# English breaks every rule (except this one)? (new title) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 19, 2004, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-breaks-every-rule-except-this-one-new-title/251168 "2004-06-19T04:34:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-breaks-every-rule-except-this-one-new-title/251168/41 "2004-06-22T21:31:44Z")
> [@Thirty-Nine](#): > > I want > you/y’all want > he/she/it wants > we want > they want No, no, NO, **NO**! I want you want he/she/it wants we want y’all want they want Y’all is the second person plural pronoun. Always. Without exception. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-breaks-every-rule-except-this-one-new-title/251168/42 "2004-06-22T22:22:09Z")
> [@redtail23](#): > > No, no, NO, **NO**! > > I want > you want > he/she/it wants > we want > y’all want > they want > > Y’all is the second person plural pronoun. Always. Without exception. 😉 I thought that was “yinz”… 😃 jayjay (from down Pittsburgh way) ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-breaks-every-rule-except-this-one-new-title/251168/43 "2004-06-22T22:39:24Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Plus everyone is different. Some students are _extremely_ analytical and insist on being taught “the rules.” Others prefer to go with the flow. There is no one correct way to teach a language, and I prefer a non-technical approach. It seems that virtually every language program I’ve ever looked at doesn’t teach from the analytical approach. This is the kind of person I am. Don’t ask me to repeat, e.g., “Ich glaube das ich muess das nicht machen” without telling me the rules behind it. Not knowing _why_ I’m saying anything is just crazy – how can I repeat something without knowing what I’m saying? I drove the Berlitz teacher nuts when I started learning Spanish. I still drive my wife nuts as she continues my lessons. FWIW, I don’t speak German, but know just a hair enough to write what I did. It may not be correct. ---
**Author:** ![Lush\_Jinks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Lush\_Jinks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lush_Jinks)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-breaks-every-rule-except-this-one-new-title/251168/44 "2004-06-23T00:02:47Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > It seems that virtually every language program I’ve ever looked at doesn’t teach from the analytical approach. This is the kind of person I am. Don’t ask me to repeat, e.g., “Ich glaube das ich muess das nicht machen” without telling me the rules behind it. Not knowing _why_ I’m saying anything is just crazy – how can I repeat something without knowing what I’m saying? I drove the Berlitz teacher nuts when I started learning Spanish. I still drive my wife nuts as she continues my lessons. > > FWIW, I don’t speak German, but know just a hair enough to write what I did. It may not be correct. Balthisar, so assuming you’re a native English speaker, you didn’t learn _English_ that way, so why learn any other language like that? As a linguistic enthusiast I find that while learning some of the rules in an analytical fashion can _facilitate_ even faster learning of a foreign language, it still helps greatly to just allow your mind’s natural (and unconcious) capacity for language acquisition to work on its own most of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-breaks-every-rule-except-this-one-new-title/251168/45 "2004-06-23T16:00:12Z")
> [@Lush Jinks](#): > > Balthisar, so assuming you’re a native English speaker, you didn’t learn _English_ that way, so why learn any other language like that? As a linguistic enthusiast I find that while learning some of the rules in an analytical fashion can _facilitate_ even faster learning of a foreign language, it still helps greatly to just allow your mind’s natural (and unconcious) capacity for language acquisition to work on its own most of the time. Yeah, but I speak a _lot_ more Spanish in four years of trying than I ever did in my first four years of learning my native English! I see your point, though – I don’t mean to imply that _only_ an analytical approach will work. It clearly won’t. I started Spanish at Berlitz (in Mexico!), which is clearly a non-analytical approach. I frustrated most of the instructors by asking about the “rules” and the “why” – but it certainly helped me progress faster than I would have using only the “listen and repeat” method. Berlizt was great, and I can honestly recommend it wholeheartedly. Granted my approach takes into account that I want to say more complicated things faster than the coursework. I didn’t mind struggling and translating mentally to get my point across. Clearly, though, this isn’t the way to truly learn a language that you want to speak well and be able to listen to. But it’s a good, rapid start. In the end, it is super, super important to do, as you say, “allow your mind’s natural (and unconcious) capacity for language acquisition to work on its own.” I certainly don’t “translate” into Spanish much anymore; I just speak it. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-breaks-every-rule-except-this-one-new-title/251168/46 "2004-06-23T17:47:21Z")
> [@Lush Jinks](#): > > Balthisar, so assuming you’re a native English speaker, you didn’t learn _English_ that way, so why learn any other language like that? As a linguistic enthusiast I find that while learning some of the rules in an analytical fashion can _facilitate_ even faster learning of a foreign language, it still helps greatly to just allow your mind’s natural (and unconcious) capacity for language acquisition to work on its own most of the time. The ability to learn language by immersion is wired into the brains of young children - see the book _The Language Instinct_ by Steven Pinker. This ability declines as people mature - it seems to fall off rapidly starting at about age twelve. Older children and adults usually need something other than immersion to learn a language well (although one can always learn to get by with poor pronunciation, limited vocabulary and fractured grammar). That’s one reason that grammar lessons, conjugation drills and vocabulary lists are so useful when teaching new languages to anyone who isn’t a young child. ---
**Author:** ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-breaks-every-rule-except-this-one-new-title/251168/47 "2004-06-23T19:17:36Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I thought that was “yinz”… 😃 > > jayjay (from down Pittsburgh way) Yeah, but it’s also “from dahn Pittsburgh way” 'Ats an important parta tha Pittsburghese language…so git it right! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-breaks-every-rule-except-this-one-new-title/251168/48 "2004-06-23T20:05:42Z")
> [@](#): > > I thought that was “yinz”… Essentially correct, but it’s spelled “you’uns”. You’re a lot closer than those poor, deluded folks who think that it’s “y’all”, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-breaks-every-rule-except-this-one-new-title/251168.md?page=2)