Should I start with Grammar?

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Hello, language lovers and curious minds! Each week, Polyglot Bits brings you a quick text about a language learning journey for you to relate or to learn a thing or two, we also make sure to leave you a weekly tip to fuel your language learning journey. Whether you're mastering Mandarin, dabbling in Dutch, or just starting with Spanish, we've got something for everyone. Let's explore the world one word at a time! 🌟

POLYGLOT THOUGHTS
Should I start with grammar?

This week we will be discussing the topic: “How important grammar really is in learning a new language”. This is a very popular topic when it comes to language learning, it is good to know that almost everyone has a unique and different opinion about it, with this in mind I want to say that I will be only giving my personal opinion on this topic as always.

It is really difficult for anyone to say if grammar is the most or least important part in learning a new language, this comes from the fact that everyone learns in a slightly different way. Some people might enjoy studying grammar, but the truth is that most people hate it! My opinion is that, when starting out, grammar is the least important subject, you should start by learning some vocabulary, pronunciation, to read and write and not by learning some grammar rule in a language you don´t even understand 1%. However, after some time learning the language, the grammar part of a language is absolutely necessary, even though grammar is boring and hard, it is an essential part for every language! You might have a lot of vocabulary, but if you don´t know to connect that vocabulary you won´t get very far…

Now you ask me: “But even if I make a littler grammar mistake people will understand me just fine!”. Well, imagine trying to build a house without a blueprint. Sure, you might end up with something that vaguely resembles a house, but it’s likely to be unstable and filled with flaws. Grammar is the blueprint of any language. It provides the structure needed to make sense of the words and phrases you’re learning. Without a solid understanding of grammar, you might end up with a jumble of words that might have your basic meaning but lack clarity and precision. For instance, mixing up verb tenses can change the entire meaning of your sentence. "I eat pizza" versus "I ate pizza" or "I will eat pizza". As you can see these small shifts in grammar drastically change the meaning of the message you are trying to deliver.

At the end of the day, the important thing to know is that eventually you will have to spend time learning grammar, it is impossible for someone to reach fluency without knowing grammar, however, at the start of your journey it shouldn´t be your priority! Try to do it in your own pace, your way and without pressure! Even native speakers make mistake sometimes and they don´t stop speaking their language because of that!

Weekly Tip
Learn grammar with structures!

We all know that grammar is boring and very hard to study, however, you can make it a little bit easier to learn with this simple tip! Instead of memorizing a boring grammar rule I would find different ways to use that rule in sentences and contexts and I would memorize those structures while trying to understand the rule I was learning. This worked really well for me, because I would find patterns instead of rules, and patterns are way easier to memorize!

Word of the week
War

Guerra - Portuguese
Guerre - French
Krieg- German
война- Russian