How can you help an adult with poor grammer?

I have a coworker who uses terrible grammer and our boss brought it up to her. Everyone has noticed it, but she has no idea ashe says things incorrectly. Typical examples are:
I seen him.
He don't never do that.
He gone to the store.

It's really basic stuff that obvious to everyone but her. How can I help her out without constantly correcting her?

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Asked by Anonymous at 7:23 PM on Nov. 6, 2009 in Just for Fun

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Answers (38)

I teach English and English as a second language.

She does not read. I can always tell when someone does not read. Reading has 2 parts.

1. She must read quality articles and fiction. Cosmo is not going to work. Dan Brown is NOT going to work. I can help you come up with a reading list if you want to msg me with some info about her. I like to find stuff the student will actually be interested in.

2. She MUST read aloud daily for 10 minutes. The ear is trained differently than the eye. My students fight me on this one. The few who actually do it benefit tremendously. I've seen verbal SAT scores go up by 100 points.

Message me privately if you wish. The more info I have about a student, the better the plan.

Answer by ecodani at 11:57 PM on Nov. 6, 2009
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You can help her if she is willing to be helped. Constantly correcting her will not help. She needs to slow down and listen to herself while talking, and think about each word before speaking it, until she gets in the habit of speaking correctly. If you correct her all the time and she does not feel that she is speaking incorrectly, it is only going to upset her. You can help her but she has to take the steps to make it happen.

Answer by JEAmom3 at 7:27 PM on Nov. 6, 2009
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Your boss could suggest she take an adult basic ed english course.

Answer by Gailll at 7:29 PM on Nov. 6, 2009
Credits: 12255 Level 22 Just for Fun 101

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I think that if she and you come to an agreement that you will help point out to her when she is slipping with her grammar, with no ill intent on your part, that might help the most. She's going to have to be conscious of what she is saying, but she may also need help realizing in which contexts she uses bad grammar.

Answer by evwsquared at 7:40 PM on Nov. 6, 2009
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point out that OP spelled GRAMMAR wrong. See simple.

Answer by Anonymous at 7:57 PM on Nov. 6, 2009

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Thank Anon I didn't notice I'd done that.

Answer by Anonymous at 7:59 PM on Nov. 6, 2009

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Lol anonymous. Why does she have to change? as long as you can understand her, why shouldn't she be able to have her own way of speaking llike everyone else?

Answer by JackieGirl007 at 8:00 PM on Nov. 6, 2009
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Maybe an English as a second language class would be helpful...

Answer by Anonymous at 8:01 PM on Nov. 6, 2009

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Because she a college educated professional. Speaking incorrectly isn't having your "own way of speaking."

Answer by Anonymous at 8:02 PM on Nov. 6, 2009

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does her job require speaking to customers? I don't see the big deal if shes not having to talk to people

Answer by shay1130 at 8:22 PM on Nov. 6, 2009
Credits: 29893 Level 27 Just for Fun Minor

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