Suggestions for good, interesting books on English grammar?

August 8, 2006 3:19 AM

My girlfriend is Korean, and has been living in the US since 2000. Her English is fairly good, but she still makes a few grammatical errors on a regular basis, especially when writing. Can anyone recommend a good, and probably more importantly interesting to read, book on English grammar she could use to get better?

As I said, her English is fairly good. She's not fluent, but can communicate effectively in English in just about any situation. She's looking to improve the finer points of her writing and speech, problems with things like the proper use of plurals, definite articles, etc. Searching around AskMe brought up this thread from April that had some good ideas, but those suggestions were geared towards people looking to teach English in a foreign country. I'm looking more for books designed for people looking to improve their own language, though of course the books suggested in the linked thread help. Anyway, any ideas anyone has will be greatly appreciated.

posted by Sangermaine to education (16 comments total)

I love The Deluxe Transitive Vampire but I've had mixed reviews from people I've recommended it to.
posted by sundress at 3:23 AM on August 8, 2006

You could start with Eats, Shoots and Leaves.
posted by plinth at 3:33 AM on August 8, 2006

I'd grab a used TOEFL book. They do a good job of explaining common grammar mistakes to non-native speakers.

In January 2006 the test changed, so I'd bet you could find cheap copies of pre-2006 TOEFL books which wouldn't be as useful for the test but would be useful for their grammar sections.

I would also try to discourage you from using old textbooks. My friend brought his high school English book for his wife overseas. We went through it and it was SO boring. Neither of could stand to look at it.
posted by k8t at 4:45 AM on August 8, 2006

Eats, Shoots and Leaves is fun for native speakers, but IMHO for non-native speakers already concerned about making mistakes it could come off as offensive, snobby, and discouraging.

I liked the humor in it, but (in the British version, I think that the American version was changed) found it to be way too classist.
posted by k8t at 4:47 AM on August 8, 2006

Strunk and White's The Elements of Style is about as slim and useful as they get, and artist MAir Kalman has created an illustrated edition that is absolutely charming to flip through. Available on Amazon
posted by hermitosis at 4:56 AM on August 8, 2006

I've found that my foreign language skills grow more quickly when I have a specific goal in mind. It can be hard to improve when, like your girlfriend, you've reached the point where you can basically say whatever you need to say, even if it's a little incorrect. So, here are two things I'd recommend: do some English-Korean translations of a book she really likes; and sign up to take an English proficiency exam -- TOEFL, or maybe one of the Cambridge ESOL exams, which I think are harder than the TOEFL. (You can take the Cambridge exams in the US.)
posted by footnote at 5:08 AM on August 8, 2006

Whoops, Maira. Prebreakfastpostfilter.
posted by hermitosis at 6:03 AM on August 8, 2006

Strunk and White's The Elements of Style is about as slim and useful as they get

Strunk and White's The Elements of Style is a terrible guide to English (and violates its own principles to boot). More relevantly, it's not oriented toward the foreign learner but toward native speakers who want to write stylishly. Please ignore that recommendation. Same goes for Eats, Shoots and Leaves. The poster is not asking "What are some enjoyable pop-grammar books that have made the best-seller list?"
posted by languagehat at 6:06 AM on August 8, 2006

There's a book called "The Syntax Handbook" (written by Justice & Ezell, published by Thinking Publications in 2002) that was written for speech pathologists as a complete explanation of normal English grammar. It can also be used by anyone to refresh your memory on all the finer points of grammar that you've forgotten. It's a great book written in a very light-hearted, humorous tone, and it has exercises at the end of each chapter so you can practice your skills. I've leant it to teachers and got good reviews, and I'm about to lend it to my fiance, a marketing assistant, so he can improve his written grammar.

The only bad thing is that since it's an academic book, it's pricey...I found it for $42 on Amazon.com. But maybe you can find a used copy that's cheaper.
posted by christinetheslp at 6:10 AM on August 8, 2006

