Monday, July 9, 2012

A good grammar video...does such a thing exist?

   So I went on the hunt for some good grammar videos.  I'm sure that's a sentence most people write on a daily basis.  What I found were lots of grammar videos but nothing good.  Lots of people in front of the whiteboard, lots of boring stuff.  Grammar is boring to begin with; couple that with the low quality of most web videos . . . I couldn't finish the stuff.  How would my students?


   I found some videos that were able to break this mold.  The first is my friend Professor Grammar:

    First off, this video is wacky to the point of a train wreck.  Something about British people... But as it keeps you interested, it uses some good pneumonic devices, "Opshacom," and some helpful graphics throughout the video.  It's well edited and relatively concise.
   There's another entertaining piece by the Vlogbrothers in which Snooki is used to explain the importance of grammar and evidence the degradation of the English language:


   The Vlogbrothers do great stuff.  There videos are insightful, relevant, and entertaining.  This video may not carefully spell out a grammar concept, but it might actually make someone understand how bad our everyday grammar is.  
     The conclusion I've come to looking at a bunch of these videos is that almost all grammar videos/lectures/lessons are very ineffective.  Grammar is complicated and boring.  A few examples being talked out is not very helpful in the long run.  Better to use something that will spike someone's interest, but let the meaningful learning really come from individual practice and writing.  
    English grammar is a fluid animal, it needs to be learned by doing, not by watching.  







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