It’s a problem we see time and time again – students so worried about not making grammatical mistakes that they are afraid to speak. ‘takut salah!’
Let’s be clear: language is about communication. Getting a message across. If you are communicating effectively then you are using the language effectively. Communication is what it’s all about, and the quest for grammatical perfection is holding back the willingness of some Indonesians to actually produce language.
I’m not saying that grammar is unimportant. Of course it is. And this is especially the case in writing. I’m simply saying that effective communication should be the primary objective of a language learner, and worrying about grammar can be a major barrier to reaching this objective. Improving your grammar is one of many ways of improving your ability to communicate in English; others include vocabulary development, pronunciation and intonation development, and development of the four main skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking). And not forgetting the most important three ways to improve: practice, practice, and more practice.
Native speakers of English did not ‘learn’ grammar in a classroom. We acquired it when we were very young through imitation and practice, usually with parents (it’s only when we become English teachers that we have to learn the various labels assigned to the grammar we use naturally ‘present perfect continuous tense’ and so forth).
Children have an incredible ability to acquire new language that us adults don’t, so we may need some help if we want to improve. Taking a course or two is the most common way, but we can still acquire language in the same way kids do – through practice, imitation and exposure to new language. After a while you’ll be getting the grammar right just because it sounds right, rather than because you have sat down and learned a thousand grammatical rules (and all of the exceptions to those rules).
In business, if I say to you: “yesterday I go to a meeting”, I would be making a mistake (it should be “i went”), but you know what I mean! If you know what I mean then I have communicated effectively.
So don’t stop working on improving your grammar, but please stop worrying about it!