I love learning about grammar.
No, really.
And I am continually learning new things about it.
However, I’m aware that my enthusiasm is not shared by everyone. Not even, sadly, by all English Language students.
I’m also aware that I have been honest with you that you don’t actually need to know all that much anyway. So it might be tempting for you not to put too much effort into learning about it.
This would be a mistake. But it would also be a mistake for me to spend too much time teaching grammar when there is so much else to cover. So what to to do?
Well, I’ve already suggested that one of the things you should be doing is independent reading and learning and practising. I’ve pointed you in the direction of some online resources to help with this, some of which are linked from this page.
But if that’s a bit vague for you then let me put this to you.
Look at these newly updated pages on the wonderful Steve Campsall’s remarkable http://www.englishbiz.co.uk website, and work your way through them carefully, doing the suggested exercises and making use of the clicky links to read further definitions and explanations of the terminology. Make notes as you go along so that you will be forced to process the ideas and information for yourself; reading is not the same as learning. If there is anything that you still don’t understand, then make a note of it, and ask me on here or in class.
If you do this, your ability to use grammatical terms and ideas will be better than the overwhelming majority of other students taking this course, and it should pay off in better writing, better commentaries and better analysis of texts. Better exam marks, in otherwords.
Heald English 