Improving English - iDea 2: Forget the Grammar

Sounds exciting? Yes, You have read it right. Forget the grammar. I mean it.

"I don't know grammar" (who knows?)

"I commit lot of mistakes in English" (who doesn't?)

These are the common dialogues I hear from English learners. People respond in this way because of ignorance. They are scared of grammar because they fear doing mistakes. Can you show me anyone who succeeded without doing mistakes?  Mistakes bring a positive change. They move us forward. The mission of a mistake is your transformation. The background of learning good English is committing mistakes. The more mistakes you make, the faster you learn the language. These are the bricks upon which we cement our learning. Avoiding mistakes is avoiding your own growth. But with one golden rule: Do not repeat the same mistake. 

Don't worry, initially the frequency of mistakes may be high but with your super consciousness their number decreases.      

All this worry stems from the compulsion of the learner. People force themselves to remember the grammar. Trying to by-heart or memorize the grammar only adds fuel to the fire. The pressure of remembering these rules actually ruin the pleasure of learning the language. So what's the solution: Drop the grammar. When you want to speak, just speak. When you want to write, just write. 

Follow the flow. 

"How can I speak correct English by forgetting the grammar?" you might ask. Here's how.


Because people have fear of grammar, they focus more on it but forget the flow. I say reverse this attitude. Forget the grammar but focus the flow. When your attention changes to the flow, your fear disappears. When your fear disappears everything else will fall in place. Now you will be ready to make more mistakes, hence more learning takes place within short time. A new energy and freshness radiates through you. You will catch every opportunity that is present around you. If there aren't any, your enthusiasm of learning creates the opportunity even in the unexpected areas. Naturally...over a period of time you will speak good grammar. 

How to do it?

• Believe in this idea 100%
• Practice English (write or speak) daily at least for 7 minutes
• During the practice, focus on continuing and expanding the content
• Do not worry about the correctness of the sentences you deliver 
• Speak from the heart 
• Speak in front of the people you are confident with, like a close friend for ex.
  
• Join iDea 1 with iDea 2. (Break the walls and forget the grammar)  
  

How this iDea works: 

By forgetting grammar you will speak more. By speaking more you will gain confidence. By gaining confidence you will focus on the quality of your speech. Hence ultimately this enhances your English. It's a cycle. The only way to understand it better is to try it first hand. I guarantee you will observe a sea-change in you. 

Benefits of this iDea: 

• You will gain huge confidence once you start
• Fear disappears
• You can learn English faster and better
• Grammar improves dramatically
  

This sounds paradoxical, but it's true. Try rehearsing my secret idea. Forget the grammar but focus on the flow. You will find freshness and mistakes dwindle, naturally...(all the best) -ajaY vegeSna 


Related Articles: 

• iDea 1: Break the Walls
  
• 7 Myths about Learning English
• How to Prepare the Ground before Learning English
• 4 Pillars of Learning English

Improving English - iDea 1: Break the Walls

Author's Note:This article is part of a sub-series called "Innovative Ideas to learn English faster and Better"


Everyone learns English between the four walls. It can be in the classroom or at home. I am not against this practice, we can gain wisdom from an expert faculty. But to learn English faster and better the four walls restrict you from the great potential which is waiting for you outside. 

All the great learners and leaders are the observers of the things happening around them. True learning happens outside the classroom. Abdul Kalam conceived the idea of becoming an aeronautical engineer by observing a butterfly in the fields. The above incident happened when he was studying primary school. His teacher took the entire class into the fields to observe nature. If his teacher wasn't innovative we would have missed a great citizen like Kalam. Learning is always just a few steps away. Forget few steps, it is just a thought away. Close your eyes and a whole new world opens in your imagination.

Opportunities are always around, It is just that we ignore them in the rush of our busy lives. The traditional system of learning is all about listening to the lecture, taking notes, doing home work etc. But in our new system there is no lecturer, no classroom. We simply break the walls to breath new life awaiting us. There is no need of going to the classroom. In short, the classroom travels with you; wherever you move. So let us understand how to break the walls of worries. 

There is an old Chinese proverb which says "When you are ready to learn, the teacher appears" This is absolutely true. The teacher here doesn't necessarily mean a human being. Whatever you seek, Whatever you observe, Whatever you focus everything under your keen observation becomes your teacher. If you want to study a tree, all the things related to it become your teachers. They provide all the material you need. Your surrounding environment becomes your university. 

Two Live Examples:

Innovative iDeas to Learn English Faster and Better

We are on an exciting journey of Learning English like never before. We cleared the ground, laid the foundation and uplifted the pillars. We have just tied our shoe lace. This article is special because it marks the beginning of a sub-series under the umbrella of Learning English theme.


It contains techniques and ideas which are unique. They are the product of years of teaching English to diverse learners. I devised them to suit the individuals of any regional background. I have seen students speaking good English within 3 months of implementing the ideas which I am about to share with you.  

One individual even surprised me by learning English within a month by putting all his love and passion into progress. His entire schooling was in Telugu medium. I attribute most of the techniques to him because his passion made me devise new ideas of Learning English. I am happy to say that he was my childhood friend named Clax. I have seen no other individual until now with such incredible passion towards learning. I want you to have his kind of burning desire and zeal to learn the language.

