How to teach grammar like a pro

12 Tips for Teaching Grammar like a Pro

In the past five years, I’ve tried everything a variety of methods to meet the grammar needs of that year’s class of students. Let me save you the trouble of finding some things out the hard way. as well as some ideas that are just plain cool.

Here’s the problem:
Teachers of English are put into a tricky set of dilemmas every school year:

Make or find a pretest to see what students know, but don’t feel pressure to make it include all grammar for the year; it’s fine to pretest just the topics you think you’ll cover that quarter or term. Then you’ll know more confidently what you do (or don’t!) need to teach.

Even better? Give a pretest in the format of the next standardized test they’ll take. I’ve been known to scan and print a page of the ACT’s English section from a test prep book and give it to 8th graders.

Here’s a sample grammar diagnostic test that uses song lyrics to keep things from getting boring:

2. Prove why students should care
I love using part or all of my «Why Grammar?» mini-unit, because it lets students read why grammar and editing matter (from people OTHER than me), and motivates them to care more. I’d rather have them hear it from more authentic sources than just take my word for it!

If you don’t have enough time for the whole mini-unit, you might like part or all of my Word Crimes lesson, made to go with the music video!

4. Teach it in a GAME
Learn more about how I teach grammar in a GAME BOARD format by either reading this blog post or viewing my full grammar bundle here!

5. Narrow your rubric
You don’t have to grade EVERY piece of writing for grammar, but even when you do, there’s no rule that says you have to point out EVERY mistake they make (at least all the time). It’s fine to make a rubric in which you JUST grade commas, or JUST spelling/homophones. Your shortened grading time per paper will thank you!

8. Students make their own learning goals
The ultimate low-stress differentiation is to let students self-assess, identify their own problem areas, make plans to fix them, and then accomplish those plans. Show visible growth from each student with my Grammar & Proofreading Project.

10. Write original sentences ASAP
Don’t just give all the mentor sentences away; make students copy real sentences from others AND also write their own original ones! They need to practice recognizing errors AND drafting correctly the first time. If you need help, here are 10 activities to write grammar rules in context.

11. Use videos wisely
Even if you don’t have student-made videos (see #6), I highly recommend giving students EITHER videos you find online, or recordings of you explaining a grammar topic. I «flip» most of my grammar instruction with homemade videos; I make PowerPoints explaining a topic and then use screencastomatic.com to record myself narrating over those slides and teaching.

There are serious advantages to having grammar instruction in video format. It helps absent students, not to mention any student (IEP or not) who needs to hear something multiple times before it «sticks».

How to Teach Grammar Like A Pro

One of our best-selling titles, with priceless advice on teaching the intricacies of English grammar, a topic that can be very difficult for ESL students.

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61 sections of teacher-tested methods for teaching grammar that really work
350 tips and instructions in giving grammar lessons your students will enjoy
13 tenses covered, several with more than one section One of our best-selling titles, with priceless advice on teaching the intricacies of English grammar, a topic that can be very difficult for ESL students.

I ALREADY HAVE OTHER GRAMMAR BOOKS. HOW IS THIS ONE DIFFERENT?
Difficult concepts have more than one section dedicated to them. One of the best ways for students to grasp a complicated concept is to learn it from several different angles. We make it easy by providing several sections on difficult concepts, including 3 sections covering the Passive Voice (19 step-by-step instructions and several takeaways) and 4 sections on teaching the Present Perfect, a notoriously difficult tense for ESL students.

We help you find answers to tough grammar questions. An easy-to-navigate table of contents and a color-coded step-by-step layout let you have several teacher-tested tips on even the most difficult grammar concepts ready in just a few minutes. Help your students master everything from reported speech to degrees of comparison in ways that you never thought of before.

How to Learn Grammar Like a Pro Even If You Hate It

After all, that’s just a dream, isn’t it?

Forget speaking with perfect pitch and pronunciation, moving from topic to topic, knowing the meaning of every single word, and crafting elaborate sentences one after another.

