The importance of proper grammar usage is often lost in our increasingly informal society. Texting, e-mail and instant messages are becoming the main forms of communication. The shorthanded “text speak” common to these forms of communication often obscure the need for good grammar among students.

While it may seem like proper grammar is only important to English teachers and your grandma, there are many good reasons why you should give yourself a little bit of grammar training, to make sure you are well skilled in how to speak and write properly. Here are a few reasons why proper grammar is important.

• Proper grammar might help get you a job. We live in a time where the job market is increasingly competitive. With many more applicants vying for the same positions, job seekers need to work harder to make themselves stand out in the crowd. A person who knows how to speak and write well will have a clear advantage over someone whose grammar skills are less than stellar.
• Proper grammar makes you look more intelligent. The ability to speak and write properly makes a person appear to be more intelligent and better educated. This is not to be confused with putting on airs and trying to deliberately use as many five-dollar words as possible. Knowing the difference between who and whom, or that and which, definitely signals a higher intellect to others. Who doesn’t want to look smart?
• Proper grammar helps you get your point across. Sometimes a small grammatical error can change the entire meaning of a sentence. If you wish to be understood, it is essential to have a good working knowledge of English grammar rules.
• Proper grammar gives you credibility. If you are writing a paper or speaking to someone about your area of expertise, but your speech is fraught with grammatical errors, it will make you appear ignorant, even if you are, in fact, quite knowledgeable.

Learning proper grammar is well with the effort. It can be tricky to figure out all the rules, but once you know them you'll have them for a lifetime.