Now that I have your attention. I'd like to ask my fellow native english speakers how much they feel they actually know about English. For me, I feel that I actually don't know exactly how my language works despite it being the only language I've ever really known. Now, most things are pretty negligible in casual conversation but I ran into a lot of problems when I started my English 101 course. Simple things like uses of semicolons vs. colons and putting the punctuation marks like the period and the question inside of quotes. (Only applicable to SAE. I believe you Brits do it the opposite way)
Other common mistakes that I've seen include "If I were you," vs. "If I was you" (Present subjunctive vs. Past indicative)
In fact, most things I now know about my language have only happened because I was learning another language and needed to have a clear frame of reference for learning. Things like the tenses never really crossed my mind until I had to find out how to say something in the past or in the future tense.
I don’t want to blame the American education system, but now I gotta. My English 101 teacher actually explained to my class that most English teachers aren’t compositionists but rather literature teachers and that’s why simple English conventions are often ignored and overlooked.
So my question(s) to you is “What do you think about English education in your country? Is it adequate? Is it lacking? What would you change?”
Also if you have any resources for remedying common mistakes in English; please, do share.
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGDb-fbvJmQ&t=178s" style="text-decoration:none;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGDb-fbvJmQ&t=178s</a>
<a href="http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/23853/why-is-it-if-i-were-you-and-not-if-i-was-you" style="text-decoration:none;">http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/23853/why-is-it-if-i-were-you-and-not-if-i-was-you</a>
<a href="http://blog.dictionary.com/fewer-vs-less/">http://blog.dictionary.com/fewer-vs-less/</a>
The grammar you get taught in the UK is negligible. I don't really remember being taught anything much at all about grammar. Not to say it didn't happen, but I genuinely don't remember studying it. We studied things like how to write correctly, but in terms of the nuts and bolts of the language, nothing much at all. People have asked before things like 'how is English taught in countries where it is the native language?', and the answer, in the UK at least, is it isn't really. It's assumed you pick it up naturally. Which in terms of the spoken language, is of course, correct.
I always thought I could write pretty well and for that I thank my parents, who always encouraged me to read when I was a child. I learned more about how to write and how to punctuate from that than what I learned at school, just by assimilation I suppose. Ironically, until I started to study Spanish seriously, my knowledge of English grammar was mediocre, to say the least.
@Seth, lol you mention the subjunctive mood to I'd estimate, 80% of native English speakers, and their response would be 'Sorry, what?'
Same with phrasal verbs. Learners of English think phrasal verbs are hard to master. You ask any native speaker of English who hasn't studied a foreign language/taught English/discussed English with learners and they will not have any clue what they are.
I don't know if this necessarily answers your question, but I think most native speakers of any language cannot really "explain" the specific grammatical details of their language very well. It's one thing to know how to speak a language and communicate with others in ways that they understand; it's another to be able to understand a language's structure and how it's "supposed" to work (and even another to be able to clearly explain that structure to others).
I'm currently learning Spanish, and I see this even when I talk to actual Spanish teachers. Often, it's the teachers who are secondary speakers who are able to explain the grammar and nuances better than the native speakers, since the former had to learn these specifics themselves in order to become fluent. Several native teachers (not on this site) openly admitted to me that they never even realized some of the nuances I brought up until...well...I brought them up (e.g. one teacher told me she never realized "vacation" in Spanish is always plural similar to how "pants" or "scissors" are always plural in English).
When I read your post I thought of writing a comment. Then after reading Zhangthegreat, Seth ad Paul's comments, there's nothing left for me to say.
I totally agree with the three of them.
Ones education depended on the school one went to, the teacher and ones ability. From my experience, it was awful.
I can remember only one lesson in grammar throughout my seven years of secondary education. We wrote as we spoke. It was only when doing my masters and learning a language, that I started to realise I needed to deal with this.
I've met fellow native English speakers who believed the subjunctive mood didn't exist in English. So, if one has an issue with grammar in their native language, how would one learn a foreign language, where grammar is taught?
I don't know what the education system is like now, but I would introduce grammar from a primary school age and continue it throughout secondary school, irrespective of ones ability. The key is to make it enjoyable and make students aware.
I do regret not reading that green grammar book my father gave to me when I was about fifteen. My father loved making subtle hints...LOL! I'm still looking for it.
