Passin' or passing - take your pick. I was thinking at the time of my students who have such a hard time with reduced speech in terms of their listening skills, so just tossin' it out there to see if it floats.

It seems as though English could be a life long study. Well, for some it actually is a life long study. Personally, though I write often - short stories and etc., I'm never totally convinced I haven't made ridiculous errors.

Recently, during a brief trip back to the States, I was looking through some of my old college papers and was shocked to discover how many simple errors I had made that weren't detected by my professors. Or perhaps they just didn't want to bother with the small stuff. Hard to say, but my point is that if we endeavor to improve our writing and, in the case of English teachers, our craft, we eventually come to the realization that what we learn in school is just a beginning point; that is, there seems to be no end to what we can learn in regards to the proper use of English. Exacerbating the problem is the fact that English, like nearly all languages, is constantly evolving. I guess what surprises me, though, is that I've met very few teachers in the field of ESL/EFL, professional and non-professional alike, that take it seriously. Perhaps, in their minds, good enough is good enough.

But when is good enough really good enough? I suppose when we examine the question from a standpoint of communicative competence we have to look at it through a different lens than if we examine it from the standpoint of proper writing. Or, as my Chinese girlfriend often says when I correct her English, "Well, no matter what, you understand my meaning." Can't argue with her logic, but when I try to apply that logic to the mish mash of writing I see here and in other forums, I can't quite wrap my brain around it.

Well, although I was just passing through, I'm now curious to know, DH and all, what your take is on this. Another question I have, even though the answer seems obvious to me, is whether as EFL teachers we should hold ourselves to a higher standard than what I often see displayed by FT's here in China. Don't we have a responsibility to improve our own skills as much as possible so that we can improve the skills of our students?