Grammar Thoughts from a CI Purist

1,760 hours CI, 205 hours of speaking

I had a long talk with my Venezuelan tutor today (Javier for those that use Worlds Across) about how best to proceed to improve grammar. I came to CI from zero Spanish and have never taken a class or studied grammar. After 30 minutes discussion on the topic, all in Spanish, basically he said that I just need more time with the language. That’s it. No need to study verb tenses etc. It’ll all come with time.

Yo hablé , he hablado, yo habalaba I use pretty much interchangeably. No clue as to when to use one or the other and I don't know what the verb tenses are called. He took a moment to explain what they are and when to use them but within two minutes of him telling me I forgot!

I speak pretty fluidly now and if I had to pause all the time to ensure correct verb tenses the fluidity of my speaking would change. I would be pretty slow. Right now, I speak directly in Spanish with no thought in English. I like that.

He said a few more things.

1) Don’t worry about these things. Natives can understand me now and my grammar is more than good enough for effective communication. My verb tense issue does not mess with a natives ability to understand me.

2) Just read more. Reading is the best way to improve grammar comprehension.

Ok, so back to my regular routine. 80 hours of listening a month, 30 minutes of reading a day, and daily (more or less) speaking sessions with natives.

I am really quite happy with my level of Spanish and they keep telling me I am an advanced speaker. Ok, cool! I want to get really good at Spanish and I think I will get there with time.