New Journal Entry #12

[Mark Kligman]

After reading "A Picture of Language," I learned a lot about the different methods of learning and teaching grammar, which is a language learning aspect that many disregard. Throughout my lifetime in education I have studied many languages such as: German, Russian, Ukrainian, English, Spanish and now even Turkish, however grammar was never something I could pick up on very easily since every language has their own conjugation systems and grammatical exclusivities. This article discussed the many difficulties of "parsing", which I found interesting. Parsing develops a learner's practical skills in analyzing sentences and picking up on tenses, parts of speech, and the form and function of the included conjugation. From past experiences with learning languages I can definitely agree that this is not a very fun process and it does not develop the learner's speech, however I believe that it is a necessity to analyze how sentences work for a language learner because it creates the foundation on which the learner can build his or her language skills, and make sure that they are grammatically correct. I was not surprised at the end of the article, that most of the people interviewed by the author who were language learners were expressing how important it is to learn with "parsing" and come up with an approach that is more visual and relatable to learners, especially because that was the way I would try to learn my grammar when learning other languages. I would usually find a trend or visualization that I could relate to myself and help remember.