I've been reading this thread, and others like it, for a while now. It, and others like it, seem to be going nowhere.

I'm wondering if either/any of you have learned a foreign language in a classroom setting? Was the instructor a native speaker of that language? Was there a communicative approach? Total immersion? Have you ever been in the total immersion language classroom, and if so, what was it like? How did you learn the grammar? Did the instructor explain the grammar in English, and then give classroom exercises and homework assignments? How many years of language classroom training did you take? And have you continued to learn and train in that language, eventually putting it to use in your life?

I'm also wondering if either/any of you have ever taught in an immersion classroom, or can even thoroughly explain the communicative approach? How many of you have taught grammar, and are able to give a clear, concise explanation as to why grammar is used in that way? Or do you fall back on, "Well, that's how we say it, and there's not really a good explanation for it, so just learn it."

Finally, I frequently wonder how many foreign teachers have been a school principal, headmaster, or business manager? Have you been responsible--not just to the school, but to students, parents, clients, teachers and investors--for your hiring decisions, financial decisions, and logistics decisions?

It seems, for the most part, few.