Which countries are the most successful E.Grammar users

Well actually this is a very good question.

It makes a tremendous amount of difference what your mother tongue is when it comes to your ability to pick up English, especially conversational English.  For natives of the Far East region (Korea, Japan and probably China too), their language structures are so vastly different than English, it is a tremendous struggle to learn English as a second language.  Whereas, some of the European countries speak languages with similar roots and grammar structure which make it much easier to learn English.

My parents immigrated to the U.S. when I was just 13 years of age from Korea so I had the advantage of being immersed in English language at a relatively early age -- but it was, and still is, a big strugle.  Then when I was in high school (long long time ago mind you) I took two years of Spanish.  And it was a cinch!!!  Not that I aced it without studying...don't think I aced it at all...but my point is since I already was pretty fluent in English, learning Spanish was so much easier!  I remember thinking "wow if I had to learn this language from Korean, what a mighty struggle it would be!!".

I am told the easiest language for a Korean to learn is Japanese and probably vice versa.  And I know Spanish and Portugese is very similar.

Now as far as being grammatically correct....well that's another story.  I have seen many a high school English teachers from Korea and China come to the U.S. and not be able to hold a casual conversation in a restaurant.  Being able to read and write and score high in TOEFL is different than being able to converse.

Finally, I agree with previous posters....the key is to start early!!!!  Kids have amazing ability to learn.  Not only langauages, but sports, musical instruments, arts, etc.  Well I tried my best...but now my kids are teenagers and...need I say more?!

Diamondrg,
A forum is not a formal setting.
Most middle (or lower) class people never speak formally.
Almost everyone in the U.S. considers themselves middle class, by the way!
Most likely, even if you were invited to the Oscar Award ceremonies, you would still hear mostly informal speech. 
I'm sure that our U.S. president does not usually speak formally.  The only exception would be when he delivers his annual State of the Union speech to the nation, but that is written for him specially by professional writers.
The national news as delivered on television is usually in somewhat formal style, but even there some informal expressions are interspersed.  Local news is often more informal.  Newspaper articles are also written in somewhat formal style, but again, with a mix of informal expressions.
It's actually quite difficult to think of cases where strictly formal speaking is required in American life.
Formal writing will be required for your master's thesis or doctoral dissertation and for serious books on philosophy, perhaps.  Works of fiction need not be written in a formal style, of course.

CJ

Hi Guys,

I'd like to add a few comments about 'formality'.

I think this is a very important concept for teachers to convey, in order to give peope a 'feeling' for English. I deal with it all the time, because everything we say can be said in different ways.

Here's what I tell my class. Informality/formality is a range, all the way from talking to your pal to talking to the Queen, which I seldom do. We live in informal times. Today, formal occasions might include a job interview, particularly if you are a professional person like an engineer or accountant, or an important business presentation, or a written business report or college essay. Generally speaking, we are more formal in our writing than in our speaking.

I find that students all respond to this approach and seem to value it. Generally speaking, most people who come to my class try to speak too formally all the time, and have trouble understanding the informal and often fragmentary speech they hear outside the classroom in this English-speaking country. The result is that they can sometimes sound odd, pompous or comical.

In my experience, this tendency to formality is more characteristic of some particular countries than of others. I hesitate to be specific, because I don't want to give offence or seem to be criticizing teachers in other countries, which is not my intention. I respect the achievements of both students and teachers in other countries. It's just that they lack exposure to the everyday realities of English.

Best wishes, Clive

 

Thanks, Jim. Coming from you, I appreciate that. Clive