Grammar Discussion Lesson Four

DISCUSSION TOPIC
How does the constant misuse of English cause us to be uncertain about how to use grammar?

Using correct grammar can be compared to an older child eating a black olive for the very first time. The ripe olive is a food that usually has to be acquired. Being exposed to them early in life bypasses the time it takes to acquire a taste; because little children seem to take to them automatically. A child that is older, say ten needs to develop a taste for such delicate foods.

A very young child will mimic what he hears before he says words we understand as speech.  As he grows and learns to understand what is being said he will talk the language exactly as he learned it. If the child is exposed to proper usage of English from a toddler on up he will more easily learn from his teachers’ lesson how to always apply the correct usage.  Eventually, when he hears someone’s misuse of the language he will usually cringe if not become a teacher to this person. 


A child learning correct English in a school situation will almost always have greater difficulty learning the correct usage of language if he has had to compete with misusage in his home all his life.  He understands the teacher wants him to say things a certain way, he even learns the rules.  He goes home and slips back to the usage that is familiar and most comfortable for him to use.  As he is more exposed to the teacher’s usage of correct speech he starts to overcome the confusion of the two usages and learns it is a privilege to speak the correct way not merely a choice that makes the teacher happy.  When this child tries to tell his parents how to correctly use their English then he has actually found a way to overcome his difficulty with understanding correct usage.

Being around the constant misusage of the English language will cause uncertainly in those trying to learn correct grammar, but when understanding is gained through knowledge the misuse will no longer be a threat, but an annoyance to him at best.

To the serious learner constant exposure to misusage of the language will cause him to identify the problem and help him to strengthen his own usage.