rsl12

Now that that's over, here's my view: Learning grammar ought not be done simply because you want to be "correct" or because you want to be able to correct other people's grammar. The advantage of having a strong command of grammar is that it enables you to communicate your ideas unambiguously and concisely. Knowing grammar is like knowing which end of the knife is sharp, and knowing how much pressure you can exert on it. You can cut exactly what you need to cut out, and by using the maximum pressure the knife can take, you can do it with the fewest number of strokes. Similarly, people with a strong command of grammar can express thoughts more clearly and concisely. Those without such a command often have to repeat a point over and over to make themselves understood.

of course, you still need ideas to communicate. learning grammar does nothing in terms of making someone more clever. but grammar is very important, I think. To say that you should focus on good communication instead of grammar is like saying you should focus on musicality in playing an instrument instead of learning scales. It is *possible* to do, but knowing the fundamentals provides a very useful framework on which the higher-level skill can be built.

Finally, grammar can be corrected on a word processor for obvious mistakes, but a grammar check has yet to be invented that can take a muddled argument and make it clear. And even if that day did come when word processors could reconstruct paragraphs, grammar is still useful in conversation (though not as useful as it is in writing).

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