Sure, it would be great, but for the most part, we language learners are simpler souls with simpler dreams.

We want to speak a language fluently. We want to get into a conversation, stay in it, and engage our audience. Have fun, even.

Hell, we want to communicate.

And that’s where the problem lies.

In order to express ourselves well, we need words, AND we need to know how to put them together. We need to master the grammar of our target language.

Take a moment and try to think of five words that come to mind when you hear the word “grammar”.

For me, I think of:

What words did you come up with?

Something similar right?

Because let’s face it, most people associate grammar with having to hit the books, and cram grammar rules that often are hard to understand, and even harder to remember.

But here’s the thing.

You don’t need to do ANY of that to speak a language fluently.

“Really?” you might ask, “How can I speak well if I don’t know the grammar of the language?”

And here is the catch:

You don’t need to know grammar.

Now, if I told you that there is method to absorb the grammar of a language without even opening a grammar book, would you follow it, no questions asked?

I think you would.

And, the best part is, there certainly is a way to do it.

This article is about just that.

Learn grammar from language, not language from grammar

A few years ago I spent a lovely and really interesting summer day walking around at Bracciano Lake, near my home city of Rome.

I was with some friends of mine, a Russian-speaking couple with two children. At that point, the entire family had been living in Italy for a year.

One of the children was 7, the other 2.

The 7-year old not only spoke two languages perfectly, but what struck me was that he put together perfectly-grammatical sentences, switching effortlessly from Russian to Italian.

No mistakes, no hesitation.

If you have children, I am sure you have witnessed how they can absorb languages effortlessly with time.

So the common conclusion is that:

“Kids absorb everything like sponges, their brains are much more plastic than adult brains”.

We never give a second thought to these thoughts or claims. We just take them for granted because, well, people say it.

But wait a moment. Let’s look at these claims more closely.

Specifically, let’s examine the idea that young brains are much more plastic than adult brains.

In recent years, advances in science and technology have greatly helped prove that the human brain is not only extremely plastic, but that it remains so until we die.

The bottom line of this is that, yes, we can learn anything we want to, at any age.

Sure, learning a language at 70 for the first time is not like learning one at 3.

But the mechanisms of language acquisition remain the same.

It is just that most adults never learn or are never taught how to use their brain to learn things more efficiently.

The English language has this great phrase for it: “brain-friendly way”.

Let’s see what this brain-friendly, easy route is.

How I moved from studying grammar to absorbing grammar

When, at the ripe age of 15, I decided to tackle German by myself, the only resource at my disposal was a dusty grammar book on my grandmother’s shelves.

I started leafing through it, reading the grammar rules and then going through the exercises. Just as I had done with Latin and math in school.

My beginner’s enthusiasm soon lead to frustration, and even rage.

I just didn’t like it.

To be honest, I started hating it.

I didn’t retain anything; everything seemed boring and hard to grasp.

I was about to give up when I found out on TV that De Agostini (a famous Italian company) created “Il Tedesco per Te” (“German for You”).

I immediately bought it, and oh boy, what a change it was!

The first big difference was that this course centered on dialogues. All grammar rules and cultural notes were secondary, relegated to the margins of each page. It was all packaged within a nice and colorful framework.

That’s where things really started to change.

How to become a grammar pattern machine

Some years after that fateful day where I started using new material for German, and after learning 10 languages, I stumbled upon a great book written by Hungarian Polyglot Kato Lomb, called How I Learn Languages.

Inside, I read this phrase, which almost made me fall off my chair.

“You cannot learn language from grammar, but you learn grammar from language”.

Everything was so crystal clear all of a sudden.

“Of course!” The reason I learned German so well without ever opening a grammar book was because I exposed myself to lots of interesting, progressive and comprehensible content.

I was focusing on the language instead of focusing on the grammar, and learning grammar was a consequence of that.

A few years prior, as part of my education for my engineering degree, I studied how mathematical models (called “neural networks”) can help us optimize any system.

Doing that work helped me put all the pieces together when I read Kato Lomb’s work.

