A Hands-On Approach to Grammar

Hi y'all once more,

I've been thinking that since we all have to be proficient in grammar by the end of the year, we might as well take a no-nonsense approach to the subject and start reviewing structures, starting from the very basics. So let's get on with it, guys, we haven't got time to lose!

Grammar is (or is supposed to be) the most boring bit in our so-called English learning process, so why not tackle it from the very beginning and get rid of it ASAP (as soon as possible), so we can move on to more interesting (or so I hope) stuff.

You don't actually need me to get a fresh start in grammar (unless you're an absolute lazy-bones). Just grab your current or old English text-book, or else browse the thousand ESL or EFL (English as a Second or Foreign Language) Internet sites and stick your nose in the grammar sections. Ideally, you'd start with the simpler structures and then move on to the more complex ones. It would also be interesting to compare the information I'm giving you to the one you get on your books or elsewhere. I think that if you do that, grammar will sink in faster than you would've hoped for.

Good luck and may God be on our side (the latter is just an old expression, I don't mean it to be religious since I don't follow any faiths, nor do I want it to sound disrespectful to those who do).

Best wishes,

Mr. Ed

PS. Step one would be reading and understanding the grammar bits. Ideally, step 2 would be practising them at home (again, check any English grammar web pages where you can do this, or else use your books!). You may be thinking about skipping step 2 (bad idea), but you won’t be able to avoid step 3, which is practising time: we will devote one lesson to go over these structures and then a few more lessons to practise them, in a test-like fashion (so, maybe, skipping step 2 isn’t such a wise idea after all).