By Shin Freedman
My orthodontist, Dr. Kim, gave me one of his cherished books on English grammar from the bookshelf in his office. Most English as a second language (ESL) learners wrestle with English grammar though it is relatively easy compared to English pronunciation.
But in some cases, ESL speakers may know more about some aspects of English grammar than native speakers. It humbled me that Dr. Kim would still refer to his English grammar book despite his accomplishments in orthodontics and teaching at a renowned university.
English grammar may be easily explained when you spot wrong usage; but it is difficult not to make a mistake as an ESL speaker. As an ESL person myself, I have been keenly sensitive to English grammar all my life.
Some years ago, I joined the Toastmasters Club to improve my public speaking abilities. At these meetings, there was a role called the "grammarian," and I dreaded taking that role for a number of reasons. The grammarian role is basically a challenging job based on other people's spoken words and I noticed that club members either loved or hated it.
I accepted the role occasionally as a necessary task when I participated in monthly meetings over two decades. I recall one particular person whose day job was as an editor of a newspaper who did a superb job as a grammarian at the meetings.
He would open his grammarian review speech the following way: "My job as a grammarian is nitpicking work. Please keep in mind that what I am about to say is to improve your speech, not nitpicking you." It has been my observation that native English speakers may not be well versed in English grammar: in some cases, they may know what is right but have a hard time explaining it when asked by a non-native speaker.
I read a story about a self-appointed "public grammarian" who took her folding chair and table with some grammar books to a park and invited anyone to talk about grammar or language. She ended up writing a book about her experience based on her face-to-face encounters in parks in 47 states. She shared that people are consistently resistant to certain points, among them:
- That it is grammatically correct to end a sentence with a preposition, no matter what you were taught in your middle school English class.
- That you can use a plural verb with the word none (it can mean not only "not one" but also "not any").
Over the summer, I read books on the comma, hyphen and semicolon. I did not know that there was so much to say about commas. In particular, I was not familiar with the term, Oxford comma, until recently. The Oxford comma is used when more than three words are used consecutively in a sentence. Grammar in newspapers is one thing; scholarly publishing rules are another. In scholarly writing, a researcher must consult with the style guide from the publishers or scholarly societies.
I still keep the following books on my bookshelf to keep on top of my own English grammar: the "Chicago Manual of Style," the "Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary" and "Dos, Don'ts and Maybes of English Usage." I wonder what grammar books are on your bookshelf.
Shin Freedman (shinfreed@gmail.com) is the co-author of "Becoming a Library Leader: Seven Stages of Leadership Development."
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But in some cases, ESL speakers may know more about some aspects of English grammar than native speakers. It humbled me that Dr. Kim would still refer to his English grammar book despite his accomplishments in orthodontics and teaching at a renowned university.
English grammar may be easily explained when you spot wrong usage; but it is difficult not to make a mistake as an ESL speaker. As an ESL person myself, I have been keenly sensitive to English grammar all my life.
Some years ago, I joined the Toastmasters Club to improve my public speaking abilities. At these meetings, there was a role called the "grammarian," and I dreaded taking that role for a number of reasons. The grammarian role is basically a challenging job based on other people's spoken words and I noticed that club members either loved or hated it.
I accepted the role occasionally as a necessary task when I participated in monthly meetings over two decades. I recall one particular person whose day job was as an editor of a newspaper who did a superb job as a grammarian at the meetings.
He would open his grammarian review speech the following way: "My job as a grammarian is nitpicking work. Please keep in mind that what I am about to say is to improve your speech, not nitpicking you." It has been my observation that native English speakers may not be well versed in English grammar: in some cases, they may know what is right but have a hard time explaining it when asked by a non-native speaker.
I read a story about a self-appointed "public grammarian" who took her folding chair and table with some grammar books to a park and invited anyone to talk about grammar or language. She ended up writing a book about her experience based on her face-to-face encounters in parks in 47 states. She shared that people are consistently resistant to certain points, among them:
- That it is grammatically correct to end a sentence with a preposition, no matter what you were taught in your middle school English class.
- That you can use a plural verb with the word none (it can mean not only "not one" but also "not any").
Over the summer, I read books on the comma, hyphen and semicolon. I did not know that there was so much to say about commas. In particular, I was not familiar with the term, Oxford comma, until recently. The Oxford comma is used when more than three words are used consecutively in a sentence. Grammar in newspapers is one thing; scholarly publishing rules are another. In scholarly writing, a researcher must consult with the style guide from the publishers or scholarly societies.
I still keep the following books on my bookshelf to keep on top of my own English grammar: the "Chicago Manual of Style," the "Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary" and "Dos, Don'ts and Maybes of English Usage." I wonder what grammar books are on your bookshelf.
Shin Freedman (shinfreed@gmail.com) is the co-author of "Becoming a Library Leader: Seven Stages of Leadership Development."
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