Speaking as a former writing tutor of Asian students, I'm going to say that there's no magic method or miracle cure -- what will help her the most is doing a lot of both reading and writing in English. Few if any native speakers of English learned "style" via instruction. Most of us learn various discursive modes by immersion. Like, I would hazard a guess that the more articulate and polished a writer is, the more likely it is that person reads a lot.
Since most Asian languages took a different evolutionary appraoch to alphabet develoment than western languages, the big differences involve a different way of thinking. For example, it is common for a person who is a native speaker of an Asian language to have trouble with articles in English. That's because Asian languages don't have them in the same way we do*. Native speakers of English can, without formal training, know when to use a definite vs. an indefinite article (my 3-year old son already has this skill, for instance), but many Asian languages don't distinguish between these.
If you've ever learnd a "Romance language" you probably had to memorize the gender of nouns so you could use the correct article (e.g. "la" vs "el" in Spanish) and correct ending vowels. But you probably don't think of the nouns as being gendered themselves.
It's a similar cognitive difference for your girlfriend. Likely, if you quizzed her on the "rules", you'd find she knows them, probably better than you do. But rules dont' really help someone change the way they see the world. What will help, though it isn't a quick fix, is for her to read a lot in English. In a sense it doesn't matter so much what she reads, so lonag as the prose style is good and she reads a LOT and often.
If she does this, you'll find that, in a few years, her English will be more polished and "correct" than your own.



*oversimplification
posted by eustacescrubb at 6:15 AM on August 8, 2006

yes, i agree with Eustace Scrubb. Asian English students often feel like they have to memorize all the rules before they actually sit down and read a book. I've met lots of students who can pass the highest level of a TOEIC exam and have never cracked open an English book in their life. Like paper drivers - theoretically able to pass a driving test but have never actually sat down behind the wheel. She should find a book which she can read easily with about four or five new words per page and start from there. If she isn't at the level of novels, she should start reading children's books or stuff written for young adults.

She should also honest with herself. Have a look at her writing, if she's anything like my friend, you might be surprised at the low level of her production abilities. It's very, very easy to fake understand and slide by things in conversation that you can't deny when it's written down.
posted by dydecker at 6:32 AM on August 8, 2006

I teach English in Indonesia. I think it would be useful to have a reference text rather than a cover-to-cover kind of thing, in addition to daily newspaper subscription, lots of magazines from interesting genres, a book club membership, and a library card. If there's anything I could do for my students to improve their writing (and, concomitantly, all of their other subskills), it would be immersion in the written language.

For the reference text, most anything by Raymond Murphy is clear, often with exercises on the facing page to refine the skill; Michael Swan's Practical English Grammar is an encyclopaedic guide to things even I have trouble understanding, but is simply, effectively written, with articles cross-referenced throughout the book and a variety of other advice.

I realize that doesn't anwer your question, but I think this is something that can only get "better" through practice.
posted by mdonley at 6:40 AM on August 8, 2006

How did she learn English?

As noted above, she may be very familiar with explicit rules, especially if she learnt the language using a traditional grammar-based syllabus. In that case, further rule books will not help her as much as, for example, lots of exposure through reading.

However, the information you give suggests that she may have have picked up her oral skills simply through conversation with you and other native speakers, despite having a shaky grasp of lots of tricky grammatical areas. In that case, you might find that one of mdonley's suggestions could help her at least understand the principle of where she's going wrong.

Bad news: that won't necessarily lead to her English improving. As language teachers know all too well, learners can know a rule inside out and still utterly fail to apply it in a real world situation.

You could try being harder on her! (consensually and in private, natch) Listen out for how she avoids using articles or plurals in conversation with you and insist she uses the full form correctly. Gently correct where necessary, explain the reasons as best you can and repeat. This will require thick skins and patience on both your parts, but it does work.
posted by Busy Old Fool at 7:09 AM on August 8, 2006

basically, I've never had formal English classes -- except some very basic "I am - You are - He7She/It is" instructions back in middle school, and I have to say that reading Time and Newsweek helped immensely -- I knew the context already, learned new words and especially it was VERY helpful re: syntax. I'd read more news magazines. popular fiction is OK, too -- authors manage to keep their style pretty simple. mysteries and spy novels are OK

and at a more advanced level, the Chicago Manual of Style is a godsend

I certianly wish I had the chance to take actual classes, I'd certainly speak and write better, but teaching yourself acceptable syntax and grammar is easier than you think
posted by matteo at 8:15 AM on August 8, 2006

and keep in mind that I really don't have a knack for languages, I always have a hard time learning
posted by matteo at 8:15 AM on August 8, 2006

For an enjoyable and common sense grammar book, I'd recommend "Woe is I." It's entertaining enough to breeze through, but not as wacky as "Deluxe Transitive Vampire."
posted by Gucky at 9:59 AM on August 8, 2006