I Did 2,527 Advanced Grammar Exercises to Prove This

Do you need to study grammar or is consuming a lot of content in English enough for mastering it? I carried out an experiment to find this out. Over the last 10 years I read more than 100,000 pages of books in English and listened to/watched thousands of hours of podcasts, TV series, and YouTube content. Out of 100 Units of Advanced Grammar in Use by Cambridge, how many mistakes am I going to make?

Stephen Krashen, an American linguist, insists that you don't need to sit down and study grammar deliberately in order to understand and use it, that input - reading and listening - is enough. Is it true? Let's find out.

____________The sources I mentioned/used_____________

* What Should Every EFL Teacher Know? by I.S.P. Nation

* Second Language Learning Theories: Fourth Edition by Rosamond Mitchell, Florence Myles, Emma Marsden

* English Grammar in Use: A Self-Study Reference and Practice Book for Intermediate Students of English with Answers by Raymond Murphy

* Advanced Grammar in Use: A Self-Study Reference and Practice Book for Advanced Learners of English by Martin Hewings



____________Watch next________________________________

________Contents of this video__________________________

0:00 The science behind grammar learning (Krashen, Nation)
1:54 The experiment
5:41 Do you need to study grammar?

[josephkim]

Wow, this is so motivating.
In my personal view, for many people including myself, it is easy to start studying grammar books, but very difficult to finish them, much less solving all the questions in those books. Knowing that "Being consistent is the key to success" and living according to it is very much different. You are amazing.

I felt that I've gotten stuck in the same level of English for many years. I'm gonna try "the blue" and "the green" books. I hope I can talk English fluently like you someday.

Thank you for being a wonderful motivator!

[cheerfulheartdeepmind]

hello beauty.... there is a concept called "diminishing return" and it simply applies to everything in life... in terms of language, if you master 3000 most used words, you can OWN almost 85% of the language... but to understand the 90% of the language, you basically need 10K words ... so the return is diminishing almost exponentially... since you've exposed yourself to massive amount of English by reading and listening, you must have already mastered a decent amount of language....
and yesss... mass exposure to language really works... I only recommend you to collect full sentences from the advanced grammar book you already finished.. write these full sentences down on your notebook and revise regularly without memorizing.... just like reading a book... you will get 100 percent really soon ... the brain is really designed to read.... keep up good work... thank you for your video... I'm not native either...👍

[NewLife]

I´ve been studying Spanish for 25 months but, like a ancient Jew trying to save my religion. Saying that I take it deadly serious is an understatement. I´m 58 and wisdom has taught me a few things. #1, we all want different things from our studies. #2, we all learn differently. For me, after a month of doing it just like everyone else, I could feel the frustration building. «This is not going fast enough for me!» so, I looked at SPANISH, the whole language. I consulted old experts. Language is made of only three things 1. Vocabulary in context 2. Grammar including idioms 3. Verb forms extracted out of grammar. That´s it. So, I started an in-context vocabulary list which is now 16, 000 entries entirely in-context word-to-word. I studied ALL the grammar, just like you did, only in three months upfront. Daily, I orally practice verb forms in all tenses with imagination. I´m C1 level reading, writing, comprehension and pronunciation. It´s only been 25 months so, my speaking ability is lagging behind the rest which is human, totally normal. Part of the problem shyness and fear but, I´m working on it. I highly recommend my model to anyone.

[jan_machalsk]

Your channel is so nice!! I have the C2 level certificate from speaking and I'm planning to take the C2 level written exam too. I still need to practice my grammar skills 😁 and I was wondering what kind of book should I buy. You've persuaded me to buy the Advanced Grammar In Use, I believe that it'll help me to practice everything I need. I've also completed the advanced English Vocabulary In Use - that's the another (in my opinion) excellent book from Cambridge 🙂.
Thank you for your amazing content, you're doing a great job 👏🏻👏🏻👍🏻

[OnlineSchoolofEnglish]

This video is great! I will share it with my students. Cheers!🙂

[MyEnglishChannel]

Amazing!! It shows that you love English grammar, exposing yourself to a lot of English 👏👍way to go!!

[jiminjimin]

Wow thanks for sharing your journey. It's such a strong motivation for me.

[rafamb]

I'm so glad that I found this video, because I keep struggling with the same thing. I consume a lot of media in English (especially books of nonfiction) and I can understand it quite well. But when I try to write, I feel hesitant and insecure. Some things (such as the present perfect x past simple usage) have always been difficult for me, regardless of the fact that I've been using English daily (passively, most of the time) for over a decade. I thought I was exceptionally stupid for not learning through reading and listening as much as people said I would.

And since I'm thinking about becoming an English teacher, I've decided to study grammar. The blue book was fine, but the green one (for advanced learners) is kicking my ass, and I'm only on unit 5 lol

PS.: I saw in a comment that your native language is Russian, which is my favorite language! I've tried learning it too and it was extremely hard. If I had more time and mental energy, I'd try to study more, because it's a beautiful language and I love Russian music (like Molchat Doma).

[SamaBRJ]

The book is written for advanced users of the language as well as teachers who want a deeper understanding of English grammar. It's definitely useful and can help you grasp the nuances of the language. As a helpful tip, the pronunciation of the word "use" in "Grammar in Use" might be interesting to learn.

[franciscogonzalez]

Honestly, I’m studying from the Basic Grammar in Use (American English) book. I do about three exercises, a day and feel, I have acquired more comprehension of American English.

[jayli]

In my opinion learning grammar through only reading and listening as it is stated in the theory you mentioned is not enough. Its important to learn all those rules and do exercises. Also exams like Cambridge certification has the use of English part that evaluates the knowledge of grammar separately.

[massell]

What is your native language?? I thought your native language is English until now! Your pronuncuation is clear. how long do you learn english?

[intensivecare]

Awesome, you are really a good influencer...🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇

[michaelcunnane]

I love your voice, it's cute and heart warming when I'm watching your videos. I think it helps to read Atomic Habits by James Clear first before doing Advanced Grammar questions, so that you won't be exhausted, poor human being later.

[ИринаНакорякова-ьл]

Прикольные комментарии! Молодец, доча.

[ajayakumarpradhan]

Good morning madam
Please start a grammar class once in a week, so that, learner, viewers will be more satisfied and ever grateful to you, i hope you will keep my request.Have a good day madam.

[selfbelief]

I always start with enthusiasm but I get exhausted in a while. That's why I am stuck in a rut.

[amazirlahmouz]

The most beautiful girl, the most beautiful teacher, the most beautiful assistant, the most beautiful lover of books. thank you very much .

[jayli]

Hi. I would say this book is popular and classic one among grammar books. Has that advanced grammar helped you with taking IELTS? What was its contribution to writing ans speaking parts of the exam? What do you think? I'm studying Grammar for IELTS by Cambridge University Press to improve my grammar skills.

[amrhalabi]

Wow, that's impressive!
Not only the fact of getting 82% but the discipline of going through the whole book.

I read about Krashen theory, I think it works for me to some extent.
In my opinion, learning Essential grammar is helpful, especially for the early stage.
Yet, diving deep into it could be frustrating for some and it might hinder the process of learning.

Thank you so much for your video and your valuable insights.