hi I'm Olivier welcome to Oxford online
English
in this lesson you can learn how to
improve your English grammar to some
people
grammar is kind of a dirty word it
probably makes you think of boring
textbooks boring exercises and boring
lessons maybe you think why do I need
grammar
I just want to communicate but here's
the thing
grammar isn't just something in a book
grammar is how you connect words into
phrases and phrases into sentences every
time you connect to words you're using
grammar even now you're using grammar to
understand what we're saying we think
there's a better way to learn English
grammar than just doing endless
exercises in this lesson you'll see a
step-by-step practical plan to improve
your English grammar in any area to work
on grammar it's a good idea to have a
book for reference one of the most
popular is English grammar and use by
Raymond Murphy you can find a link under
the video so let's start you want to
improve your English grammar what should
you do first
English grammar is not just one topic
it's tens of major topics and each of
those contain tens of smaller topics so
you need to know where to begin you need
to set goals and establish priorities
for your studies how can you do that
let's start with five things make a list
of five errors or grammar problems you
have maybe you already know some errors
you make maybe your teacher corrects you
or your classmates often and you have an
idea a good way to do this is through
writing write something for your teacher
and ask them to highlight and correct
your grammar mistakes see which mistakes
you make most often if you aren't
studying with a teacher what can you do
this can be more difficult one
suggestion use a grammar book which has
exercises and an answer key choose five
topic which you think you will find
difficult do the exercises and check
your answers if you made a lot of
mistakes then you know you need to do
more work on these topics here's another
suggestion find a reading text for
example a news article online make sure
the text is not too difficult for you
read the text two to three times next
try to rewrite the text without looking
at it don't worry about getting it
perfect just do your best
afterwards compare your text with the
original where did you make mistakes did
you make mistakes with verb forms with
adverbs word order this should show you
where some of your grammar mistakes are
okay hopefully now you have a list of
five grammar errors or weaknesses it
could look like this using the present
perfect word order in questions using
commas correctly mixing up adjectives
and adverbs prepositions after
adjectives
specific as you can with your list
writing something like verbs or
prepositions isn't really helpful now
you have your list what's next
if you have a problem with a grammar
topic
there can be two basic reasons form or
function the first possibility is that
you don't know how to form a structure
correctly for example think about the
present perfect birth I have done to
form the present perfect you need to
know several things such as youth had or
has plus a past participle make
negatives with haven't or hasn't make
questions by moving have or has before
the subject
if you don't know these rules well you
might make mistakes like these she have
been to Cambodia I don't have finished
how long they have lived here can you
correct these mistakes
often problems with form our habits you
say and write the wrong sentence
hundreds of times and then it's hard to
change it the only way to correct these
habits is to repeat and review the
correct form many many times the best
way to do that use a flashcard app like
Quizlet we'll talk more about this in
detail later or maybe you don't know the
correct form if so use your grammar book
to check problems with form are simpler
to understand but sometimes they take a
long time to fix especially if your
mistakes have become deep habits you
heard before that there are two basic
reasons you could have problems with a
grammar topic what's the other the other
possibility is that you don't understand
the function what does that mean
function means how a grammar structure
is used and what meaning it has for
example think again about the present
perfect verb tense to use the present
perfect correctly you need to know
things like use the present perfect to
talk about States which started in the
past and are still true now don't use
the present perfect to talk about
finished times in the past use the
present perfect to talk about life
experiences when you don't specify a
time of course there are more these are
just examples if you don't understand
these rules you might make mistakes like
these I am living here since four years
we've had lunch three hours ago have you
ever been to Japan last year can you
correct these mistakes
often problems with function are
problems with translation maybe your
language doesn't have this grammar
structure or maybe your language
expresses these ideas in a different way
if you have problems with the function
of a grammar structure what can you do
first check the rules in your grammar
book and try to find example sentences
think about how you would express the
same ideas in your language secondly
think about how this grammar works in
your language do you have the same
structure do you use it in the same way
the more difficult grammar topics will
often be things which don't exist in
your language for example many languages
don't have an exact equivalent to the
present perfect in English which is why
so many English learners find this verb
tense particularly difficult however
thinking about the differences between
your language and English can help to
make things clearer okay so now you
found your mistakes and thought about
where they come from what next
you're going to see one of the most
powerful learning tools you can use even
better it's simple
anyone can use it it's called templating
templating means you take a part of a
sentence and finish it in different ways
