Our Mother Tongue: An Introductory Guide to English Grammar

by Nancy Wilson

The importance of the spoken and written word in Christian culture cannot be overestimated. In this English grammar guide, Nancy Wilson surveys the major concepts in English grammar for beginners at the late elementary and junior high level (even adults seeking a brush-up). Wilson avoids common, contrived sentences that serve merely to illustrate her point; instead, she uses many selections from Scripture and from great English writers which help to instruct the student through their content, style, and structure. In addition to a helpful format that highlights key definitions, punctuation issues, and important concepts, short historical sidebars tell the facinating story of the development of English. She continues the traditional and challenging exercise of sentence diagramming, which trains students to quickly ananlyze the structure of any given sentence. The grammatical explanations, the logic of diagrams, and the rhetoric of her examples blend with complementary emphases to create a helpful classical and Christian text.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Writing, Reference, Language, Read For School

183 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2004

About the author

Nancy Wilson (née Greensides) is the wife of Pastor Douglas Wilson, mother of N.D. Wilson, Rebekah Merkle, and Rachel Jankovic, and grandmother of seventeen who are (as yet) unpublished. She lives in northern Idaho.

Reviews

[Marni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this at the recommendation of Classical Conversations. I thought it was helpful and interesting to read as a companion to the Essentials guide. My only complaint is that there wasn't more about the history of the English language.

[quinnlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

ignore the fact that this took me a year and a half to complete… (I was supposed to finish it all last year)

[Lekeshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the biggest fan of this book. Religion appeared to be forcefully added and unnecessary, in my opinion. Wish there was more history of the English Language. I enjoyed the tidbits that were provided. Once you get past those parts, then this book does a great job in serving as a refresher of grammar. If I was taught grammar this way (outside the religious talk) rather than drill and kill, I believe I would have fallen in love with grammar and language.

[Patricia Marr · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great review for older writers to 'fill in the gaps' and explain all those technical grammatical terms. Could also be used as a base text to teach grammar and sentence diagramming to students. Teacher intensive unless used for high school.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great refresher or simple course for school kids. It is basic, but it is also thorough and deals with some more complex topics in the last few unit. This is great as a stand alone, but it is really helpful as a supplement for Classical Conversations curriculum.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is formatted in such a lovely way; it was truly enjoyable to use. I really loved all the quotations at the start of each lesson and the added English language history. However, I found several points of disagreement along the way. Sometimes I didn’t think her explanations were thorough enough, sometimes I disagreed with the answer key, sometimes I thought her rules were too narrow. Overall, it served as a good “other” resource to complement our language study, reiterating what my daughter was already learning, as well as giving us another perspective and points of interaction. After a couple years of deep English language study, this is all review, but it gives some good extra sentences to practice diagramming.

[Andrew Hoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are many things that I enjoyed about this text (personal style, accessible exercises, simple explanations), but I'm not sure that I will use it again. Primarily, the book is too basic for those who already possess a solid foundation in grammar, but not comprehensive enough for those who lack a background in English grammar.

[Carlos Montijo]

Recommended by Classical Conversations.