In order to have the ability to use a foreign language fluently, it’s not enough if you just know a bunch of words. You also need to be able to put them together to form sentences that make sense. Some languages are known for their tricky word order, and building sentences just like in your own first language may be impossible.
Studying rules from a book is not for all of us
Every language has its own challenges. In one language you can arrange the words quite freely, but another might have strict rules on where the verb goes in a sentence. At worst, the motivation to study a language may vanish if you can’t get out of the quagmire of grammar.
If you feel that hammering grammar into your head isn’t your cup of tea, try a brand new way!
Children learn a language by listening
You may not be able to say why some words in your first language are used in a certain way in a specific context – because you grew up with the language. Children learn the vocabulary and grammar of their first language only by listening and by trial and error. Why not try to do the same?
Children are brave when it comes to using the language because they’re not afraid of making mistakes. Little by little, they will learn how to say something correctly.
Train your sense
Surround yourself with the language. Over time, you will develop a sense of what sounds right and what sounds wrong. Little by little, it gets easier to understand and apply grammar rules as well. After you’ve been training your sense for the language for a while, you can look at a grammatical feature of the language and think “I know what this is” – isn’t that exciting?
Write some example sentences
We encourage WordDive users to make good use of the example sentences in the study items. Reading and repeating them aloud is a splendid way to acquire basic grammar.
You can also write some example sentences of your own in the foreign language. Just use the structures and grammar rules you have heard and learned before. The sentences don’t need to be complex. It’s OK to create simple sentences like ”I travelled to Stockholm by train yesterday” or ”I need to buy onion because I want to make fish soup”.
Read and repeat the sentences aloud. Little by little, you will learn the sentences and structures by heart, and they will come to mind automatically when using the language. On top of it all, you will also strengthen your foreign language pronunciation and writing skills!
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