这位朋友名叫 Kenneth Rung。瑞士国籍。作为一名航天调度专家,现在比利时工作。瑞士语是他的母语。他从十岁起在学校学习英语。英语现在是他的工作语言。除此之外,他还会说德语、法语。最近还在学习西班牙文。
How to learn a language.
You can learn a language as a child. Then you will learn all the grammar “by heart” and you will not even think about it as grammar. This is the normal way you learn your first language.
When you get older and want to learn a new language, you use another centre in your brains. You learn by:
1.Listening and slowly understand, phrase by phrase
2.More and more you learn more phrases, useful in everyday life
But if you really want to learn to use a foreign language, you have to
1.Learn an amount of words so you can make yourself understood
2.Learn the grammar of the language, so you can use it, feel comfortable and make you really understood.
In this aspect the grammar is very important in order not to talk and write a “pigeon language”. Learning the grammar by heart makes you understand the real language and will make you feel that you are safe and secure when you use a foreign language. You will feel safe that you use the right expressions and also feel that you use the wording that is used and common where natives speak this language.
A language consists or much more than words, it also consists of grammar, i.e. rules of how to use the words. How you combine these words and how you use them is essential for the practical use of a language. The better you learn grammar, the better you will understand the real “soul” of a language and can avoid speaking a bad language.
Grammar mainly consist of:
1.Rules for the language
2.Derogations to the rules
3.When and why these rules are not applicable
Only by learning this (by heart) you can say that you speak and read another language.
Therefore it is very important to learn the grammar of a new language you learn, in order not to be regarded as a “less knowing person”.
I say this from my own experience, I speak Swedish (as mother tongue) but also English, German, French and some Spanish and I can assure you that without studying the grammar of these languages, I would have been considered as a “pigeon”, not speaking correctly and therefore I cannot stress the importance of learning grammar enough.
Only by studying a language thoroughly (and especially grammar) you will be able to say that you know a foreign language and not just be able to read the menu at a restaurant.
As a student nowadays it is very important to be able to communicate with people from different parts of the world.