Personal communication improvement needs and development areas

Grammar for me is the area in which I need most improvement. It is not something like spelling in which the computer program will invariably help correct it. It is rather far more complex and escapes correction by a program or when I speak.

More so, there are all these things that don't make sense that trip me up such to 'whom' or 'who' or 'I' or 'me';, and then there are all the grammar errors that shouldn't be errors and that just don't make sense.

Grammar is important because it helps the style flow and is simply one of the distinguishing marks of a well-written piece of work and of course a grammatically sound piece of work. A good grasp of grammar will, therefore, help me in innumerable ways from sounding more credible in the regular business format to publishing were I to enter the academic field.

Perhaps one of the thorniest areas of grammar is the all these notations that are connected with speech: The apostrophe, the exclamation point, the quotation mark, the semi-apostrophe. And exceeding all that ubiquitous comma that insists on coming everywhere and yet on falling out everywhere, too. Grammar manuals simply swim with directions about the comma and yet I find that they often omit certain aspects or make them too complex.

Lay/lie, comma splices, -ie or -ei, subjunctive mood are other challenges. As well as that dreaded dangling modifier .

I often err too with starting paragraphs when I should not have.

By far, though -- and I'm not sure whether this is a part of grammar -- are problems with my style. It often simply sounds awkward and stilting, not like that smooth, delicious, seamless writing that so many others, excluding me, seem to possess.

Running the risk of falling into dejection and frustration, I must add that there have been at least two books that have helped me over the years. One of these is 'Style' by J.M. Williams. It runs into several formats and editions. Some of these are rather abstruse and complex. I prefer the handbook with exercises: ..

Strunk and White's renowned 'elements of style' I like too, although I find it hugely incomplete.

Another book that I found helpful, but cannot remember offhand, was a simple manual with exercises following units and subunits on the prime grammar points that one is apt to meet.

In short, possibly the most helpful books that I have found on grammar are those that help me with exercises and do not pander but are too the point. They are also clear and illustrative with topical and easy-to-understand examples.

There are numerous books on grammar -- though, in my estimation, not enough. Some of these books are juvenile, parodying the field and sprinkling it with witticisms and childish jokes. I find this irrelevant to helping me and, at worst, distracting.

There are also some useful sites on the web that sometimes sprinkle grammar with games and exercises. Two of these sites are the following:

Guide to grammar and writing (http://grammar.ccc.comment.edu/grammar/)

OWL. Purdue online writing lab (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/738/01/)

In browsing for some of these sites, I came across the following reminiscence:

I remember when I was training to teach English as a Foreign Language and I encountered plenty of items of grammar that instinctively I knew how to use but when it came to explaining them I entered into an absolute nightmare world of no return. For example, phrasal verbs and the subtle but oh so important difference between phrases like "they are putting us up" and "they are putting up with us." Also, the 3rd conditional. We speak a complicated language and I for one am glad I did not have to learn it in school! (http://www.enotes.com/grammar/discuss/what-your-greatest-grammar-challenges-87509)