Some fascinating grammar facts (yes, really!)

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.

I now have a Duolingo buddy!

My husband, Wayne, is now my Duolingo buddy!  This blog post is dedicated to him.

Readers who have read my previous blog posts probably know by now that I'm very impressed with a free online program for language learning called Duolingo.  Yes, I'll admit it up front.  I am just a tad obsessive about learning other languages.  

I follow other learners on Duolingo, mostly random people from all over the world that I don't know personally.  It's interesting to compare my progress with theirs from time to time.

But now that Wayne has become seriously committed to Duolingo, I have someone in my own household to compare Duolingo notes with.

Wayne grew up in a Texas town bordering the country of Mexico, as did I, so we have heard Spanish spoken all of our lives.  When Wayne finally tired of seeing me have so much fun with my daily language sessions on Duolingo, he made another attempt at learning Spanish on Duolingo (he had started and stopped a time or two before, as lots of people do). Now he is on an over two-month streak (earning Duolingo experience points every day) and very proud of his progress.

I also applaud his success, not only from a personal standpoint, but also because I want to learn more about how people acquire languages.  This morning I asked Wayne to talk to me for a few minutes about his Duolingo study.  Here are some observations he made about his learning process.

(1) He enjoys the "repeat after the speaker" questions and views them almost as a "gimme."  (I would like to add that he has a very authentic accent in Spanish.  I am especially jealous of his ability to produce a perfect rolled Spanish "r.")

(2)  He feels the need to go back and study certain grammar points, for example personal pronouns.  I try to discourage him from doing too much grammar in the early stages of language study, but I can sympathize with the urge to learn grammar rather than acquire it by use.

(3) He personalizes the Duolingo program to fit his needs.  On a busy day, he may return to an easier exercise just to get point credits for the day.  When life is more leisurely, he may challenge himself to a new grammar or vocabulary topic.  When asked to match Spanish and English vocabulary words, he disciplines himself to try to match them without resorting to process of elimination to get the right answer.

(4)  He likes the format change in Duolingo which allows the learner to continue an exercise, no matter how many tries it takes to reach the end.  (Previous versions of Duolingo would only let you make a limited number of errors before you "lost" the round.)

(5)  He isn't sure if Duolingo study is translating into real world use of Spanish, but he believes it will when he advances in the program.

Although I realize that Duolingo is not the only language program available, I think it has a lot going for it:  it's free to all users; it's available 24/7 on desktops, laptops, tablets and cell phones; and it's user friendly and lighthearted in approach.

"Have you done your Duolingo today?" is now part of daily conversations in our household, and I enjoy talking about it!