Sometimes, I feel like Yoda. I hardly ever feel like the teacher. English--the rules part--has never been my strong suit. I think I actually got out of a year (or half a year...) of high school English. The rules always tripped me up. If it wasn't for Schoolhouse Rock videos on Saturday mornings, I'd have been completely lost.
I thought I wouldn't do well in English classes because of this, but when I started up at the U of U as a freshman, I was placed in an advanced English class...shocking, I guess I did okay on the written evaluation all freshman had to take. That gave me the idea that I might not be terrible with the subject.
I loved that freshman English class. It was the only one I needed to take for my degree. After I graduated, I tinkered around with writing. Things really sped up when I returned to school and graduated with a Masters of English from Weber State University. I loved those classes as well.
But, the rules...they still trip me up. In all my classes I don't ever remember diagramming a sentence. I don't even think they teach that anymore--I could be wrong on that count since my kids are homeschooled. I don't know how much they actually teach about the rules of English, what with autocorrect and other "helps" students have nowadays.
For me, I go by how the words feel as they're written or how they sound when spoken. I know there are hard and fast rules when it comes to grammar and sentence structure. I also know that rules can be broken--mostly for effect. But, you've got to know the rules in you want to break them.
English is tricky. It's an amazing language that you can study for decades and never really master it. I suppose the point is to keep trudging and get through it, learn from your mistakes, and do your best. And don't get upset if a teacher looks at your work and says, "not even close."
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