Uploaded March 27, 2015While making grammatical mistakes from time and time is common for second language learners and even native English speakers, there are apps that can people help improve their grammar, says the New York Times.Sooyeong Jeong, a senior in ICS communication major from Korea, said, “ Normally I don’t spend time on studying grammar. If the apps are free, I might like to try and do some practicing on it.”Wang Huimu, a senior in accounting from China, said, “When I writing papers, I also practice grammar at the same time. No matter what method or tools I rely on, writing more and practicing more is the way to improve.” Alex Walker, a senior in peacebuilding from Minnesota, is a writing tutor at the Reading Writing Lab. He said, “I am not familiar with the particular apps, as I haven’t see them. But the more practice people get, spending some time on it and thinking about it, any of them may beneficial.”Kierah Thurgood, a junior in TESOL from Idaho, is a grammar tutor at the Language Center. Her job is helping checking international students grammar in both listening and speaking. She said she doesn’t know about apps, but she thinks it may good for people to try and practice on it.Here are some useful free English grammar practice app reported on in the New York Times:1. Practice English Grammar“The free app Practice English Grammar from Cleverlize is among the most polished, and is easy to use for improving your grammar skills. It’s available for both iOS and Android covers the whole gamut of grammatical details from conjunctions through tenses to using the passive voice,” says New York Times reviewer Kit Eaton.“Its main interface is a pleasing graphical display of your progress in each of the various modules. Tapping on one of these modules takes you to a section where you can see the grammar lessons in the form of flashcards, and then a section where you can test your knowledge in an interactive quiz.“The flashcards are easy to read, with the bare minimum of information you need to know. For example, did you know that the present continuous tense is formed with the help of the auxiliary verb “to be”? Still, while the flashcards are easy to read, sometimes the information feels a little too spartan.“While the core app is free with basic lessons, you have to purchase more content in-app if you want access to every module. Individual modules cost $1, or you can subscribe for around $10 a month.”2. Learning English Grammar“Another option is the LearnEnglish Grammar app from the British Council. This app, too, has lessons covering different subjects and has sections to review and test your knowledge. The design is plain, with simple colors, large text and straightforward instructions, so it’s easy to use,” Eaton continues.“Its testing system is a little more fun than Practice English Grammar’s; you play simple games to enter the correct answers to quiz questions. I also liked the linguistic examples it gives when you’re learning about a particular grammatical rule, because they feel more natural for a native English speaker.“This app is free for both iOS and Android, but you must pay for the complete range of content. Packs cover grammatical topics at different levels, from Beginner Pack 1 to Intermediate Pack 2 for more advanced lessons, and each costs $1.” It is free in both British English and American English versions.3. English Grammar Ultimate“A free alternative to these apps on Android is English Grammar Ultimate from Maxlogic. The app lacks the design polish of the other two mentioned here, but it is still well organized into sections for different grammatical rules and has an easy-to-use interface.“You may find the way this app explains grammar suits you even more because of the slightly longer explanations and examples it gives.”4. English Grammar Test“For testing your grammatical skills on Android devices, you should also check out English Grammar Test by SevenLynx. This app has a clean and attractive look, and feels professional and trustworthy for a free piece of software. It also does a nice job of explaining why your incorrect test answers were wrong.”5. Grammar Up“For brushing up on your grammar in a business setting, apps like … Grammar Up from Webrich Software are great options,” writes Eaton. Grammar Up is available “free as a sampler on iOS and Android, and $5 for all the tests. Grammar Up offers some neat feedback in the form of graphs showing where your grammatical strengths and weaknesses lie, and this may help you decide where to concentrate your learning efforts.”Additionally, both BYUH tutors gave their suggestions on how to improve your grammatical skills.Walker said, “Depends on where in the world the students come from. People from different area have the different difficulty with English. For some students, it is about the mechanics, and the particular word forms in the rules of the language. For others it is about how translate their concepts into English. As a writing tutor, my suggestion is read your paper out loud, and read to another person. Sometimes in your mind you can fix some errors, but if you speak it out, especially speak to native speakers, they can find some more that you ignore and didn’t realize, and also check whether it make sense.”Thurgood offered similar advice. “Language is a tool for communication. In order to get improvement, people need to practice it and use it. Like playing piano: At the beginning, people need to practice a lot to get their fingers to move neatly.”
Writer: Siyang Chen
