Have you ever started learning a language by reaching for a grammar book?
Some language learners are so keen to understand the grammar concepts of their target language that they forget that they can indeed communicate in the language without necessarily ‘knowing’ any grammar.
Focusing too much on memorising grammar rules means that you may neglect other areas of learning, such as developing your communication skills, enriching your vocabulary, or improving your listening skills.
How to fix it:
Try to learn grammar in context.
If there’s a specific point that you’d like to understand, such as the past tense, read about it if you find it helpful, but make sure you look at lots and lots of examples and start using it in practice straight away.
Once you start practising it and get better at it, it will become your second nature and you won’t even think of it as ‘grammar’.
One way to put your learning into practice is to find a language partner. You can use any language exchange platform (ideally in real life), which is one place where you can connect with native speakers.
And don’t forget to prioritize your time: apply the 80/20 rule. Focus on the 20% of grammar rules that are used 80% of the time.
This will help you learn the most important grammar rules first.
