Would You Invest in English Grammar Lessons?

[Sneakyheathen]

This is mostly for those who do not speak English as a first language, or those who wish to improve their grammar skills beyond the norm...would you invest in grammar lessons or information products?

This is a question I ask because I'm considering producing workbooks geared towards those wanting to improve their grammar. While my main target is freelance writers wanting to make more money, I also want to target the general public.

Please let me know what you think about this idea. Honestly.

[Ferox]

Honestly I think most people using English as their second language have already had lessons, and considering our mongrel of a dialect manage quite well.

Some are noticeably different, and those writers/bloggers I think would benefit more from someone proofreading their work and explaining where to make the changes to a more natural english.

[Nathan]

I think there would be a limited market for it. I have seen lots of blogs in which the writers could learn a lot about English grammar. However, I wonder how much you could really teach them. In most of the blogs in which I feel that grammar could be improved the writer has obviously already mastered a few of the basics. The problems with their grammar are more of the sort that can only be improved with extensive practice and analysis of the grammar as used by native speakers.

However, I would say why not give it a try. At the very least your lessons will be an interesting experiment to undertake and you might make a little money in the process. Give it a try.

[Sneakyheathen]

Well I cannot create a service to go through a customer's articles one-by-one and explain the problems. (I could...but I have neither the resources nor the patience at this point). What I was thinking was this:

These products are aimed primarily at freelance writers who want to make more money. There are a lot of freelance writers who want to make more money, and a lot of them are non-native speakers, and would benefit from improving.

Consequently, it can also increase the profits of long-term bloggers, as "content is king" and grammar is important for building a foundation for your personal blogging style, just as HTML and CSS are foundations for design.

I would create workbooks ranging from "basic" to "intermediate" to "advanced" with practice and explanations written as simply as possible and illustrated heavily to provide maximum effectiveness. I also planned on creating demo videos to illustrate the difference in how certain phrases sound correctly and incorrectly.

Those are some initial thoughts. Any ideas?

[Nathan]

I think that does sound good.

[maccam87]

it defo sounds good coz my first language is english but rubbish at it lol

[scfscf]

The investment might be important to some bloggers, if they are trying to make a certain kind of impression on readers who might be persnickety about grammar. But if somebody blogging in English as a second language mainly to readers who might also have a similar background (though different first languages) perfect grammar might not be important if most of the readers could still understand the posts.

There are free grammar resources online and grammar reference books, too, which might be cheaper than paying for lessons. Another effective help might be having a good friend who knew English better, who was willing to read the posts first and help to edit/correct them, before they were posted.

[dibbs98]

I'm not so sure it would work but to be honest I apparently speak English as a first language anyways

[FutureConscience]

My question would be, what makes this different to the dozens of other books already available?

And...

What makes this different to the hundreds of free websites available?

[Sneakyheathen]

Originally Posted by FutureConscience

My question would be, what makes this different to the dozens of other books already available?

And...

What makes this different to the hundreds of free websites available?

First, I would explain things in the simplest way possible, along with easy-to-remember mnemonic devices that will keep those on track.

Second, I'm targeting bloggers and newbie freelance writers who want to make more money and put more value into their content. I'm not just teaching you grammar, I'm showing you how to use it to your advantage.

Third, my resources will be tiered. Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert. The beginner workbooks will only be $0.99, as my audience probably won't spend a ridiculous amount on courses for writing, because they don't see the value in it (yet).

Fourth, I'll have exercises. A ton of the links I've found lack these, and books get expensive. These exercises are made to be high-impact, entertaining, and useful.

Finally, it just looks really, really pretty. The prototype has a wicked awesome cover and inside...

Those are my counters to your question.