My Study of English

Those who follow my blog know that I am handicapped by a deficiency in English knowledge.  I have tried in the past to rectify this situation by personal study and failed.  I have stated several times that the two subjects I haven't been able to learn on my own through reading books is English and Calculus.  I wasn't an author before.  Some who have read my books may argue that I am not an author yet because the English and Grammar are so bad.

I feel like an author!  I do have two self-published E-books which are selling.  Both books still have more good to great reviews than bad ones.  It appears the primary point of critizism is the English and Grammar, which is fixable.  I would rather have this problem than boring, unimaginative, crap that is perfectly written.

I have resigned myself to learn English and Grammar.  I will have to overcome my mental blocks that arise from trying to make some logical sense of this screwed up language that has rules that can and are broken and is filled with inconsistencies.  I already understand that even if I get to where I can argue the finer points of the language with college professors and would be editors who like to critique other peoples works, I will never have that reverence and appreciation of the language the way that some of these people describe it.

 

I would also like to add that at one time English might have been a pristine language of some fine excellence.  From studying English vocabulary for the past two years I have discovered that English has morphed into a great melting pot just as the people of the United States.  Words that comprise the English language come from Latin, Greek, Old English, German, French and Spanish with bits and pieces thrown in from other cultures.  It has also become the custom that if a word is created which is not a word, but used in speech and writing, then over time it will get added to the language.  Growing up it was drilled into our heads that Ain’t isn’t a proper word.  Well as an adult it is now in the Dictionary and a word in the English language.

This new side bar of study, which will happen during the time available, that I normally devote to writing will inevitably hold up finishing my next two novels.  At least by the time I am finished my future novels should be more grammatically correct and have less errors.  I have ordered several English books and have begun studying the ones I already own.  I may possibly lose followers of this blog because of my sharing the learning experiences in future posts on this blog.

As of last night I now know what a Noun and a Proper noun are.

I learned a new word Gerund!  A verb as a noun.  I still don't know how you pronounce it as I haven't looked it up in the dictionary yet to see.

I read about Collective Nouns, and Singular and Plural Nouns.

One the second page of the book I am studying it also mentioned, Object of a Preposition – See Chapter such and such.  Possessive case of the Pronoun – See Chapter such and such.

 

WTF  - Through the first Chapter it had me jumping all over the book, reading and trying to take notes and understand these new terms and concepts.  I had to jump forward and backward because I didn’t know what a pronoun was or a possessive case of the pronoun.  This was upsetting and distracting for my first night of studying and taking notes.

 

I am determined to learn this stuff.  If the closed and narrow minded individuals who took it as their personal mission in life to review my work can understand this stuff, then I can!  There will be many hours of cussing and walking across the room to retrieve the book I just threw against the wall, but I will get it.  So far I do understand the parts about nouns that I have read, but I don't know how to get the CRAP ingrained to where I can read an example other than what was included in the book and go, "Oh, that should be done like this!"

I dearly hope that by learning the terminology and seeing examples of how things should be written that in time some of this SHIT will sink in.  I am hoping that as I grasp the different elements and pieces of proper English Grammar that it will begin to show up in my writing.  I can't imagine having to take every sentence of my novel and break it down to its elements and then  look up every word and concept to see if it is properly being used in that sentence. 

I taught myself solid state electronics, and managed to build circuit boards and small robots in my garage in a single summer.  This will be a much safer subject to learn but I fear it may be a longer and more challenging process.  If I remember, tomorrow I will share with you the experience of my first light chasing electric car robot and how it attacked me in the dark.

Posted in: English Grammar Noun Gerund Proper