Short answer: yes. Long answer: Hell, yes.

Now here, I’m going to say something that may be arguable, but I can only rely on my own experience and the accounts of fellow students who have shared their experiences with me. I’ve been studying English for… I don’t know, I had a decent notion -though foggy- but I seriously started to knuckle down three or four years ago, since then I have gone from barely being able to string a few mispronounced words together to holding a mature conversation with native speakers, passing the CPE (C2 level) and, with a great deal of effort, neutralise or at least soften my jarring Spanish accent. All of this whilst being already an adult learner and without any other foreign language to my bow (now I do). And I’m still learning, honing my skills and correcting my many, numerous, endless litany of mistakes.

Now, to the point: to what extent has grammar weighed in all this? To an immeasurable one, I must admit.

If you lock yourself away and pick up a grammar book not only will you end up bored to tears, you’ll be wasting your time as well because what you’d be learning isn’t real or everyday English, so when it comes to the crunch and you have to actually open your mouth to say something you won’t be able to utter anything useful, or perhaps anything at all. As a result, you’ll lose heart and your confidence will wear off, eventually leading to your shutting up forever and not having the guts to speak, which as you might imagine is a big deal.

That’s really dramatic. But don’t blame grammar for it; the fault lies with the student, for coming at the subject from the wrong angle.

  Grammar should be learned in context, paying close attention to example sentences that should always be as natural as possible so you can directly use them without sounding incoherent or inarticulate. Many books and courses fail here. At the same time, it is necessary to learn related vocabulary and, especially, idiomatic exceptions of grammar rules that are commonplace. These make the bulk of spoken communication and turning a blind eye to them will only result in further confusion.

  Finally, grammar study should be primarily ORAL. Reading an old book won’t help learners, you need to pick up the subtleties of spoken language as you go. Think of this sentence: “You might have told me”. Depending on the intonation you will sound reproachful or convey solace. And without a spoken reference you won’t contract it as “might’ve”, something that you should do 90% of the time. And this is grammar, it’s not all about the present continuous, you know?

  So, to sum up, grammar is an instrumental part of language acquisition, but it should be properly combined and alternated with pronunciation, vocabulary and idiomatic drilling. Study hard and try to spot how grammar rules bend and play a role in everyday communication. It’ll do wonders for you.

Fix your English Grammar

Reference: Josep López, “Is grammar important while you speak English?” originally appeared on Quora, the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Fix your English Grammar