G'day, how's it going lad? Today, I'm gonna be touching on three critical things that need to be learnt before jumping into more practical things: namely, English grammar, pronunciation and etymology. They are undeniably indispensable to the build-up of your English language proficiency. Without these knowledge, I'm 100% sure that you will be stuck in the middle of your learning process, and it is most likely that you will give up. Why? Let's get cracking!
Needless to say, English grammar is immensely important for those who wanna be good at English to master, simply because it's just too difficult to make a piece of sentences instantly. Grammar is like a jigsaw puzzle, isn't it? I mean, if you know the rules for putting the correct order of how each word should be arranged. You can somehow rule out classical grammar rules if you've already mastered all grammar rules and are aiming for becoming a journalist in the future. But, that is usually not that case for most of you guys if you haven't mastered grammar. So, first, it's important to reach the level of having been capable of explaining all grammar rules and formulating English sentences with a wide range of grammar structures.
Second, it's important for you to enunciate all 44 sounds of English pronunciation. Although you don't have to be perfect, you've still got to have at least 80% accurate pronunciation with a good oral fluency. I reckon this is also critical. The best method to be able to get used to the sounds is to implement voice training every day under the condition that you've fully understood as to how the 44 sounds should be pronounced properly. Presumably, you will find it so hard to find out which sounds you're persistently mispronouncing. I highly recommend finding an expert in pronunciation, not an ordinary native speaker, if you really wanna improve pronunciation.
And, finally, etymology, in other words "word roots", is also critical for boosting your English vocabulary. Etymology consists of prefixes, suffixes and word roots. Particularly, suffixes are more important than the other two, in part because the more you know them the better you'll be in terms of paraphrasing, with the knowledge of transforming verbs, for instance, into nouns, adjectives, adverbs, etc. If you can do like this, then you will feel less stressful when it comes to increasing the range of vocabulary. Yes, of course, the more vocabulary you know, the more flexible you'll be able to speak and write. That's true, but nonetheless having big words are not necessarily needed, especially when it comes to daily conversation. No one wants to see anyone who is boasting about fancy, colourful or even esoteric words. This behaviour is rather annoying, isn't it? Hence, it's better not to show off such words unless the use of them seem to be inescapable in a particular topic.
To recap, learning English grammar, pronunciation and etymology are prerequisite for every English learner, making sure that you don't just memorise them, but utilise them in a practical way like explaining them orally. Otherwise your accumulated knowledge will soon be rusty and gone. Keep it up mate!
Thanks for reading my blog today. Have a great Sunday arvo!