Complete Grammar

Mastering Fundamental Grammar Rules

The First Stage of EEG's Innovative English Writing Curriculum

Why Study Grammar?

– Quotes from Bryan A. Garner, Editor in Chief of Black's Law Dictionary

“Perhaps the most important reason for learning about grammar is that language is basic to almost everything we do—and the more nearly you can master it, the more effectively you’ll think, speak, and write. You’ll be more aware of ideas and how they’re expressed. You’ll make finer distinctions. A knowledge of grammar is fundamental to critical thinking.

You’ll also find that a knowledge of grammar and usage opens up doors for you. Without it, your opportunities in life would be limited. That’s true in any culture and with every language—and it’s true of English-speaking countries. If you’re an ambitious speaker of English, you’ll want to learn Standard Written English. You’ll find a richer appreciation of English literature, and you’ll benefit in ways both tangible and intangible—ways that you can’t possibly appreciate until you’ve gained the knowledge.”


Complete Grammar at EEG Study

This one-year class at EEG Study is a critical component of an innovative, three-stage curriculum designed by EEG to improve your writing skills. While students can take this class as early as in their 5th-grade years, EEG recommends the 6th grade as optimized beginning time.

EEG believes in the following principles when designing this new curriculum:

(1) It is plain-English writing, not creative writing, that our K-12 education needs to focus on more. Shakespeare and other classics are nice, but won't prepare our kids well for most professional careers in the 21st century, where communication, rather than entertainment, drives our daily writing needs.

(2) A crucial skill for consistently improving your writing is the capability of editing and revising your own writing without a second pair of eyes.

(3) You have to master both grammar (roughly, rules for written English) and usage (roughly, exceptions to those rules) to edit and revise your own writing effectively and efficiently.

(4) You have to master grammar before you can appreciate the importance of mastering usage. (How can you understand the exceptions without first knowing what the rules actually are?)

Developing a solid handle on all basic grammatical rules in just one year is a noble goal for a young student; after all, many adults cannot achieve that in their life time. Granted, the line between grammar and usage is a blurry one, but at EEG we will study grammar with a keen vision into our next stage of study—usage. We will systematically cover grammatical topics that will take multiple years of study even at some of the finest private schools. We need this fast pace because we will spend another year on usage—an area that virtually no secondary school in America will wade into.

We study grammar and usage not just by reading books and treatises about them. We cultivate our understanding and appreciation of them by observing them in action and wrestling with them whenever we feel the temptation. Such exercises will occur during the third and most important stage of our curriculum—persistently studying Wall Street Journal articles, spotting constructions therein with questionable grammar and usage, and relentlessly improving them with the tools we acquired earlier.

The First Stage of EEG's Innovative English Writing Curriculum

Why Study Grammar?

– Quotes from Bryan A. Garner, Editor in Chief of Black's Law Dictionary

“Perhaps the most important reason for learning about grammar is that language is basic to almost everything we do—and the more nearly you can master it, the more effectively you’ll think, speak, and write. You’ll be more aware of ideas and how they’re expressed. You’ll make finer distinctions. A knowledge of grammar is fundamental to critical thinking.

You’ll also find that a knowledge of grammar and usage opens up doors for you. Without it, your opportunities in life would be limited. That’s true in any culture and with every language—and it’s true of English-speaking countries. If you’re an ambitious speaker of English, you’ll want to learn Standard Written English. You’ll find a richer appreciation of English literature, and you’ll benefit in ways both tangible and intangible—ways that you can’t possibly appreciate until you’ve gained the knowledge.”


Complete Grammar at EEG Study

This one-year class at EEG Study is a critical component of an innovative, three-stage curriculum designed by EEG to improve your writing skills. While students can take this class as early as in their 5th-grade years, EEG recommends the 6th grade as optimized beginning time.

EEG believes in the following principles when designing this new curriculum:

(1) It is plain-English writing, not creative writing, that our K-12 education needs to focus on more. Shakespeare and other classics are nice, but won't prepare our kids well for most professional careers in the 21st century, where communication, rather than entertainment, drives our daily writing needs.

(2) A crucial skill for consistently improving your writing is the capability of editing and revising your own writing without a second pair of eyes.

(3) You have to master both grammar (roughly, rules for written English) and usage (roughly, exceptions to those rules) to edit and revise your own writing effectively and efficiently.

(4) You have to master grammar before you can appreciate the importance of mastering usage. (How can you understand the exceptions without first knowing what the rules actually are?)

Developing a solid handle on all basic grammatical rules in just one year is a noble goal for a young student; after all, many adults cannot achieve that in their life time. Granted, the line between grammar and usage is a blurry one, but at EEG we will study grammar with a keen vision into our next stage of study—usage. We will systematically cover grammatical topics that will take multiple years of study even at some of the finest private schools. We need this fast pace because we will spend another year on usage—an area that virtually no secondary school in America will wade into.

We study grammar and usage not just by reading books and treatises about them. We cultivate our understanding and appreciation of them by observing them in action and wrestling with them whenever we feel the temptation. Such exercises will occur during the third and most important stage of our curriculum—persistently studying Wall Street Journal articles, spotting constructions therein with questionable grammar and usage, and relentlessly improving them with the tools we acquired earlier.