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- ThePowerOfFuet 3y agoxkcd 1053 aside, the quality of submissions to HN has been declining for a while now, which is a shame.
- cochne 3y agoWhat precisely is your criticism of the post?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- wahern 3y agoTo any linguists reading: is there value in learning sentence diagramming? AFAIU, standard K-12 curriculums long ago ejected sentence diagramming, at least the comprehensive form. I'm old enough to remember sentence diagramming in school, but from K-6 I attended about 10 different schools. (Not a military family, just poor and constantly moving around.) Despite somehow becoming a proficient and relatively advanced reader at an early age, English was always my poorest subject, and of all the concepts and skills taught in English class, sentence diagramming was memorable for being the most opaque; just utterly impenetrable, presumably because I was never in a class long enough to either receive sufficient instruction or be forced to fully engage with it. Anyhow, I ask because it's something I could revisit along my kids (5 and 8), who otherwise wouldn't learn diagramming in school. (Oddly, early math education now seems to incorporate diagramming.) I'm curious whether there is any significant value in it. For example, can it be helpful when learning other languages? Or might it prove a hindrance? (Both kids take French and Mandarin classes.) Can it help improve analytical reasoning skills, or is it better to just stick with more targeted materials and approaches? I assume sentence diagramming was dropped in favor of more breadth and depth in other subjects areas, and maybe also because it was a drag on English grammar proficiency metrics.
- sdwr 3y agoNot a linguist, was briefly taught sentence diagramming as a child, found it confusing. When I think back on it, it feels counterproductive to actual reading. Constantly labeling subject / object / adverb as I'm reading would be closer to an intrusive thought than a support structure.
- yummypaint 3y agoPersonal opinion: sentence diagramming is counterproductive and worse than a waste of time. If you want your kids to learn another language, then putting them in a class/program designed to teach them that language is the best use of time. If you want them to be prepared for math then play logic games with them. Sentence diagramming takes something intuitive, then makes it complicated and un-fun without any benefit for people learning their first language. Mindless sentence diagramming worksheets are like a quintessential example of the kind of thing that disengages kids from school and distracts them from interesting things they could be learning.
- fugalfervor 3y agoI loved diagramming sentences and I think it helped me become a better writer as I got older. I informally diagram complex sentences in academic writing and textbooks. I find it helpful because the meaning is conveyed not only by the meanings of the words, but also by the structure of the sentences that contain them. For example, the "not only ... but also ..." construction often links the unfamiliar with the familiar. Or, the "on the one hand ... while on the other ..." signifies contrast, which aids comprehension. Sentence diagramming gives one a general-purpose toolkit for parsing unfamiliar constructions. The better I understand the structure, the quicker I can get to the meaning.
- lapcat 3y agoDupe: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36460256 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36460256 (5 days ago)