How do I improve my grammar. . .

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Permalink Reply by Stephen (SHol4Apple2) on September 8, 2008 at 5:06pm

My name is Stephen, I am a Student of IT/Networking at ITT Tech in Pinellas Park, Florida. I started my fall quarter Today once a week for the next 12 weeks I will be taking GE117 Composition I witch is a English Class. This could help with this Discussion I posted.

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Permalink Reply by Juhachi on September 12, 2008 at 1:25am

One word: read. In my experience, the best way to improve grammar is to read a lot of books. They can just be books you like, but the more you read, the more you'd become accustomed to grammar.

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Permalink Reply by Bret on September 13, 2008 at 11:23am

Read - A lot!

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Permalink Reply by Fogarty on September 16, 2008 at 8:30pm

I third the "read a lot!" advice.

Starting, for greatest linguistic clarity, with James Joyce's Finnegans Wake.

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Permalink Reply by Oblivion on November 12, 2008 at 8:50am

Read, definitely.

I'm not sure if Finnegan's Wake is really the best place to start: Joyce isn't to everyone's taste, after all. But read things that interest or entertain you. Novels rather than textbooks, I'd say, unless your views of entertainment are particularly odd. Start in straight fiction, though: fun though genre fiction often is, you'll also find more writers playing about with structures, something you can't really get to grips with properly until you understand a bit more about what rules they're breaking and why they're doing it. (That's not to say you won't find genre fiction that's grammatically perfect, you'll find lots, but there's no way for me to make a looser statement that doesn't contain more possibilities of, er, issues.)

Grammar's hard to study directly. Easier to just absorb it until you can look at something and just KNOW it's right. That'll take a lot of reading, but it doesn't have to be boring. If you find you're reading something you don't like and the only reason you're reading it is because it looked like a good idea when you picked it up, you're allowed to decide that you made a mistake and move on to something else!

If you're uncomfortable with novels, start with short stories. The peculiar precision required often means that there's not a wasted word so the story and the language can be as tight as a drum.

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Permalink Reply by Fogarty on November 18, 2008 at 2:44am

I'm not sure if Finnegan's Wake is really the best place to start

It's totally not. I was being a smart alec!

The first sentiment remains true, however: read a lot (of things that are not Finnegans Wake).

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Permalink Reply by SassySweetBren on December 17, 2008 at 10:32am

A college English handbook is a great thing to have when one is trying to learn better grammar.

http://www.amazon.com/Harbrace-College-Handbook-Updates-Revised/dp/...

This book is your tool to mastering the English language. Trust me on that.

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Permalink Reply by Shtanto on December 22, 2008 at 10:57am

Read.

Read more.


Not a lot to it really. If you haven't read a lot of books, I'd recommend starting with these. You can't go wrong with Roald Dahl. You might even have fun along the way :)

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Permalink Reply by David Murray on January 5, 2009 at 3:48am

Ever since I took first-year English I've tried to make a conscious effort to improve my writing; hence, my interest in forums like this one. I agree that reading is one of the best ways to improve one's writing and would add that to pick the best authors one can find and study their work closely can yield effective results. I like Winston Churchill because his success as a leader depended very much on his ability to communicate, and he was able to influence the course of the world. One of my favorite Churchill quotes is "History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it."

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Permalink Reply by Austin on March 9, 2009 at 2:32pm

I would suggest targeting one problem at a time. It sounds like you are trying to improve your verbal grammer not necessarily your writing skill; however one will follow the other. For example, if you you are constantly using "yal" instead of "you all" make it a point to stop using it. Catch yourself and verbally correct it. Reading helps with proper grammer as well. Just don't read My Fair Lady becaue the main character uses horrific english until she finally gets it right towards the end. Also don't read shakespeare for the reason of improving your english either because he basicly makes his own language. George Orwells short short stories or Ernest Hemmingways shorts are good. They are normally interesting and have a meaning to ponder as well. The most important thing thing to do is to not be a victim of your environment. Allow me to explain myself. I've noticed that most people that speak incorrectly associate with people that have the same problem. "Birds of a feather flock together" obviously. For example, the people that speak Ubonics all hangout in a group, the southern redneck speakers all hangout and the valley girl blonde talk all hangout together as well. Not to stereotype people, it's just what I have noticed in my adventures.

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Permalink Reply by Haydn on March 14, 2009 at 7:50am

This is very true. Dialects will impact your grammar significantly and it can be difficult to distunguish between "standard" language and "local".

Most of these guys say "read more". I can't disagree, although I rarely read myself. That probably shows...

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Permalink Reply by Haydn on March 14, 2009 at 7:53am

Grammar aside, don't you think that's an odd request from your boyfriend? I understand completely if you want to do it for your own benefit.

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