I recently added a sixth language to my daily study regimen on Duolingo. I know; it's an obsession. But before I admit to being a bit quirky when it comes to language study, I would like to defend my choice to spend valuable time each day learning other languages. You see, I truly get a kick out of analyzing how other languages are put together.
Linguists will tell you that languages are more similar than they are different, and I agree. The common elements of nouns, verbs, questions, and negatives come to mind. But each language I study has differences in grammar that are important in the language acquisition process.
First, let's explore up front why the word "grammar" gives some people the heebie-jeebies. I think it is because grammar in our native language (English for me) is fairly boring because we have already acquired it automatically. But once we start overlaying our English grammar patterns on new languages, ah! That's when grammar becomes intriguing.
Let's take a look at a grammar point in Spanish labeled "The Personal A." Here is an example: Busco mi hotel (I am looking for my hotel); Busco a mi esposo (I am looking for my husband). Did you notice the extra "a" in the second sentence? Don't bother trying to translate it. The personal a is a Spanish grammar requirement before direct object nouns that are specific people. Sounds easy enough, right? But how about Bitsy, my beloved pet cat? Isn't she as important as any person? Yes! Busco a Bitsy. I am looking for Bitsy. Here is the link to a YouTube video that gives further explanation of the personal a in Spanish: The Personal A .
On to Portuguese, which may be my favorite other language. Portuguese creates combined words that make beginning Portuguese students tear their hair out. Take a simple phrase like "the girl's book" which translates into Portuguese "the book of the girl" (o livro da menina). The English phrase has five words; the Portuguese phrase has four. The Portuguese word da combines the meanings of "of" and "the." And the Portuguese language has many of these forms, which are usually prepositions combined with other parts of speech. Take a look here Chart of Portuguese combined forms to be completely overwhelmed by grammar rules. These forms are best acquired rather than learned!
Another of the languages I have studied for many years, French, still makes my mind work overtime with some unique grammar rules. To say, "She remembered" in French, you have to know that "to remember" is a reflexive verb, that is, a reflexive pronoun is required. Then the past tense of reflexive verbs in French is formed with the helping verb, être. And if that isn't enough, the past participle must agree with the subject. Elle s'est souvenue is the result. ( I missed this translation recently on Duolingo!) Not easy, but fascinating.
For the next blog post, I am planning to tackle some sticky grammar points in Irish, Welsh, and Romanian, all languages that are fairly new to me, and therefore even more of a challenge.
Recently I read the headline of an article that ran something like "Forget Luminosity; Learn a Language." Analyzing grammar may just make those neurons in our brains a little more active.
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