This post is part of a series of posts dedicated to revealing and explaining the 8 strategic components of a learning system that yields continuous progress with minimal effort.

Grammar. The part of language learning that everybody dreads. Is it really as big of a deal as everyone makes it out to be, though?

When you first start learning a second language, everything about that language is new to you. Although you know what language is, how it works, and what it’s used for, you don’t know how your specific language of choice accomplishes those tasks. You know that your second language contains grammar, and you’ve likely heard from other learners at least something about it.

In order to give yourself a solid foundation that enables you to put learning grammar on autopilot, you’ll need to explicitly focus on learning it as a Beginner.

Once you progress to the Elementary or Intermediate stages, you will know enough grammar to be fully functional in your second language, so explicit grammar study yields diminishing returns after the Beginner stage (and it’s usually what destroys your interest in learning the language, anyway, so it’s a win-win).

Since you know that the grammar of your native language is complex, you also know that the grammar of your second language is complex as well. That being said, you’re left wondering what parts of the grammar you should learn as a Beginner.

It’s much easier than you’d first expect: use a Beginner textbook for learning your second language.

I know, sounds boring and “obvious,” but you’re not going to use it in the same way as you would in a class.

Instead, you’re going to comb that textbook, laser-focused for grammar information.

Ignore everything else.

Read all the explanations and rules, and try to understand them as best as you can. If the textbook provides exercises or pattern drills to give you practice with the grammar points, complete them, and take notes as you do to help you remember how to use the grammar points.

However, if your textbook makes you do exercises that are anything but “plug-and-play” style exercises, skip them.

You only want exercises that control for all variables except the one grammar point you’re being taught. Do these same exercises as many times as you like over time.

The key to remembering these grammar points you’ll be learning is to enter example sentences that illustrate them into an SRS (which will be discussed in a later post).

Why does this work?

Because Beginner textbooks only teach you foundational grammar that is vital to being functional in the target language and avoid unnecessarily complex grammar.

Both the fact that all the grammar you’ll be learning from the Beginner textbook will be comparatively simple and foundational and the fact that you’ll be utilizing an SRS for efficient practice and review will facilitate you reaching the point where these simple grammar points become automatic and fully understood without having to focus on the patterns or rules.

What has your experience with learning grammar been like? Do you agree that grammar study is only beneficial as a Beginner?

Let me know in the Comments!