Guide to Grammar and Writing: Free English Grammar Courses Online

Background

The Guide to Grammar and Writing website was developed by the Capital Community College Foundation, a non-profit organization, to provide those who are studying English grammar with free learning materials that they can use to improve their English skills while giving English teachers the opportunity to acquire more experience in curriculum development at the same time.

Grammar Courses

The website offers a wide range of free grammar courses that cover basic topics like words and sentences to more complicated ones like paragraph construction and research writing. Each course is presented through an overview that discusses all the important things that you need to remember about the topic being discussed including its meaning, its function, along with a couple of helpful notes that provide further explanation about the trickier parts of the topic.

Screenshot of the Guide to Grammar and Writing homepage showing the different menu options

Presentation

We found the contents of the site very organized with the headings the only thing immediately visible, and the rest of the contents neatly hidden from view until the sections were expanded — making it easier for learners to avoid unnecessary distractions and just focus on the lessons they want or need to learn at a given time.

Similar materials are also neatly grouped together ( for example, all of the courses are listed in one group while all of the quizzes are arranged in another), and each sub-category is grouped in bulleted lists that you can individually click to find more information about the topic.

Screenshot showing a sample lesson from the site. Notable in the screenshot are the light background and the regular use of highlighters

The site also uses a mostly light background, which is a delight for people who have problems staring at dark backgrounds for extended periods of time.

Color highlights and underlines are regularly used for emphasis, and additional tables and drawings are also provided for further reference.

Difficulty

Grammar can be a pain to learn, so it’s easy to understand why a lot of people do not bother studying the countless of grammar rules  anymore.

Thankfully, although they are still primarily technical in nature, the online courses on the site are not as complicated as the usual grammar courses tend to be like.

The liberal use of examples, be it sentences or paragraphs, also makes learning a lot easier because they give learners the chance to see the practical applications of the lessons.

Screenshot showing a grammar lesson using a chart to emphasize important parts of the lesson

Additionally, the quizzes are fun to play because there are many different types to choose from, and you can choose to hide the answers until you are done with the test, so you can take your time in answering the questions or solving the problems while enjoying the suspense of wondering whether your answer is the same as theirs.

Screenshot showing the different types of quizzes that you can choose from after you’re done with the lessons

 Additional Support

Aside from the grammar courses and quizzes that you can take on the site, the website also has an extensive archive of grammar-related questions that have been asked and answered in the past that you can use for further reference.

Screenshot showing some examples of questions previously submitted by the users of the site

These include questions about words or phrases that are commonly mistaken for another, how to combine multiple sentences together, and how to use the proper tone when writing to name a few — quite handy for learners who need further clarification on something that was not explicitly mentioned in the lesson.

How to Avail the Courses

The website is free for everyone to use. Even better than that, you don’t have to sign up for an account in order to access the available lessons. Just go to their website and scan the menu and sub-menus to see where would be the place to start.

Go and try it today. It might come in handy once classes resume.

Happy learning!