Machines learn new things by forming patterns out of examples.

Human beings do that too, and a glaring example of that is language learning. We learn languages like pros when we are children.

We tend to absorb information from the outside world and compare it with the mental maps we have been building, forming new patterns all the time.

What will happen, for example, if a 4- or 5-year-old native English speaker hears these sentences:

I love my dog. I like dogs.

I drive a car. I see many cars on the street.

I am reading a book. I read books at night.

He will most probably see a pattern that will help him figure out a key rule of English—add an “s” to the end of a noun to make it plural.

That’s what you did when you were a kid, with your native language. You saw patterns, and you used them to deduce grammar rules.

But what happens when things are not that linear?

For example, native English-speaking kids often infer that the plural of “mouse” is “mouses”. They discover that the plural is actually “mice” by getting feedback from their parents, teachers or peers.

These are just a few simple examples of how kids learn from exposure, not from reading about grammar rules, but by learning grammar rules through examples.

And as an adult, you can do the same.

Now, I would to point to another thing.

If I had asked that 7-year-old Russian boy if he knew what an adverb, a relative clause or a verb were, do you think he would have been able to answer correctly?

Children can speak their language well, but don’t know much about how it works, or why they say the things they do.

Adults know a lot about it but can speak very little.

Because, again, we have unlearned how to do things in a brain-friendly way, after years of misleading education paradigms.

Again, that’s not because kids are better at learning languages, it is just that they naturally do things the “easy way”. They make it easy for their brain to learn.

Let’s see what we can to “make it easy” ourselves.

Tips to build your language learning patterns

Let me give you a few tips on how to learn languages in a more efficient way:

1. Choose material that has lots of dialogues and real language

Kids learn through, and from, real language, used every day. They learn from context, from the interaction between themselves and other human beings, as well as interaction between other human begins. So, make sure that whatever material you use, it is full of dialogues where people use everyday language to communicate. An example of a great series for material like this is called ASSIMIL.

2. Make sure the content is compelling and visually interesting

Material which contains dialogues is great, but you should make sure that these dialogues are interesting, real, simple, and engaging at the same time. Also, the visual aspect of the material plays a major role in the long run, because material you like holding and looking at compels you to use it on an everyday basis, that’s that the number one secret of successful language learning.

3. Use grammar notes only as a reference after exposing yourself to content

If you have made it this far, it should be clear that you can’t learn grammar by cramming grammar rules into your head.

So, a feature every good resource should have is some grammar notes which explain obscure grammar points in a simple and straightforward way.

You should make sure to read these notes without forcing yourself to remember them. In other words, go through them once and then move on.

Go back to them on and off when you have a more solid grasp of the language, and you will be amazed to see how much clearer they have become after some more exposure to the language.

4. Make it personal, use what you learn in a real conversation

Getting a lot of input through interesting and compelling dialogues with grammar notes, but the magic starts happening when you put them to use in a real conversation with a real person.

So, make sure that you use what you learn by communicating with another human beings, tackling topics that you are interested in. Simple, right?

5. Get feedback and learn from your mistakes

When you speak to someone for the sake of learning, like on Skype with a tutor, a language tandem or simply a friend, make sure that you tell them to give you some valuable feedback.

Great feedback such as: pointing out mistakes, make suggestions, providing cultural insights and so on. Make sure you save that feedback somehow, be it on paper or on your computer (or phone) and re-use it during the next conversation or in real life to iron out your language skills.

Start building your language learning patterns

When approaching grammar in a foreign language, it’s easy to overthink things and try to study it like you would in school.

However, if we use children as an example of expert language learners, it’s clear that there is an easier, more brain-friendly way to get it done.

Grammar is all about patterns, so what you need to do is observe lots of natural language, and see if you can identify the patterns on your own.

If you have trouble, you can then turn to grammar guides or explanations for help, or as a reference to strengthen what you already know.

In any case, start following the above tips as soon as you can.

If you practice them every day, I guarantee that your dream of speaking a new language fluently will soon become a reality.

