Windowless world.

[Christopher Chan]

Nathan Bahn wrote:

> 
> I am almost certainly guilty of making common grammatical mistakes; my 
> mother is an expert on grammar, and whenever I would ask what a subject 
> (or an object, or a predicate) is, my head would start to hurt and I 
> could feel my eyes glazing over.  Now, if she would explain algebra or 
> trigonometry, then I would -- eventually -- get it; not grammar though 
> -- that is one of three subjects that I simply and utterly fail to 
> comprehend.
> 

I pity you then. You would be a most welcome addition to the scores of 
English teachers in the local schools over here in Hong Kong though. 
None of them can properly construct a sentence whether in speech or in 
writing but somehow, some of them actually have really great accents. It 
is absolutely mind boggling. You, however, would be a most welcome 
improvement although I won't put my son in your class. :-D. Crossed 
swords with a vice-principal already about their not teaching grammar 
and I love their empty reasoning that no native-English speaking country 
teaches grammar and that the local Education Bureau, which has a history 
of making stupid polices, likewise directs a zero grammar approach to 
teaching English. Too bad they missed out the fact that Britain is again 
teaching grammar since 1999 and that other countries like Australia and 
the States are bemoaning the state of grammar in their communities.