The Mechanics Of A Language
There is a difference between when you speak a language and when you're good at speaking a language.
For example, every adult that is healthy or that isn't sick can sing any particular song but not every healthy adult can sing as beautifully as others.
Being good at doing something and just doing something because you can do it are entirely two different things.
Yes, I (Matthew) can speak a little Spanish. I can say and write down the following in Spanish : "Que Rico", "Como Estas", "Hola Chicos" and so on. But does that mean that since I can say and write those words down that I'm good at speaking Spanish? The answer is NO. Speaking a language well entails a lot things.
As my linguistics lecturer would say, for you to be able to speak any language fluently you need to know *The Mechanics Of That Language*.
What does he mean by the mechanics?
By the mechanics he simply means how that language works; that is to say, the *grammar of that language*. Let me go into more detail for you guys to understand.
The sentence structure or word order in English language is SVO (subject, verb and object.) For example, He is a handsome boy. He is the *subject* while is is *the verb* and handsome boy is *the object and complement*.
But if someone says "boy he is" or "is boy he" that person has violated the rules of English syntax.
So you see guys, speaking a language is not as easy as you've thought. First, you must know the mechanics or what linguist refer to as "the under-lining structure" of a language.
The second thing I wanna talk about is "meaninglessness".
Look at these sentences: "He drives thoughtfully", "He eats recklessly".
Now those sentences are grammatically correct. It means that they have a subject, a verb and an adverbial.
But if you look at those sentences closely, you'll notice that they don't make any sense at all or that they are meaningless.
What this means is that for you to make a meaningful sentence in English you need to know words, phrases, preposition and adverbials that usually and naturally go with other words for you not to construct awkward, meaningless and unnatural sentences.
There is a difference between when you speak a language and when you're good at speaking a language.For example, every adult that is healthy or that isn't sick can sing any particular song but not every healthy adult can sing as beautifully as others.
Being good at doing something and just doing something because you can do it are entirely two different things.
Yes, I (Matthew) can speak a little Spanish. I can say and write down the following in Spanish : "Que Rico", "Como Estas", "Hola Chicos" and so on. But does that mean that since I can say and write those words down that I'm good at speaking Spanish? The answer is NO. Speaking a language well entails a lot things.
As my linguistics lecturer would say, for you to be able to speak any language fluently you need to know *The Mechanics Of That Language*.
What does he mean by the mechanics?
By the mechanics he simply means how that language works; that is to say, the *grammar of that language*. Let me go into more detail for you guys to understand.
The sentence structure or word order in English language is SVO (subject, verb and object.) For example, He is a handsome boy. He is the *subject* while is is *the verb* and handsome boy is *the object and complement*.
But if someone says "boy he is" or "is boy he" that person has violated the rules of English syntax.
So you see guys, speaking a language is not as easy as you've thought. First, you must know the mechanics or what linguist refer to as "the under-lining structure" of a language.
The second thing I wanna talk about is "meaninglessness".
Look at these sentences: "He drives thoughtfully", "He eats recklessly".
Now those sentences are grammatically correct. It means that they have a subject, a verb and an adverbial.
But if you look at those sentences closely, you'll notice that they don't make any sense at all or that they are meaningless.
What this means is that for you to make a meaningful sentence in English you need to know words, phrases, preposition and adverbials that usually and naturally go with other words for you not to construct awkward, meaningless and unnatural sentences.
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