Hi Sarah,

I too am a native speaker and as some of the others have posted, your points are well taken.

As a person who over the years has tried to learn several languages and has never mastered any of them, I have great admiration for anyone who attempts to learn a language, especially those who try to do so on their own without a teacher or a partner to speak with, which is the case with most of the English learners on this forum.

As Kidkboom mentioned, there are many different styles of learning. Some people need to only see something one time and remember it. Some need to be told several times and on the 40th time a light bulb in their head will go off and they will finally understand. Some a harsh word will put them off from learning and others it will make them double down on their efforts. Each person is different.

It is great that you have come to MR and want to help others learn English, especially as I have made it known that I type/write as I speak and my formal English schooling was lacking so I am often uncertain about some of the reasons for WHY I make the corrections I make. I am NOT a linguist or etymologist. Bitpicker is our go-to guy on the forum for that, and he is from Germany. I have actually learned from the non-natives! Having yet another person from another background and area of the US will be a wonderful addition to the group.

So please, don't be too harsh on me when you read this (or my other posts) and see all of my punctuation, run-on sentences and other mistakes.