Seems like there has been a lot of discussion lately about how to go about teaching English. Here are some thoughts on the topic....

I recently had a conversation with a Korean friend about certain English grammar points. This person has a reasonable grasp of the language and doesn't have problems communicating. I am a native English speaker, but when asked to clarify some grammar points, I'm often at a loss to provide an explanation, i.e. WHY does one use that construction etc. However, she knows why !! Since I've been speaking English as my mother tongue all my life, it is often somewhat embarrassing to not know the answers to some of these questions. However, the reverse is true......when I ask about Korean grammar, the answer I get is often "because it is" or something along those lines. It has also happened with the French language, when I ask questions about French grammar and I have a better understanding of the grammar than a native French speaker (not that my French is that good, but you get the point). Seems like it is easier to study the grammar of another language, AND have a good understanding of it, than to explain the grammar of your own mother tongue. This probably applies to most langauges, I would think.

Being an Native English speaker (or a Korean native speaker, or Chinese or WHATEVER) seems not to make one an automatically good teacher of that language. Teaching English grammar is hard !!!!!

Also, it took me MANY years to become fluent in English even though I was immersed in an English-speaking environment from birth. I suppose every other native English speaker should ask themselves how long it took them to become completely fluent in English. Then think about the people they are teaching....must be tough on the students too.