The last two sentences of chapter 28 put it best: "the aim of grammar, I shall be arguing, is to give structure meaning. So meaning is where we must begin". This description, I think, represents how language should be learned. It is impossible to learn words, phrases, grammar, and sentence structure if one does not have a cultural context; or even more simply, know the meaning of the words. When I was a child in Hebrew school, we learned the alphabet, how to read, how to write, how to pronounce words, how to sing, and how to have the proper accent. But I never knew what I was saying. Ever. As I write this, I realize how absolutely ridiculous that sounds. It is dumb! How could I have learned to read, write and speak "fluently" in a language while having absolutely no idea what I was saying? It makes absolutely no sense. But it is all about structure and context.
The framework in which I was working was to be able to read Hebrew well enough to read from a prayer book, speak well enough to pronounce words, songs and prayers properly, and write... well, I'm not exactly what the reason behind writing was. There was a purpose for all of it, yes. But it gave no meaning. There was no link between my Jewish culture and the words I was learning. I never learned the Hebrew word for the concepts about which I was learning. I never learned about uniquely Hebrew phrases or jokes (other than the ones I hear my grandfather say in Yiddish). This is such a travesty. It shows me how language learned in the wrong context, out of the correct structure is such a waste. This is why it is so important that I make a correct language learning plan. I want to know the meanings and the connections for everything.
There are connections between everything: between culture and idioms, between the origin of words and culture and geography, between religion and word use, between spelling and grammar. These links between grammar, diction, and culture are endless. And I already know how much of an absolute waste it is to not connect all of the dots. To me, these readings for today represented the importance between all of these connections. I am still not sure how best to draw the lines, but I know for sure that they need to be drawn.
Comments
I don't think it was "dumb" to focus on reading, writing, pronunciation if the goal was to "read from a prayer book". You are right when you say that your learning experience didn't make you fluent in the language, but I am sure all that learning will prove to be helpful now!