Everybody is learning grammar wrong.
Really, what do I mean by that?
What I mean is everybody is trying to learn grammar in the wrong order.
Confused?
Let me explain.
The thing is, when it comes to the English language and English grammar, there is actually a natural order in which your brain is supposed to learn each part of English grammar.
Stephen Krashen discovered this many years ago with his natural order hypothesis.
He discovered that there's actually a natural order in which English grammar is learned by the brain.
And that that natural order is not the same as the order that you will find in your grammar textbooks.
Stephen Krashen found that there is a predictable order in which students actually acquire English grammar.
The most famous example is this.
If you're learning English, you probably remember when you were a beginner in school, they probably taught you about the verb conjugations.
It's I go, you go, and he goes.
It's I walk, you walk, and she walks.
You need to put an S on the third person singular.
This is usually in the beginner section of grammar textbooks.
But according to the natural order hypothesis, according to the natural order that English grammar is actually learned, or is actually acquired.
This third person S is not usually learned until the later stages of English.
See, although the third person singular S in the textbooks is is in the beginner section, according to the natural order hypothesis, English students don't actually acquire, properly acquire that third person singular until they're like B2 or C1 advanced.
So, there's actually a big difference between the logical order that they teach grammar in the textbooks and the natural order that students actually acquire grammar.
It's almost like there is not enough space in your brain to learn a certain piece of grammar until you have reached an overall level of of English.
So, for example, your teacher may teach you the third person singular S in your beginner English class, but it's not until you have reached a B2 or even C1 advanced level that there is actually space in your brain to actually start paying attention to this little S on the end of words.
For a long time, your brain has been dealing with all the other parts of English, all the new vocabulary, all the different things going on, and there was no room in your brain to even notice or pay attention to this little S on the end of of words like he walks and he goes.
And it's only when you've reached an overall level of of English at say the B2 upper intermediate level that there's actually space in your brain to start noticing this third person singular.
And that's it's only at that point when your brain will really acquire the third person singular for real.
Stephen Krashen did a lot of experiments, and he found that the third person singular s naturally is not acquired until the later stages of learning, and that beginners, although you could teach beginners the rule of this third person singular s, you can tell them you need to say I walk, you walk, he walks.
I go, you go, he goes.
You can teach this to the students.
You The student can understand logically that they are supposed to put an s on the end of this word, but they don't really start doing it properly until they have reached a certain level of English.
They don't actually properly acquire that extra s on the end until they are at least B2 upper intermediate.
As an English teacher of around 8 years, I have found this to be absolutely true.
Many of my intermediate students, B1 level intermediates, although they were taught as beginners that they need to put this third person singular s on the end of their verbs, right?
They continue to make this mistake again and again and again, and they keep saying he go and he walk and he swim when it should be he goes, he walks, and he swims.
And it doesn't matter how many times I correct the student, I can say, "No, no, it's he swims."
And they say, "Sorry, teacher, yes, I got it.
He swims."
And then in the next sentence, the student will say, "And I And he go to the park."
And I'm like, "No, it's not he go, it's he goes."
And the student will say, "Sorry, teacher, I got it.
I know it's he goes."
And then the sentence afterwards, the student says, "And then he walk to the shops."
And it is It doesn't matter how many times I correct this mistake, the student will keep getting it wrong because they have not acquired that piece of vocabulary yet.
They are not ready.
Their brain is not ready to acquire that piece of grammar yet.
And so, it doesn't matter how many times I correct it.
It's not until they have gotten more input, another 300, 400 hours of input, and they have reached a a B2 upper intermediate level of of English, that's when they will start to get this S on the end correct.
It doesn't matter how many times I tell them um they need to say it.
Um if they're a B1 intermediate student, they're basically probably going to keep getting it wrong most of the time because because according to the natural order, they are not ready to learn that piece of grammar yet.
For a piece of grammar that you're struggling with, you may even be able to get the correct answer when doing a grammar drill.
So, if somebody gives you a grammar test, and and it says here, he walk or he walks to the pub, you may know the correct answer, and you may put he walks because logically, in your brain, you have been taught that rule, and you know that you're supposed to put an S there.
But, in a real conversation when there is no time to think, yes, and you have to talk immediately, there's a good chance you will say he walk and he go because you have not actually acquired that piece of grammar yet.
You see, in most cases, if there's a piece of grammar that you can't get, that you keep getting wrong, a piece of grammar that is making you feel frustrated, that you can't seem to use it properly, the chances are is that you probably need more input.
You need more hours of listening, yes, but or maybe reading.
But, usually more hours of listening, hundreds and hundreds of more hours of input, and then you will naturally learn that piece of grammar.
Doing grammar drills and grammar exercises and learning the grammar rules is not going to help you because your brain is not ready to learn that piece of grammar yet.
