How do you cultivate credibility as a grammarian?
Be a good listener.
Monitor and record usage of the English language during the meeting:
- Grammatical errors AND
- Creative and compelling examples of language usage, specific words, and examples that impressed you
Emphasize the positives as much as the negatives, if not more.
Give a detailed report at the end – directly address comments for each person. For example, “Today I noticed several good examples of creative language” doesn’t give much to anyone. If the grammarian mentions in their report, “Riya, I liked the way you used the metaphor of clouds for your concern with … it worked well for me, ” it is specific in detail and clarity to address Riya directly.
The grammarian selects the word of the day for the meeting. They track who used word of the day during table topics and report on it before voting for the best table topics speaker.
The role of a grammarian involves listening comprehension, attention to detail, critical thinking, and then delivering a meaningful report in 1-2 minutes.