Written by Luca Lampariello

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You are saying to us that a kind of discipline and method together with a child way of absorbing are the most important thing.thanks Luca

Hi Alessandro! I am saying that if you focus on learning and using the language, and you resort to grammar explanations only as a reference, there is a good chance that you will learn a language fluently and you will speak it well. Thanks for the comment and for stopping by! L

Hi Luca! thank you for all of your posts and videos.Since i”ve got level C2 in German, i speak German even much worse and unfluently than B1, because i know all of the grammar rules so well and notice them while speaking. Everytime, when i have a conversation with my colleagues, i am always making many stupid mistakes that even my students do not make. Because of being afraid of making mistakes i make more of them and can not show that i know a lot of beautiful idioms and phrases.

Have you ever got into the trouble and how can i deal with that?

THanks for reading and i am looking forward to your reply!

Hi Huyen! Thanks for leaving a comment.

Yours is a common problem: focusing too much on grammar or on making (or not making) mistakes takes a lot of your mental energy. As a consequence, your prefrontal cortex has to do more work, and your overall communication patterns suffer and degrade.

I would focus on the joy of communication and not on your performace. A practical piece of advice is to get a speaking partner, choose topics you really like, and focus exclusively on communicating. Ask him/her to listen to you and give you feedback AFTER you have spoken.

You have to rewire your system, focusing on communication instead of performance, language instead of grammar.

Hope this helps!

Salve Luca,
I just came across your blog and LOVE your posts and your approach to learning languages. I am German, just got 50yo, and speak English (AE) and French fluently. Learning Spanish on and off for a few years now.
Then decided to go for a week’s vacation in Toscana, and just learned a few Italian words. Did not always feel comfortable having to talk to some of your compatriots being of no help but had the loveliest experience on the last day with the landlord of our vacation home who invited us into his home for tasting his Vinsanto after we had bought some of his oglio di olive. We had the best conversation with me digging out some words in Italian, Spanish, French, and he would understand and help me with the Italian word. Of course I would have felt more comfortable had I been able to form whole sentences but it was ok the way it happened. (Just came back last weekend.)
Now I go back to learning Spanish with new motivation and new ideas from your blog and then some day I might also continue with Italian, but I have the feeling that it is better to be more confident in one of those “similar” languages before learning the next.
Next on my plan is Dutch btw, as we also travel to the Belgium coast some times.
Off now to read some more of your great content…
Tina in Germany

Hallo Tina! Thanks for the lovely comment and for sharing your story in Tuscany! And I am glad you like the blog and its content =) Have a great day and happy language learning! L

Guarani language Ovevete nde blog Chera’a. Translate as (Tu blog esta buenisimo Amigo. )
Felicitaciones…es un gran aporte para toda persona que desea aprender inglés. un abrazo.

How to Teach Grammar Like a Pro 3

Brand new activities, information, and tips that turn boring grammar lessons into something that will leave your students sad that class is over and they have to leave.

WHAT IS INCLUDED?
80 tips and tricks for teaching parts of speech, including tough topics like adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns
20 brand new ideas to integrate into innovative lessons on teaching tenses
23 tip Brand new activities, information, and tips that turn boring grammar lessons into something that will leave your students sad that class is over and they have to leave.

WHAT IS INCLUDED?
80 tips and tricks for teaching parts of speech, including tough topics like adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns
20 brand new ideas to integrate into innovative lessons on teaching tenses
23 tips in our “must read” sections to help you become an expert on teaching English grammar for ESL
60 other ideas for teaching types of grammar, such as clauses and articles
All together, 185 step-by-step instructions for turning unhappy class situations into useful grammar lessons filled with successful students

IT’S TIME TO TURN GRAMMAR INTO THEIR FAVORITE ESL LESSON… AGAIN.
Grammar is a difficult subject, even for native speakers. ESL students can occasionally feel completely overwhelmed. Even if you’re the type of ESL professional who has mastered infusing fun into all your classroom plans, you may still be struggling with those grammar lessons. That’s why it’s no surprise to us that our “How to Teach Grammar Like a Pro” Series, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, have both become bestsellers. Tenses, parts of speech, predicates – it’s hard to make students understand how important they are during the best of times, but during a boring lesson, their brains may check out altogether. Fortunately, we have the answer, and you can learn it very, very quickly.

