Jun 27, 2009 12:36 AM
51516 Views
(Updated Sep 19, 2014 12:05 AM)
I hold a PhD in English with scores enough to entitle me to a post of a lecturer or even above but that should not matter much to you. I was born in a small village in southern Punjab but I have been abroad to Eastern Asian countries especially Singapore, and Canada where English is spoken. I think what I have learnt over past fiftyfive years- I am 63 now- should be of some use to our youngsters. I shall give some simple rules below to learn any second or third language:
Dismiss your word associations such as k- for crow?
Watch native speakers pronounce - am is not yum or emm
3 Even natives do not know much about grammar- A Canadian English-speaker does not know whether "needful" is English?
All children learn to speak first and the grammar thereafter. Try to speak- and if you do not succeed -try again. Once you learn to speak, whether correct or incorrect English, then learn your grammar. Rome is never built in a day.
English has a vocabulary ten times bigger than Hindi, French or Spanish and in practice, I am unaware whether 20% words are used in common parlance.
6.Once you learn common words, only then try to learn proper sentence formation; and, when you learn that, go for the proverbs etc.
- Your immediate need is not to become a master: you just want to convey your thoughts, feelings and emotions to others- a wrong sentence formation should not stand in your way.
I have willfully used some words and patterns so that you search for a dictionary. Keep it handy, refer to it often and where in doubt refer to the Thesaurus also. You may refer to the Oxford, Cambridge, Websters or even Collins for that purpose or visit Wikipedia and equivalent sites.
Wish you god-speed
GS Maan
review edited on 19-09-2014
