"i Don`t Geddit"

How often I`ve heard students (at school and at all stages of life) complaining that they "don`t get" languages !

There`s nothing to "get" - really !

The mistake is to treat a language as if it`s something from a Maths textbook: languages aren`t driven by rules ! Grammar is hugely important as one aspect of language learning, but grammar is not a rule-book; grammar merely helps us codify common patterns used by speakers of a language. Languages are the way they are - they weren`t designed in order to fit in with any rules; they evolved from the way people used them over the centuries.

To learn a language:

- hear it, listen to it, and read it - repeat it and imitate it - adapt simple sentences: change the subject, change the object, add some detail - learn as much vocabulary as you can (but make sure you hear the words pronounced first before trying to learn them by reading them) - converse in the language

In parallel, learn grammar as a series of patterns.

But above all, don`t try to "get" it !!