Macro-English (9)

Grammar is boring. It confuses me and gives me headache. Its terms and rules have no connection to my daily life. These views may be right but are regrettable. Grammar itself is not a problem. A learner herself is not to blame. It is the following that discredit grammar:

1.  Misleading and contradictory statements are often seen in some grammar books.

2.  The book’s contents are often disorganized.

3.  The information about a topic is always not complete.

4.  The way of teaching lacks interest.

Now the book “English for the Eager Learners” has wiped off the above accusations and revealed the secrets of mastering the language.  It directs a reader to think actively and logically, and to correctly write a sentence in a clear, meaningful way - that is called grammar. In other words grammar means organization.

”English for the Eager Learners” is a teach-yourself book. Its topics are self-contained and interrelated. The grammatical rules and terms are kept to a minimum.  But its main value is seen in letting the students know the reasons with which the language works. A reader will know why:

1.  The noun “gun” has zero article.

       The suspect came out of the house, gun in hand.

2.  The adverb “here” can follow “be”, and the adverb ”slowly” can’t.

       The dog is here.                              (correct)                   

       The dog’s action is slowly.            (incorrect)

Grammar is boring. It confuses me and gives me headache. Its terms and rules have no connection to my daily life. These views may be right but are regrettable. Grammar itself is not a problem. A learner herself is not to blame. It is the following that discredit grammar:

1.  Misleading and contradictory statements are often seen in some grammar books.

2.  The book’s contents are often disorganized.

3.  The information about a topic is always not complete.

4.  The way of teaching lacks interest.

Now the book “English for the Eager Learners” has wiped off the above accusations and revealed the secrets of mastering the language.  It directs a reader to think actively and logically, and to correctly write a sentence in a clear, meaningful way - that is called grammar. In other words grammar means organization.

”English for the Eager Learners” is a teach-yourself book. Its topics are self-contained and interrelated. The grammatical rules and terms are kept to a minimum.  But its main value is seen in letting the students know the reasons with which the language works. A reader will know why:

1.  The noun “gun” has zero article.

       The suspect came out of the house, gun in hand.

2.  The adverb “here” can follow “be”, and the adverb ”slowly” can’t.

Macro-English (8)

Once the study of the English language starts to begin, the following suggestions can be useful:

1. English is learned step by step: lesson 4 is based on a full understanding of lesson 3. It is not a smart way to skip.

2. Each study time should come close to people's attention span, which is around 15-20 minutes. A total concentration matters, and skimming is inadvisable.

    In the history of Harvard University, one of the highest grades was achieved by a student, who did his homework among the loud, unpleasant noise of a large family in the slums.

    Abraham Lincoln, President of the USA, wrote his famous "Dedication" in a rattling train roaring forever forward. So how we study comes to be the first important element of success, not where.

3. Knowledge, like tasty food, should be chewed, enjoyed, and swallowed a little each time. When we feel full, the time to stop is up. How much we get counts more than how many pages we read.

4. It is good to have a pencil at hand to mark down the notes, the thoughts and the findings we have in the course of study.

5. It does us no good to feel tense when we are going through the lines. Just take it easy. Always relax as we learn.

6. When reading, we usually take 2 or 3 words at one sight:

     There is nothing/like the sight/of an old enemy/down on his luck./

     Last Sunday/we held a surprise party/for one of our old schoolmates./

     It was her birthday./We invited forty people,/and most of them came./

This skill can be easily obtained with some practice, and then it will become our lifelong tool.

Macro-English (7)

Too many fixed expressions, idioms and collocations (combination of words) can be seen spreading through the language. They are exceptions to rules. It is these exceptions that require us to exercise our memory all the time.

         Easy does it. (= to do something slowly and carefully)

It is a fixed expression. We can't write:

         Easy did it.  Or, easiness does it.

Here we understand "does" needs a subject, and that is "easy".

         Easy come, easy go. (= Something is easily got and soon lost.)

We can't use "easily" to replace the adverb "easy" in the sentence.

Idioms go the same way, not governed by grammatical rules.

         Once in a blue moon.

According to grammar we have to say "the moon".

         Go broke. (= Take a dangerous risk.)

Generally we use a gerund after "go", not the adjective "broke".

Some collocations also don't follow grammatical rules.

It is correct to say:

         The girl likes the diamond ring very much.

But not:

         The girl likes the diamond ring much.

(Though "much" is correctly used to modify "likes", people don't write this way.)

Now we may summarize what we have learned so far:

     1. Today's grammar is simple and easy to learn, and to write correct English is not a problem.

     2. With reasons behind the rules to light up our language path, we are able to see where we stand and what others are working on, i.e. Who’s right and why? Who’s wrong and why?

     3. As our communication is built on a large number of exceptions, it is sensible to learn them as many as possible.

Macro-English (6)

Few people realize there is a special, important technique of studying grammar: to look for the reasons behind the rules. Here we can see the word "home" is accepted as a noun for the following reasons.

       1. Its outlook suggests that it is a noun.

       2. The four positions it occupies show it is a noun.

              i)      It stands before a verb.

                          The tiger's home is the jungle.

              ii)     It comes after a transitive verb.

                          The new couple made their home in Paris.

              iii)    It stays behind a linking verb.

                          My house became my new dog's home.

              iv)    It follows a preposition.

                          We were a long way from home.

           Yet, "home" in these sentences are not nouns. Don't you know the reasons?

                       The home team won.

                       We came home at 1pm.

                       Overseas troops homed in after the war.

       3. It is a sure way to find out a noun in a reverse order by focusing on the verbs and prepositions first. Before a verb, after a transitive verb, a linking verb or a preposition, there is a noun.

           So, is "easy" a noun or an adjective or an adverb in the following sentences? Why?

                        Easy does it.

                        Easy come, easy go.

            Again, is "shopping" a noun (gerund), or an adjective in this sentence? Why?

                        I'll go shopping.

In the course of studying grammar a learner is required to think of the reason actively, and a "why" should be always in her mind.