Why you still make grammar mistakes in English even when you know the rule

Hey everyone, it's Hadar. Thank you so much for joining me. So, a few weeks ago, a student of mine sent me a question in one of our Q&A sessions. And she asked, How come when I write, my grammar is always really, really good and accurate, I rarely make mistakes, but when I speak, I notice that I make the same mistakes over and over again? And it doesn't matter that I know the rule, I just make the mistakes. Why is that and how can I improve?

So, I answered her question, but then I thought, I'm sure that a lot of people struggle with the same thing because it's such a common thing and it totally makes sense. So first of all, I want you to know if this is the case for you, then you are not alone. But also I want you to know that there are things that you can do about it.

So first of all, the reason why that happens is very simple. When you write, there's a lot less at stake. You're not stressed out about what people are going to think. You're not thinking about their time spent. You are not thinking about all these other things like what to say next and how to say it and how to use your voice.

And you don't take into consideration pronunciation. So, when you write, your brain is really focused to think about the message and how to structure it properly. And when you speak, you have all these other things that you need to take into consideration. So, give yourself some grace and know that this is more challenging for a reason.

Because when you sit down to write, not only that the stakes are lower, you also have the time to edit yourself in your head or on the page. So, sometimes we might write something and then immediately it's not going to look right, especially for visual learners where you know how it needs to look like. And then you can see that it doesn't look right, and it's easy for you to correct. And this is why it's easier to get it right and know your grammar when you're writing, rather than when you're speaking.

When we're speaking, it's not enough to know the rule. Okay? Because like I said, you don't have time to edit yourself in your brain when you're speaking. Again, unlike in writing. When there's more at stake, when there are more elements that you need to take into consideration, your speaking is going to go back to the most comfortable speech.

Let me explain what that is. It means that that is the speech that you've developed, or the grammar that you have developed for many, many years before you started improving and learning. Grammar, just like new vocabulary, just like pronunciation, just like every new thing that you're trying to learn, whether it's an idiom, a phrasal verb, intonation patterns.

To be able to use all of them spontaneously, because we don't have the luxury of thinking about it, planning it, giving our muscles instructions and saying it, we've got to make it automatic. And to make it automatic, we have to turn it into a habit, okay? Which means that to build a habit, whether it's a grammar structure or a word, you have to repeat it intentionally again and again, right?

So, for example, what I would recommend is to always recognize, what is the element? What is the grammar rule? What is the structure that is harder for you to integrate into your speech? Or where do you usually go back and make mistakes? Try to, first of all, learn it, so know the theory behind when to use it. But then create as many sentences and phrases within this structure and practice saying them out loud. Okay?

So, even without understanding it or using it, just repeat it many, many, many, many times. This is what happened to you at the beginning, where you didn't think so much about grammar, but more about communicating. And maybe this is where the foundation became a little unstable, right? Maybe you were using the wrong structures or the wrong tenses, but you used it again and again and again as you built your confidence and your fluency until you were ready to learn more and to improve. But at this point, this has already become a habit, right? So, you have a lot of experience using the wrong structure and not enough experience using the new structure, but you know the new structure, but it's not a habit just yet. Okay?

So to turn it into a habit, first of all, you need to speak correctly enough times, which means that with time, it's going to improve anyway. But I know you and I know you want quick results. So you gotta fake your way to success, and just practice saying it again and again and again by creating sentences for yourself.

This type of repetition, which is something that I often do in my sprints:

"If he calls, you'll pick up the phone. If he calls, you'll pick up the phone. If he calls, you'll pick up the phone. If he calls, you'll pick up the phone."

This type of repetition is a shortcut to help you build those new structures and new habits and new words and new sounds, so that you can use them spontaneously when speaking.

If you're interested in learning more about my program Sprint Master, where I do a lot of those drills to practice different grammar structures and pronunciation and everything, just check out the link below. Because people use it, it's only 10 minutes a day and it's super, super effective.

Okay, so to wrap up: now you understand why it's harder to speak correctly, even though you know the rules and you know how to write it correctly. And now you also know how to practice it, so you can start using the right tenses and structures in speaking as well. The most important thing is to remember that mistakes are not the end of the world. You're allowed to make mistakes because you're a non native speaker, and that's the only way to learn.

And the most important thing is that you stay active, and keep it light and fun. And subscribe to my channel to get more of this and go check out my website at hadarshemesh.com for a lot of free resources and lessons. And even sign up for my newsletter to get weekly lessons into your inbox.

Have a beautiful, beautiful rest of the day. Thank you so much for being here. And I'll see you next week in the next video. Bye.