Here..here my dear T.A.O. You are bang on and more apt at making that point than I. Teaching ESL is easy for some, because, lets face it, youre teaching your native language...how hard is that? Even if you're a high school drop out, you may very well pull that one off. Heres where you weed out the charlatans: get them to teach math or social studies. You see, if one teaches in a field that actually requires dedication to learn the subject matter deeply, other than being born with it and using it every day, then it is MORE challenging to teach it. One actually has to get an organized lesson plan and be prepared to explain concepts. I realized when, as a science major and math minor in university, tutoring calculus wasnt so easy because teaching it and knowing it are two different entities. Sadly, at that time, I just wanted money for my education and I wasnt too serious about imparting knowledge.

Ok, back to the grammar point. Its troublesome that many ESL schools in Asia, and as Ive now learned, the Middle East, tend to think that conversation will impart all the English youll ever need. If thats the case, why are so many Asians that are graduates of these schools conjugating verbs incorrectly, dropping articles and losing the subject-verb agreement????

My case in point: In Europe, they teach towards the Cambridge exams, which in my opinion seem harder than the TOEIC or TOEFL. Having a romance language notwithstanding, Europeans seem much more apt at learning many languages compared to non-Europeans. Why? Maybe, I postulate, that its because they are grammar Nazis. Yes, Ill get reamed for that hyperbole...so sue me.

I submit to the audience that grammar can be taught in a FUN way. You know, I just got back from teaching in a Japanese elementary school where Japanese lessons are repeat-after-me and follow-the-bouncing-ball. Its no wonder they hate grammar.

Its the educational system!!!! The Asian system is rote and boring. I witnessed it. When I did my class, the kids loved it. Its amazing what fun you can have with a rubber ball to stimulate some pair work and student-to-student interaction. They didnt even know I was hitting them with grammar.... not the ball.

So in short, the trick is not to use the G word in front of them. You have to sort of slip them grammar lessons like ESL schools slip us bad contracts we never know.