According to the natural order hypothesis by Stephen Krashen.
You may feel a bit stupid for not being able to use a basic piece of grammar.
Maybe you struggle with the articles like a, an, the.
Or maybe you struggle with apparently basic prepositions like to or for or about and so on.
And maybe you feel stupid, you know, and you think oh I can I'm so stupid that I English grammar You may think God English grammar is so complicated and it feels really difficult.
And then maybe you may be in an English class and the teacher says no, you are wrong.
That's the incorrect grammar.
You need to say this.
And you may feel stupid because oh God like I can't I just this English language thing is too complicated.
There are so many pieces of grammar and how are you supposed to remember all these grammar rules?
This is way too hard for me.
But usually the answer is very simple.
The answer is more input, more hours of listening to comprehensible input just like the videos that we make with English Sponge.
Most of the time your grammar mistakes will be sorted out, will be corrected by more input.
And if you keep getting many many hours of comprehensible input, eventually your brain will have space.
It will be ready to learn these little details of grammar.
But it will not be ready until you have received enough input.
If you're still confused about what I'm trying to explain here, let me pass you over to these guys and let's see if they can help you to understand the natural order hypothesis.
» Yo, what's up, bro?
» What's up, bro?
» Uh, I've been studying English grammar all week, but I still make the same mistakes.
Why is it so hard?
» Huh, maybe you're just not at that stage yet.
» Stage?
What do you mean by that?
» Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
The stage in which shape of equation comes for in his natural order hypothesis.
» What?
Who said that?
» I'm your narrator.
Stephen Krashen, a linguist, he proposed four main hypotheses in second language acquisition.
One of them is natural order hypothesis and it explains why we learn grammar in a certain order.
According to this hypothesis, language learner acquire grammar structures in a predictable natural sequence, not necessarily in the order the teacher explains it.
» So, if my teacher explains he runs first, I must still say he run.
» Exactly, because your brain isn't ready for that rule yet.
For example, most learners acquire ing forms like I'm running before they can correctly use the third person s like he runs.
» Okay, class.
Today, we are learning about third person singular.
Say it with me.
He runs.
She eats.
» He run.
She eat.
» Not run, it is he runs and she eats.
» But I know that rule.
Why I keep saying it wrong?
» This exactly what the natural order hypothesis explains.
Even if we consciously learn a rule, we might not acquire it yet.
Our brains follow a natural order and we can't skip ahead.
» The natural order hypothesis helps us understand why language learning doesn't always match classroom teaching.
It tells us that mistakes and failures, they are part of the natural process of acquisition.
» So, if I still make grammar mistakes, it doesn't mean I'm bad at English?
» Not at all.
It just means that you are still developing, moving to the next stage in your language journey.
So, don't get frustrated if your grammar isn't perfect yet.
Just listening, reading, and using the language.
Because with enough input and time, your grammar will come naturally.
» So, if you're struggling with English grammar or a piece of English grammar, the answer is very simple.
You need more input.
You need to listen to a lot more comprehensible input in English.
Maybe you could do a grammar drill or a grammar exercise and that would help you to logically understand what what grammar is supposed to be used, but you will not acquire that piece of grammar properly until you have watched a lot more comprehensible input.
You may be able to explain the rule to somebody, but the problem with language is that you need to be able to use this grammar in a free-flowing conversation without having to stop and think about what the rule is and where everything is supposed to go.
That's why you need to acquire the language in a natural way.
So, that then when you are in a free-flowing conversation you have watched so much input and you have listened to this particular part of grammar be used so many times that when you're in a free-flowing conversation, you can just use the grammar.
Right?
Without having to think of the rule and where everything is supposed to go, you feel it.
You can feel what the correct grammar is and you can use it, right?
If you are struggling with a particular piece of grammar, it could be the case that you are simply not ready to acquire this piece of grammar yet and that what you need is more input to reach a higher overall level of English and then you will actually acquire the grammar that you need naturally.
If you go and try and do grammar drills and grammar exercises on something, it may be too early to learn that.
It may be too early in the natural process of learning grammar to actually learn that piece of grammar yet.
What you What you probably need is more input, not more grammar drills and exercises.
If you do want comprehensible input on a particular part of grammar, on English Spong, we do actually have a grammar filter whereby you can choose the part of grammar you would like to listen to and we have videos that use that piece of grammar many, many times so that you can get lots of comprehensible input focused on that grammar point, if you want.
Anyway, I hope that my explanation was clear.
It is a little bit of a complex concept to explain in a short video.
If you want to know more about Stephen Krashen's theories and his idea of learning a language through comprehensible input, check out our how to learn English playlist and it will explain everything you need to know about this method of learning English.
Thank you for watching this video and I will see you in the next one.
