The Loom Of Language

Syntax—The Traffic Rules of Language 173
subordinate conjunctions of page 161 The following example illus-
trates this type of exercise:
(d) COMPLEX SENTENCES
Although you cannot learn a language without hard work, you
may well exaggerate how much effort is necessary Avoidable
discouragement arises because many people memorize words and
rules which we do not really need when we speak or write There is
another thing which adds to the burden of learning Many people
do not get as much benefit from reading as they would if they first
got a bird's-eye view of grammar in order to recognize rules
which are not essential for self-expression, when they meet them in
a fresh setting // we set about our task as the reader of The Loom
of Language will do, we shall find that the effort required is smaller
than we think One of our readers, who wanted to learn Swedish,,
had failed to make much progress, before she read The Loom of
Language in proof Since she followed its plan of study, she has
gone ahead quickly She started reading Swedish newspapers and
writing to a boy friend in Sweden after she had got a bird's-eye
view of the grammar and was thoroughly familiar with about a
hundred essential particles, pronouns, and pointer-words Her
vocabulary grew without effort, and her grasp of grammar became
firmer, while she went on with her daily reading and continued her
correspondence, She now intends to persevere till she is pro-
ficient
(b) SIMPLE SENTENCES*
You cannot learn a language without hard work Still, you can
exaggerate the necessary effort Many people memorize words and
rules without asking this question Do we really need them for
speech and writing? Another thing adds to the burden of learning
Many people read without first getting a bird's-eye view of
grammar They meet rules not essential for self-expression They
have not met them before So they do not recognize them as such
Readers of The Loom of Language will set about the task in a
different way They will then find the effort less than our first
estimate of it One of its readers wanted to learn Swedish She had
previously failed to make much progress Then she read The Loom of
Language in typescript She followed its plan of study After that she
went ahead quickly She first got a bird's-eye view of the grammar
She also got thoroughly familiar with about a hundred essential
particles, pronouns, and pointer-words Next, she started reading
Swedish newspapers and writing to a boy friend in Sweden She
went on reading daily and continued to correspond Meanwhile her
vocabulary grew without effort. She also got a firmer grasp of
grammar Though not yet proficient, she intends to perseveie