Different languages and grammar Natives speaker more often than not do not explicitly know the grammar rules to their language. While the grammar may seem to make perfect sense to the native speaker, the new learner is likely to be confused. When I first started learning Japanese, the SOV format and highly conjugation based language was totally foreign and alien to me. 2 years later looking back, Japanese grammar actually makes a lot more sense then Mandarin and English. The basics to Japanese grammar structure can easily be broken down and explained while with Mandarin and English I wouldn't know where to start.