Is grammar essential for learning a language?

   "Grammar and exercises are only requirements of the syllabus, not of learning a language. Did you learn the grammar of your mother-tongue when you were acquiring it? Most of you may still not know the grammar of your mother-tongue but you speak it effortlessly."

This is taken from the preface a textbook of English.

Do you agree?

It will help me if you could please comment on it. 

I agree with Nona.

I would like also to add something:
all the Italians speak their language without doing any effort, but this doesn't mean that they speak a correct Italian, because you must know the grammar rules in order to speak in a very correct way.
Anyway I guess it depends on what 'you have to do with the language': for example when I'm talking to teachers or professors at University or at work I speak a very correct Italian, when I'm with my friends I don't pay too much attention about verbs or pronounciation and I tend to speak my dialect. By the way I can speak even in a correct way just because I studied Italian grammar, from what I can see people who didn't can hardly speak in a correct way.

Hi BoP

The author of your sentence did not say that grammar and exercises are necessary for learning a language.  He/she said that although the syllabus requires learning grammar and doing exercises, these sorts of activities are not requirements for learning a language.
I don't have a problem with the use of the word 'learning' because 'langauge acquisition' is also a type of langauge learning. 

Hi everyone,
I read some articles about this, not long ago.

Clive wrote:

Is grammar essential for learning a language?

The answer is NO, NO, NO.

Bird of Paradise, the book you read is right. We didn't learn the grammar of our first language before we were able to use it. I believe no native speaker of English was taught that you have to say "Do you have a car?", using the auxiliary "do" and subject-auxiliary inversion, instead of "You have a car?" or "Have you a car?"
I believe every native speaker started to say sentences like "The bank was robbed" before they knew what a passive sentence is. I also believe no native speaker has ever been taught when to use the present perfect and when to use the past simple (which is one of the hardest things to master for ESL students).

Maybe now you are wondering if you can do the same, if you can learn English like native speakers, without remembering a lot of confusing rules. I'm sorry, but the answer is you can't, unless you are less than 6 years old, generally speaking. What you read in that book only applies to native speakers and very young learners. For the other learners, like me and you, grammar is important, at least the basic grammar (advanced grammar might not be necessary).

And if you think grammar is necessary in order to get proficient and using high level correct English, well, that's not true. Those who use perfect and idiomatic English are able to do so because of their personal experience, not because they know grammar rules. Personal experience practically just means "How much you read and what you read". I don't know of anyone who speaks or write their language perfectly because they know the rules of their grammar.

So, to summarize, grammar is only necessary for grown-up ESL students, and is only necessary to "get started", not to get "proficient". To get proficient you need constant exposure to good and idiomatic English. That's all.



WARNING: The author of this post is not responsible for any damage to the readers' brains. This post is not meant to brainwash anyone. In case of brainwashing, call 911.

 

I happened to be on the learning side of the fence and from that perspective, yes, I had to learn the grammar before I could fluently use and speak this language.  Some may disagree that many foreigners do speak English relatively understandably well without actually going to school to learn grammar.  To me, there are two facets in learning. The conscious side with which we learn with a purpose.  And then, there is the unconscious side in which we learn by absorption, immersion, assimilation and, duplication, along with utilizing our audio- visual capacity. We learned by watching our parents and adults we came in close contacts with.  The proof is evident in low-income areas and the ghettos.  Many young adults are not able to use standard English in their daily lives because the substandard environment they grew up in didn’t allow them.  Children can learn in early age without the knowledge of grammar. They rely on the sources to acquire English accuracy and correctness. These sources can be their parents, nanny, toys with sounds, and televisions.  When toddlers and young children learn to talk, they spoken in broken sentence because there was no grammar to link the words together.  As they grow older, schools teach them grammar which allows them to develop the ability to use the language correctly.  Non-native adults have a tougher time learning a second language for several reasons. Preoccupied with making a living, taking care of their family, and having many responsibilities distract from learning. But if the will to learn is strong, one can still learn proper English by immersion along with constant exposure of proper English and practice.