulty level by choosing to fill in the clozes by text input or multiple choice, as well as by displaying or hiding translations.<\/span><\/p>\n The idea behind Clozemaster is to help you improve your language skills in an organic way. Instead of splitting your learning time between several competencies, you can work on grammar, vocabulary and listening skills at the same time by exposing yourself to thousands of cloze tests with text-to-speech audio and realistic context.<\/span><\/p>\n For those interested in practicing grammar in isolation, Clozemaster offers a set of Grammar Challenges targeting specific grammatical concepts<\/b> (available for a number of languages, with more coming soon). For example, users learning Spanish can choose to practice verb declension in the <\/span>Preterite vs. Imperfect<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Haber vs. Tener <\/span><\/i>challenges, as well as work on their prepositions in the <\/span>Prepositions <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>Por vs. Para<\/span><\/i> challenges. <\/span><\/p>\n Thanks to the combination of mass exposure and testing, the thousands of sentences in Clozemaster\u2019s database let you build a solid intuitive understanding of the grammatical system. The built-in spaced repetition algorithm optimizes reviews for maximum recall, helping you remember what you\u2019ve already learned.<\/span><\/p>\n Start practicing grammar in context in one of the dozens of languages available on Clozemaster!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Another way to learn grammar in context is to work with texts written in perfect grammar. With The Great Translation Game, you can select or upload a native-level text and use it to practice writing in your target language.<\/p>\n You start with reviewing the\u00a0automatically provided machine translation and editing it to correct any mistakes. Then, the original sentence disappears and your task is to recreate it from the translation. The game will let you know as soon as you commit a mistake \u2013 this kind of immediate feedback is crucial to improving your writing and grammar skills.<\/strong><\/p>\n Practicing with The Great Translation Game lets you expose yourself to perfectly correct grammar and try your hand at imitating it. The ability to learn from content you’re genuinely interested in makes it a fun and unique way to improve your grammar skills and learn to write fluently in the language you’re learning.<\/p>\n It might seem strange that something as \u201cfundamental\u201d as studying grammatical rules comes at the very end of the article, but there\u2019s a good reason for that.<\/span> Learning grammar from textbooks makes the most sense when you\u2019re at least at the intermediate level\u2014if you do it too early, you\u2019ll most likely end up feeling lost and overwhelmed.<\/b><\/p>\n Putting off explicit grammar study means that when you finally get round to reading that textbook, many of the discussed structures will look familiar to you. All the exposure to grammar you have got up to that point will help you put the new knowledge in context, and even the most technical explanations will intuitively make sense to you.<\/span><\/p>\n Moreover, you\u2019ll be sure that you haven\u2019t wasted any time on deconstructing things that you could have figured out yourself. This alone makes it one of the most time-effective approaches to learning grammar available to any learner.<\/span><\/p>\n What I\u2019m suggesting is essentially to treat grammar textbooks and explainers the way lazy people treat user manuals. Don\u2019t read them before you\u2019ve had the chance to play around with the language\u2014only use them when you need an explanation for a specific issue, or when you want to make sure you haven\u2019t overlooked any important features.<\/b><\/p>\n Another important thing to remember is that not all aspects of a language\u2019s grammar are created equal. Some of them look important (and scary) when broken down in a textbook, but are of marginal significance when it comes to real-world usage. Unless you\u2019re studying for a high-stakes proficiency exam, you really don\u2019t have to master all of them. Instead, you should focus on the low-hanging fruit first\u2014the most used structures, simple rules of a thumb, or things that have parallels in your own language.<\/span><\/p>\n When choosing a grammar textbook, try to look for something with many down-to-earth examples and exercises. This will help you engage with the content and build stronger associations. Once again, you don\u2019t want your study sessions to be just about passive reading. Taking notes, drawing your own diagrams or making doodles are just a few little techniques you can use to help the knowledge sink in.<\/span><\/p>\n A useful learning method used by many successful learners is to create a dedicated grammar journal<\/a> where you will dissect and deconstruct all the problematic grammar topics you encounter on your journey to fluency. Cut out the fluff and put information into a visual form when possible\u2014all this will make the content easier to process and review.<\/span><\/p>\n Finally, remember that spaced repetition apps like <\/span>Anki<\/span><\/a>, usually associated with vocabulary flashcards, can be really effective tools for learning grammar. On top of the obvious benefits of being able to quickly review important grammatical information, putting grammar rules into flashcards will force you to rethink and compress certain topics, thus further improving your understanding.<\/span><\/p>\n The truth about grammar is that it is no less (or more) important than any other of the major language competencies. You can\u2019t expect to be able to communicate well without a decent command of grammar, just as you can\u2019t make proper use of the grammar with a limited vocabulary or poor listening skills.<\/span><\/p>\n This is why, if you care about efficiency, you should aim to work on more than one skill at the same time whenever possible. And since you\u2019ll certainly struggle with wrapping your head around some grammatical topics\u2014no matter what language you\u2019re learning\u2014you might have to do some extra work to bring your grammar in line with other skills.<\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019re looking for a free, well-rounded learning method that will help you target grammar in your daily routine, be sure to check out <\/b>Clozemaster<\/b><\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n Its enjoyable exercises\u2014including the specially designed Grammar Challenges\u2014will let you expose yourself to grammar in context, which is the best way to get an intuitive grasp of the underlying rules.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When it comes to working on individual competencies, grammar is hardly the favorite of most learners. Many of us have been traumatized by the standard teaching approach in foreign language classes, where we were made to believe that communication can\u2019t happen without flawless grammar\u2014and that the best way to learn it is to slog through …<\/p>\nMemorize meaningful language chunks<\/b><\/h2>\n
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![\"Learning](\"https:\/\/www.clozemaster.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/imageedit_4_8020697105.jpg\")
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Get a feel for the grammar through exposure<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"Watching](\"https:\/\/www.clozemaster.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/imageedit_1_5997448664.png\")
Test your grammar skills and get clear feedback<\/b><\/h2>\n
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![\"Anki](\"https:\/\/www.clozemaster.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/imageedit_2_6791329625.png\")
Practice using grammar in authentic contexts with Clozemaster<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"Clozemaster](\"https:\/\/www.clozemaster.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/imageedit_1_9803257603.png\")
Use The Great Translation Game<\/a> to practice writing in correct grammar<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.clozemaster.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Annotation-2019-11-25-175332.jpg\")
Study grammatical rules to smooth out the rough edges<\/b><\/h2>\n
Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n