I learned English at the age of six, slipped it on like a mermaid’s tail, dove right in over my head and never stopped swimming. I still take secret guilty delight in searching for grammar mistakes in print, those lumpy rocks that try to sneak in among the pearls. My mother, after thirty-six years in Canada, still blithely mixes up “the” and “a”, but on the eve of my wedding my nascent father-in-law commented admiringly: “Your mother is an excellent communicator.” I needed twenty more years to learn to speak the truth like she does, and perhaps I have not learned it yet. It takes more than technique and a tail to make a mermaid.

From 100 Words: The Beauty of Brevity. Word prompt: grammar