Conversation vs grammar: effective language learning

Hi there and welcome to my blog!

Today I will be discussing the topic of ‘Conversation VS Grammar Classes? Which language lessons are the most useful?’ To start off, let me briefly introduce myself. I grew up in a country that has 3 national languages, English, French and Creole. My parents can speak all three languages but my father is a first language French speaker and my mother is a first language Creole speaker. They decided to have their children learn English as a first language due to its position as a global language. I started off speaking English and consequently learnt French and Creole at school and in the community, respectively. When I was a teenager, I started taking a keen interest in the Japanese language and proceeded to study it for my degree at university, and in my 20s began learning Korean through self-study. Currently I can speak 5 languages, but English remains the language in which I am most comfortable expressing myself, especially when it comes to scientific or technical terms. So, I decided to write a blog on this topic because I feel like I have experience in learning languages as well as in teaching it to others! I hope you find something useful to take away from my blog. Without further ado, let’s get started!

1.       Can you learn a language exclusively through regular conversation?

My simple answer to this is absolutely. But at the same time, what is your aim with the language? Do you want to read and write, or only speak and listen? Conversation is all about speaking and listening skills, not reading and writing. During conversations you are able to gain understanding of a language through actions and visual cues. If there are words you are unfamiliar with, you are able to ask the person directly to explain the meaning of the word in the language or ask them to translate the word into the language you are comfortable in. Personally, this is how I learnt to speak Creole. I listened to what was being said and inferred meaning to their subsequent actions. There was no English equivalent translation being provided on the spot, no dictionaries available at the time, or detailed explanations given about grammar points. I listened to others speak and repeated, was corrected, and told for example ‘No, you can’t say it this way because its in the present tense, this happened in the past right? So, you have to say it like this…’  Many mistakes and misunderstandings occurred along the way, but that helped solidify the language in my mind where now I am able to speak with confidence and even correct others in their mistakes.

2.       How much importance should we give to grammar?

Having experience learning several different languages, I would say foundational grammar is important, but don’t get hung up over all the little details. After all, languages exist in order to communicate with one another. Remember, making a grammar mistake during a conversation with someone will not have the whole world will implode. If you’re having a conversation with someone, intrinsically they will want to understand what you are saying, therefore they will do their best to get the main points out of the conversation even if the grammar is a little bit off. Leave the grammar to the teachers and the grammar enthusiasts whose work depends on getting the grammar right. I would advise to focus on the basic grammar points and already you’ll be able to have several conversations and convey several different ideas to the listener.

I find knowing vocabulary is more useful than just focusing on grammar. If you’re with a native speaker, they can always deduce what you want to say if you give them the vocabulary keyword in the conversation. For example, I want to tell someone ‘I want to go to the supermarket to buy fruits.’ There are several grammar points in this sentence:

Subject: "I" - The person who is performing the action, which is the speaker or the person talking.

Verb: "want" - The action word that expresses the speaker's desire or intention.

Infinitive phrase: "to go" - The purpose or goal of the speaker's desire, which is to go somewhere.

Prepositional phrase: "to the supermarket" - Describes the destination or location where the speaker wants to go.

Infinitive phrase: "to buy" - The next purpose or goal of the speaker's desire, which is to buy something.

Direct object: "fruits" - The specific thing that the speaker wants to buy at the supermarket.

Overall, this sentence demonstrates the use of subject-verb agreement, infinitive phrases, prepositional phrases, direct objects, and infinitive clauses in the context of expressing a desire or intention. Let’s say we don’t know all these grammar points but still want to convey the intention using vocabulary. A beginner speaker could say ‘Supermarket, I go buy fruits’, or ‘I buy fruits, go supermarket’. Now, for professional writing purposes, we can see that this is not a complete sentence as it is missing as well as misplacing most of the grammar constructions. However, is the message lost? I would disagree. Here we can clearly deduce that the speaker intends to buy fruits at a supermarket, just because the keyword vocabulary was used. This therefore demonstrates that even if grammar is lacking in constructing the sentence, communication is still possible.

3.       What's the best route to take to learn foreign language? 

I get this question a lot from my students. I have read several research articles as well as blog posts on the matter and have decided it best to answer with the following – what do you intend to use the language for? Are you learning the language of choice to navigate as a tourist? To study abroad? To land a job promotion? To converse with your significant other? Your purpose will define your route and needs. But personally, I strongly believe in a wholesome learning approach of building speaking, listening, reading and writing skills all together at the same time. This is what I teach in my lessons. This way, even if your purpose changes, you won’t feel like you’re a beginner all over again trying to level up your writing skill from 1 to balance it with your speaking skill of 7. Learning 5 languages using different approaches, I still believe the fastest and easiest way is to have a teacher or mentor guiding you whilst ensuring all your bases of writing, reading, speaking and listening are getting adequate exposure so that the language pathways in your brain and body are connected and whole. There is a reason why after thousands of years, people still value both the written, and spoken aspects of language.

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The first lesson is free, so you can get a taste of what is in store for you before granting me the privilege of accompanying you on your language learning journey! Hope to see you there!