Challenges learners have with grammar

Difficulties with grammar that learners have? Again that I think depends on the differences between English and their own language, the learners’ own language. And I think what the teacher needs to do is to be aware of the difficulties their learners will have. So you don’t need to be able to speak your learners’ language, but some awareness of the difficulties they might have I think is important. Yes, and also there’s this problem as well of the tense, or whatever, might exist in their own language, but it’s used in a different way. Exactly in French, and German, for example. Present perfects used differently. Absolutely, I have been to the cinema yesterday. Or I’m here since five years. Very good, yes, great.

About learning grammar, I think that it’s very difficult move from theory to the practical, you know? For instance, I can memorize the grammar, the rules but when I inside the situation where I should use the correct grammar, sometimes my background, my Italian background grammar, force me to made mistakes. Because I think, OK, now I - this is the translation in Italian. So this could be correct, but this is wrong, you know. So yeah, probably grammar it’s very hard because it’s something theory that you have to learn how to use this in the practical context. Grammar, the exceptions, of course. English there are not so many exceptions like in Germany, but grammar, of course, you have to study it.

But it’s an important part, so you have to go on grammar. I think it’s when you have to - know when you have to use a tense. Like learning tenses, after a while you get it. But then if you write an essay or something, you have to know when you have to use that tense and which. That’s what I think the most difficult. The first language in influences English, and then they try to translate or they try to use the same structures in English, as well. So it’s the negative influence of first language that’s a big problem.

And also for Hungarians - for Hungarians it’s a problem if the tenses in English, because they don’t have it in their native language. It’s a negative transfer.