[riverkid]

It might be important to remember that children learn language without any overt grammar instruction. Depending on the age, there is a great deal to be said for forsaking grammar instruction in favor of combining language with contextually rich situations.

I remember seeing on TV, a little Japanese girl who learned English, [she sounded like a native speaker], from watching a series of pointed learning cartoons that her parents bought for her.

Grammar is hard stuff and it isn't something that can explain the nuances of language. Obviously, everyone needs some basic structure, but again, remember that children learn virtually all the grammar of their language by age four or five.

There are only a certain number of patterns in all the languages of the world. When a child's internal grammar has had enough exposure to a new language, all the rules fall into place.

I taught returnees, children who moved from Japan to an English speaking country with their parents, then returned home, for many years.

How do these non-native children, some of whom spend as little as six months abroad, come back as native English speakers and their parents, after years of grammar study before the sojourn abroad, come back as much poorer English speakers, some with virtually no progress made.

I think that there is a great deal of untapped ability to learn a new language that has to be unlocked properly. What the key is still puzzles me.