4 Pillars of Learning English

In the last two articles of Learning English series, we understood the myths about learning English and prepared the ground to learn it. Now the wait is over. We are entering the mainstream learning experience like never before. Let us understand the 'four pillars of learning' not only for English but any other language. 

Any language in the world is all about shapes and sounds. The shapes are identified as alphabets and the sounds are heard as words. When you hear a new word you are actually listening to a new sound. That's it no big deal.    

The four pillars of learning English are

How to Prepare the Ground before Learning English

This is the second article in the 'Learning English' series. In the first article we discussed about the seven myths people have regarding English. Here I focus on doing the ground work before diving deep into the ocean of the language.

Let me make it clear that learning a new language is more about 'giving' rather than taking. Be an enthusiastic learner. I believe strongly that 'what you give is what you get' On that positive note let's explore the ground-breaking insights of learning English...

7 Myths about Learning English

 
I love English. During my teens (as far as I remember) I used to spend most of my time searching for new words in the dictionary. The root of this habit stemmed from my nonstop reading. I used to read a lot. Of course, I still continue to do so, old habits die hard. Another reason why I love the language is I received my first salary for teaching English. While studying my graduation I worked part time as an English faculty in an institute in my hometown.

Apart from all this I have incredible passion to share my knowledge. I draw lot of contentment in making an ignorant person awakened. So people approach me whenever they got a doubt in the language or when they need clarification in the word usage or even to know the meaning of an unknown word. This helped me to gain deeper understanding of the English language, while they used to gain insights about their doubts. It's a perfect win-win scenario.  

This article is the beginning of a series that teaches you secrets of learning the English language. All the techniques I share here are designed by me during the process of teaching English to my friends and students. In fact, the techniques came out of the curiosity I had seen in my students. They contributed more, than what I have taught them. In a nut shell my students (and friends) are my biggest teachers. 

In this first article I focus on myths people have in learning the language. So what is a 'myth' in the first place. A myth is a 'false belief'. A belief which is not true. It is based on wrong assumptions people accumulate over a period of time.

How to Make your 'Waiting Time' Productive?

A couple of days back I happened to attend an interview for a content reviewer position. Typically, as in most interview proceedings, the situation demanded me to wait. Along with other candidates I too started waiting...for hours.

For few minutes I observed the body language of other job seekers. Some were just sitting patiently to hear their beautiful name to be called by the HR. Some were browsing through the 'same' news paper again and again, just to keep themselves busy. Some were getting increasingly impatient and pestering the counselor about the delay.

Now all these variations made me to think of how best we can utilize our waiting time for our own betterment. Waiting is part of our daily lives. We wait for the bus, train etc. If commuting we have plenty of waiting time. Hospitals, theaters, traffic, meeting a higher official, marketing etc there are so many areas in our lives that force us to wait.

Coming back to my interview scene, I thought of writing some key points for this article instead of wasting my time waiting for my call.

Note: I have written these tips keeping in mind the typical interview situation. But most of the tips are applicable to other areas and waiting situations of our lives as well.

Here are the 'waiting' tips:

1. Observe: Waiting is a great opportunity for us to observe people. No other situation provides such a rare offering to know the patience level of the person involved. In fact, we can know different shades of the person if you let him/her wait for more time than usual.

2. Connect with the new: You can meet new people and can understand different perspectives. Only when we allow ourselves to greet the unknown, we can taste the beauty of life.

3. Visualize a funny incident: To sharpen your imagination, use this time to think of a funny incident that happened in your life or a movie. If you don't remember, just create a funny incident in front of you, with the people around you as the characters...but all in the imagination

4. Take a break: If you get bored, take a break and have a coffee

5. Breathe: I am not talking about normal involuntary breathing. Just breathe in and breathe out ...slowly and consciously. This will reduce the nervousness and eases you from the boredom or tension, if any

6. Write something: You can take a paper and write something about your current state of mind, a poem on yourself, or just an essay describing 'you'

7. Play a game: Design a mind game and play it all in your imagination. This is the best way to exercise your brain.

8. Call: We often get caught in our busy lives and forget the old friends who have made a difference in our life. Just make a call and share your happiness. Or call someone you haven't called in for years and give them a surprise. Share your experiences

9. Think: Think of an idea that would change your life or your current position. We often neglect or ignore many important things in our life. If only they get considerable attention they will get done. So think of some ideas to implement them

10. Find Solutions: Imagine and create solutions for future waiting situations like these so that you can be more productive. If you anticipate a waiting situation, carry a small book with you, it will help you to get rid of the boredom and you can also gain some wisdom too.

11. Think like a CEO: If you were the CEO of the company what measures would you take to vanish this waiting time, like placing some indoor games, providing books or any interesting literature like joke books and funny magazines just to make them feel light, or providing a meditation hall. Just think.

12. Sort out a Common Problem: Devise a plan for a common problem faced by all...like traffic-jams for example. You may not get a solution immediately but as you think over the raw idea can be refined until it forms a life-changing concept.

13. Rehearse: You can rehearse your answers for the interview in the mind. This boosts your confidence level.

14. Play a Dual role: Imagine yourself as the interviewer and ask questions, now reverse the role and just play the interviewee and answer them.

So that's all from my side...I want you to provide your ideas for the same. Did you 'wait' for something recently? Please do share your experiences...

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