The Procedures of Teaching Grammar

Teaching grammar is probably one of the most challenging aspects of teaching a foreign language. We need to make sure the students assimilate what we are trying to deliver and feel comfortable using it on a day-to-day basis. In this article, we will have a look at different procedures and techniques of teaching grammar.

PPP framework is a common practice to have a better understanding of the target structure and teaching it in an organized way. PPP stands for:

Presentation — introducing the language point, making sure the students understand its usage and formation.

Practice — putting the target structure into practice through exercises (gap fill, multiple choice, finish the sentence for a freer practice, etc.).

Production — creating a context for the students to use the target structure (discussion questions using the target language point, board games on different tense forms, role plays using the practiced structure, etc.)

At every stage of teaching grammar (presentation, practice, production) the work is organised in the micro three-phase framework.This ensures the assimilation of the language and its future application by the student in relevant situations.

Now, let’s look at some other ways of grammar presentation below which have worked for many classes, mine included.

As it is in case of vocabulary introduction, grammar can/should also be introduced using this scheme. Let’s say, we are introducing the present simple tense. Elicit the meaning first by giving several examples, just like in Guided discovery. Here are the examples to make this clear:

Asking CCQs (Content checking questions) is the next step.

Among anticipated problems we can mention that students might fail to guess the answer. Like they say ‘A little hint never killed nobody’. We can guide the students to the right answer and let them try again.

As soon as the students get the meaning of when the tense is used we can pass to the form.

Same strategy can be applied when working on the question and negative forms.

Same here, if the students need a hint, it is OK to give one.

Pronunciation kicks in next, asking the students to repeat the sentences and working on intonation, word stress and pronunciation of the 3rd person singular forms. Intonation charts are welcome to highlight the stressed words, rising/falling tomes, etc. An example can be seen below.

This order can also be varied as in case of vocabulary introduction depending on the aim, and the level of the learners.

Comparison

Another way to present a language point is through comparing it to other tenses. This works for levels that have already covered the basic tenses (present/past simple) and can use that knowledge to build new information. This advantage of this method is that it gives you a chance to revise the previous item and help the students to analyze the new one on their own.

Let’s say we are presenting present perfect to B1 level of students. At this level they mainly work with the meaning — action in the recent past without specifying time.

Elicitation comes in:

Once again, hints can be provided considering the students might have difficulties at some point. Next, the stages of form and pronunciation can be implemented like in the above mentioned cases.

Timelines

This is a well tested technique to make sure students can locate the events from past/present/future. It is a great tool for visual learners and can be used to introduce a grammar point. How? By showing the timeline and a sentence, eliciting the meaning and usage of the target structure. This works especially well when introducing two tenses at the same time, like past simple vs. past continuous or past simple vs. past perfect.

Total physical response

This is a very fun type of activity that can help the students, especially the young learners to grasp a new material when learning grammar. In my experience, it works well with present/past continuous tenses and can serve as both an introduction to the tense and a revision.

As for the Introduction, we can have some task cards for the students to perform in class; “Go and touch the wall”, “Stand up and sit down”, “Say hello to 5 people in the room”, etc. Students, having no idea why they are doing what they are doing can seem a bit confused but excited at the same time. Later on, the teacher can ask: “What was Mike doing?” and try to elicit the sentence “Mike was saying hello to different people.” Next stages go the same way as before.

As for the revision, we can have action cards, called “Mime the sentence”, have one student mime the action on the card, and the others guess the action using the correct tense form — the present continuous to describe the action at that moment “You are drinking coffee”, or reporting back to class “He was drinking coffee.” Same can be set as a pair/ group activity.

What other activities do you use? Let’s share and find the most creative one!