let's stick with the example of the
present perfect there's an unfinished
sentence
I have never your job is to finish this
sentence in five different ways make
them as different as possible here's one
example I have never eaten snake can you
make one or two more think about it now
you could make sentences like I have
never been to New Zealand I have never
seen Titanic try to make sentences which
are true for you this way they'll be
more meaningful and easier to remember
remember you need five sentences for
each template that means you need to
think of at least two more think of two
more things you've never done and write
them down let's look at some more
templates you could use to practice the
present perfect I have this week
I haven't yet today have or has been
living for I've been recently my has
since
can you see how you could use these
templates think about it pause the video
if you want more time let's see some
possibilities I've watched this video
three times this week I haven't had
coffee yet today my sister has been
living in Milan for three years I've
been reading a lot of check off recently
my wife has been a doctor since 2005 of
course these are just suggestions
you should write sentences which are
true for you also remember that you
should try to write five sentences for
each template if you can't think of five
write as many as you can you can use
this to practice any grammar topic for
example here are three templates you
could use to practice using must have
two and should at work we mustn't
tomorrow I have to if you want to learn
English quickly you should
here are three templates you could use
to practice talking about the future
tonight I'm for my next vacation we're
going to next year I hope while you see
you can use this to practice anything
why should you use this method what
makes it so powerful it's powerful
because you're learning grammar through
real-life example also you're learning
grammar in full sentence
finally this lets you practice your
vocabulary too
you have one more thing to do here you
need to make sure your template of
sentences are correct you're going to
use these templates to practice and
learn if you have any mistakes in your
sentences you'll just create bad habits
which will be difficult to change in the
future so ask your teacher ask a friend
or ask an online forum make sure your
sentences are correct now you're ready
for step 4
flashcard apps like Quizlet or Enki are
a great way to review and remember
grammar when you're learning English
both of these apps are mostly free to
use although the Anki app for iOS costs
money our staff and our students have
had good results with both these apps
there are others available and you
should probably try different ones and
see which one you like best you can find
links underneath the video so why do you
need an app like this using a flashcard
app will help you to remember more on
what you study and practice how can you
do this first you can make questions
using your tablet sentences put one or
two gaps in a sentence and make a
question like that do you remember the
answer you can also make a question with
a mistake which you make frequently the
answer is the corrected sentence for
example correct the mistake I just have
had a shower can you correct the mistake
I've just had a shower the word order
was wrong but the correct sentence as
your answer so there are two kinds of
cards that you can make gapped sentences
and error correction you can make gapped
sentences cards easier or harder by
leaving out different number of words
for example my sister has in Milan for
three years or my sister three years you
might be thinking this sounds like a lot
of work do I really have to make my own
cards do I have to do this for every
grammar topic I study no you don't have
to but you should here's why
first you should make your own card so
that you're using your own examples your
own examples should mean something to
you
they're real they're about you and your
life
this makes them easier to remember
secondly you should spend the time to
make your own cards because it will save
you time later if you review efficiently
you can remember it's 70 to 80 percent
of what you learn if you don't you'll
forget most of what you study and then
you'll have to do it again in the future
so spending time now will save you a lot
more time in the future not only that
isn't it frustrating when you can't
remember something you've studied tens
of times it's demotivating and that's a
problem you need to be motivated to
learn English using flashcards and
templating will help you to remember
more of what you study this will give
you more motivation because you'll feel
that you're making more progress finally
make sure you review your cards every
day or as often as possible review your
cards when you have a spare moment
during the day for example do them
before you get up in the morning or on
the subway to work or during a break now
you have a four step process to improve
your English grammar step 1 identify and
write down your weaknesses start with
five topics maximum the topics you write
down should be as specific as possible
step 2 identifying the mistakes you make
and the problems you have do you have
problems with the form or the function
or both use a grammar book to check or
ask a teacher step 3 make a template and
write five full sentences for each
template the sentences should be real
right true sentences about you and your
life
check your sentences carefully and make
sure they're correct step 4
take your sentences and make them into
flash cards you can make gap sentences
or error correction questions review
your cards regularly and that's all use
these tools and you can learn anything
you want to efficiently tell us what's
the first grammar topic you're going to
review let us know in the comments and
we can see if you have similar ideas or
not you can find more of our free
english lessons on our website
oxfordonlineenglish.com thanks for
watching see you next time