I am the Grammar Snob About Whom Your Mother Warned.

I know I've written quite a few blogs on grammar, but hey, I really do love it.

I was talking last night with a friend who is taking a grammar class this coming semester from the same teacher I took it from three years ago. He was rather excited to gain the skills to correct his roommates' grammar. I told him that class really only affected my knowledge of written grammar rather than spoken grammar. It was learning German that corrected my spoken grammar. German is, after all, the initial parent language of English, and our grammar is very similar.

In German, if you don't conjugate your verbs correctly, you may as well be speaking Norwegian ("cave man English", according to the aforementioned friend who happens to speak Norwegian). Verb conjugation is absolutely essential to being understood in German. In German there are clearly three parts to every verb. the verb for "have" is "haben" and the three participles are "haben, hatte, gehabt" while in English we have "have, had, had." The second and third participle are the same because the past and perfect tense are the same...? It's English--it doesn't have to make sense. But because they are the same, people get confused when it comes time to express something is present perfect ("have had") and especially past perfect ("had had") and even future perfect ("will have had"). Many native English speakers have no concept of the perfect tense and how to form it. That is why I frequently feel the need to step in and...help them out.

Another huge consideration is preposition use. Germans don't use prepositions like we do. For example, they use "auf" which can be translated to "upon" for so many uses: "it depends" is "das haengt darauf" which is literally translated to "it hangs upon." I don't consider that to be intuitive for English speakers. But with that lurking in the back of my head, it is so much easier for me choose the correct preposition in English. I always stop to think "What does this preposition really mean?" before I put it in a sentence.

But for those of you lacking the German background, Melissa Donovan of Writing Forward gave some great tips in her latest blog post about incorporating good grammar into your daily life:

1. Stop Being Lazy – When you’re not sure if the way you’ve written a sentence is correct, take a couple of minutes to go look it up instead of either rewriting it or hoping for the best.
2. Invest in Writing Tools – These include reference books that deal with grammar and style. My personal favorite is The Chicago Manual of Style.
3. Make it a Chore – Some chores you do every day, while others can be tackled weekly or monthly. Set a schedule for regular grammar lessons and stick to it. They don’t have to be long. You can learn something valuable in five short minutes!
4. Talk About It – Turn your grammar questions into conversations. Ask others how they use language. Oddly, I find that even non-writers have interest in basic grammar questions. And if you can’t find anyone who wants to discuss good grammar, take your conversation online. Remember you should always use a credible resource, but discussing grammar related issues is an ideal way to learn the nuances, intricacies, and to gain broader understanding.
5. Put it to Practice – Every time you learn something new, incorporate it into your writing until it becomes second nature. When I learned that it wasn’t traditionally correct to end sentences with prepositions, I stopped completely until it was as natural as putting terminal punctuation marks inside of quotation marks.
6. Bonus! Don’t Be OCD – Well, you can be OCD if you want. I like to break the rules sometimes. Eventually, I returned to ending sentences with prepositions, but only when it was the best way to communicate an action or idea.

I've done many of these things without even realizing it (I think that comes from being an English major--I have a wider pool of people who readily engage in grammar discussions). As for the chore, might I suggest that simply reading and paying attention to words the writer uses and where they put them is sometimes enough to improve your own grammar. I am a strong believer in the idea that through reading can nearly all of life's questions be answered.

If you struggle with grammar, don't lose heart. It is a matter of practice and discipline, but it is completely worth it. The truth is, if you can use grammar correctly, you will sound much smarter than you probably actually are, and who doesn't want to sound smarter? I rest my case.

It's Rhetorical

I've had a series of discussions with a friend lately, exploring why it is that we have to suppress our vocabularies to have conversations with certain people, or how certain speeches or books are so thrilling. And of course, it all comes back to a good command of rhetoric.

In rhetoric, there are six factors to consider, three rhetorical appeals, and three rhetorical situations:

1. Logos: the logical appeal using facts and reasoning
2. Ethos: the ethical appeal, using the strength of the speaker's character
3. Pathos: the pathetic appeal, invoking emotion in the audience

• Audience: who is reading or hearing this?
• Occasion: where/when is this being written/said?
• Purpose: why does this need to be written/said?

A good balance of these, with the correct medium (I'll talk about that later) creates a triangle of communication. Only when the triangle is balanced can the message be accurately communicated to the audience.

This is why we sometimes use a different vocabulary to talk to certain people. This is why sometimes, a speaker or a writer will stir you up and make you really believe what they are saying.

Below is an excellent example of rhetoric. This man's speech convinced me on an issue that I had been undecided on. That is what good rhetoric does!

Isn't it about...Time?

Because it's the end of the semester, all I do all day long is read and write. That's what I get for choosing to major in English. Don't misunderstand me, I love reading and writing. I am simply looking forward to the day when I'm not going to be told what I need to read and write.

However, being a slow reader, I find that it is nearly impossible to finish everything I need to do in one day.I just read a classmate's blog on time management and found it very interesting and helpful.

One of the suggestions he gave that I've never thought about before was:

Physically Order Projects

Sitting on my desk is a stack of folder dedicated to each project. After assessing priorities, I physically organize the files accordingly. This ensures that I being working on the project with the next highest priority, without having to consult a to-do list. I simply grab the next folder and begin working.

Benefit: Quickly move from project to project according to priorities.

 For me, I don't think I'd be working with a file folder, but rather a stack of books. Nonetheless, I find this to be a very good tip, considering how much time I waste moving around, gathering up my books that are strewn across four rooms in my apartment.

One suggestion that my classmate did not address that I have found most useful is this:

Treat your classes and homework like a job.

Why so much emphasis?

To treat your schooling like a job, you must get up at the same time every morning, start working at the same time, and end working at the same time. You must take into account what time your classes are at, and work accordingly, but generally, you should be working from 8 or 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For example:

I have class from 9-10 a.m. and 11:30-12:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So I work on homework in that break between classes and then I go home or to the library and continue to work until 5 p.m. Within that time, I prioritize my assignments and allow myself an hour for eating.

However, on Tuesdays and Thursday, I have class from 9:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. with only one hour of breaks. During that hour, I eat and relax, or sometimes do more homework. But as you can guess, I don't get much else done on Tuesdays and Thursdays than actually being in class. It sounds scary, but it's actually ok, because if I work consistently on every other day of the week, I don't need to get much done on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The benefit of this is that

1. I get things accomplished because I don't allow for distractions.
2. I give myself the evening to use energy and have a social life.

This strategy has changed my undergraduate career and might be the single answer to how I get anything done. I hope you can implement an equally effective plan in your life to manage your time.