Ever feel like HATING grammar sometimes?

[Lekonua]

First off, I know the importance of USING good grammar.

I use proper grammar all the time, whether it is necessary or not.

However, I hate LEARNING about grammar for the fifty seventh time straight in school. Every single effing year, we learn about sentences, what is a sentence, what is not a sentence, how to make sentences make sense, all the stuff that's important to know.

But that's not the point. Or maybe it is...I'm thinking more along the lines of what HAS no point: learning about things like subordinating whatsits, coordinating thingamabobs, and compound complex whosa-ma-things.

The only reason I'm not doing well in language arts at this moment is because I'm trying to memorize the differences between ten grillion different types of sentences.

If I can properly use this stuff in a 5 page essay, what is the point of knowing how to identify whether one sentence is a subordinating something-or-other, or a compounding whatever-it's-called?

It's really pissing me off, because grammar used to be the one thing I could count on being good at during school. I suck at math, and history bores me as close to death as it is possible to come without actually dying..

Anyone else care to share their views on this matter?

scream  

[Fuku Taichou]

I haven't really learned about grammar in a while. The only time I really recall learning about sentence structure was in fifth grade. After that, it was all about reading, learning about the written world, and how to write a good essay. In college, I only had to take one writing course because of my SAT and AP scores, and it was again, about writing specific types of essays. It's kind of silly to learn so much about sentence structure when you don't really need to know it to write coherently.  

[Patron with a Mission]

Hm. As a college level writing tutor, I'd have to say knowing some of those things are critical, as most of the students that come to me are turning their papers in to people with Ph.Ds, doing research, or applying for some serious matters.

As for the high school level, I don't see the harm of introducing it, but into hardcore detail? I'm not too sure.

Just my two cents worth. mrgreen  

[Zealot of Insanity]

I hate learning about elementary grammar. However, advanced linguisitics... er... amuse me? I'll have to pull a better verb from my vocabulary for that...  

[Artificial Joy]

I guess I don't mind learning grammar. My English Teacher is really nice. It's my reading teacher that drives me up the wall! I hate her too much for words to describe! But, no, learning isn't fun. My teaachers are nice, not fun.  

[Amphion]

It helps most when you have a complicated sentence that sounds wrong but you're just not sure why. I'm fascinated by that sort of stuff, and wish we had some exposure to it (my school considers direct objects "advanced concepts"), but I wouldn't say that it's the most important stuff on earth to know.  

[Sanami2315]

I'd have to say that I love grammar now, despite the years I spent doodling away or writing original stories during high school grammar classes. Then again, college writing is much more fun. We're graded mostly on content, not grammar, and having skill in grammar to begin with is an added bonus: no ugly marks about my errors involved!

Although that might just be more because I write about everything no one else would dare: homoerotica, trips to the gynecologist, etc.  

[Niccea Majeare]

I don't really know if I can say much on this. My schools have never really cared hard core about grammar. And the grammar we did cover was word choice like how you are not supposed to say "off of" and how my teacher would kill us if she saw "enthused" in our papers. But, I'm actually good in grammar mechanics. During my senior year's mock AP test. I scored almost perfectly on the multiple choice section, but horribly screwed up the essays. My essays in school normally get good scores, but when applied to the AP test, they suck.  

[Shopping_Spree_101]

I am in ninth grade, and we are learning phrases and clauses right now. We just had a test on punctuation, after spending three weeks "learning" it. The sad thing is, I'm the only one who got an A in my class.  

[Dreaming in the Theatre]

Yes.

Because of the SATs.

 

[xboxzombie]

Shopping_Spree_101

I am in ninth grade, and we are learning phrases and clauses right now. We just had a test on punctuation, after spending three weeks "learning" it. The sad thing is, I'm the only one who got an A in my class.

That is kinda sad. But it dosent suprise me. I remember when I was a sophmore, half of my class was failing. eek  

[bakuretsuai]

Shopping_Spree_101

I am in ninth grade, and we are learning phrases and clauses right now. We just had a test on punctuation, after spending three weeks "learning" it. The sad thing is, I'm the only one who got an A in my class.

That really brings back memories. Though it saddens me to say it, I was far better at writing at that age simply because I didn't analyze my writing to death. Now, I'm lucky if I get a single chapter typed out completely. But don't feel bad. When I was a senior in high school, I was one of the only six people to pass the Literature class at all. Of those six I was one of the only three to do it with a B or better. Sure our instructor was a real 'hard case', but she was determined to get something out of us. Well, that and she assigned a lot of creative writing to keep herself from getting too bored with us. Most of which she didn't even try to read because of poor punctuation and usage.