Spoken English Grammar

January 30, 2009

To learn spoken English grammar, we must use different methods than were used in our English classes in the
past.

For just as it’s impossible to remember and use memorized vocabulary in a real conversation, it’s also impossible
to quickly remember and use grammar rules that were consciously memorized.

Recently, on our Member Forums, we got a good example of this. A member complained that there were so
many rules and exceptions regarding the use of articles (“a”, “an”, “the”). He couldn’t remember all of them and
couldn’t understand when to use which article, and when not to use an article.

The problem is, in spoken English, native speakers use articles in almost every sentence. If you look at an
English grammar book, you’ll often find 3-5 pages or more on articles– full of rules and exceptions.

So, is it possible in a real, fast conversation to think about 5 pages of grammar rules before speaking EVERY
sentence? Absolutely not. Of course not. There simply is not time. The conscious mind cannot think about and
use so much information in such a fast time.

But our unconscious minds can. They can process multiple streams of information instantly.

However, the unconscious mind works much differently than the conscious mind, and it learns much differently. It
doesn’t learn by memorizing lists and “rules”. It learns by understanding patterns intuitively.

Which means that listening to easy, understandable, repetitive English is the best way to teach the unconscious
mind. If you just do this and relax, your unconscious mind will figure out even the most difficult grammar. The
problem is, when you start trying to analyze and consciously understand, you block the unconscious mind and
return again to slow and ineffective memorization.

So, learning spoken grammar requires some confidence and some relaxation. You must trust the process
enough to just relax and let it happen automatically, without analyzing or worrying.

Learn spoken English grammar by listening to very easy English– repeating it as much as possible, with as much
emotion and movement as possible.

Over time, you’ll understand more and more and it will feel effortless.

Eventually, you’ll totally master spoken English grammar- without any attempt to memorize “rules”.

This is the path to truly mastering spoken English grammar.

 One of the biggest myths in the ESL industry is that you should master grammar first before you can
start speaking. This is a complete misconception. In fact, focusing too much on grammar will slow your
progress in English speaking.
A universal truth that we cannot ignore about language learning is that all of us learned to speak before we
learned grammar. So if you are a non-native English speaker trying to learn or improve English, focus on
speaking and listening first. Once, you understand the right language patterns through listening and speaking,
you will understand the fundamentals of grammar is a simple, intuitive way.
It is important also note the relationship between grammar and speaking is not a two way street. Improvements
you make in English speaking will help you improve grammar. However, improving grammar will not make help
you improve English speaking. Think of friends who moved to an English speaking country and started not only
speaking but also writing with improved grammar.
So what basic grammar do you need to know to start speaking? What is the minimum you should know? That’s
what we are going to discuss today. There are only 4 basic concepts that you should really know in grammar to
get started. They are 1) subject 2) predicate 3) verb 4) article. Learn these 4 concepts and you can study more
advanced grammar topics once you become better at speaking.