tarvos wrote:I like conversational phrases, when I'm living in the country and need to get things done.
But that is because I lived abroad and really just needed to know what that dish behind the counter was. Sure won't help in China if you know how to say "Confucius was an eminent Chinese philosopher" in Mandarin, but you don't really know whether that dish behind the counter contains meat or not. Keep in mind some of us do have that issue as well.
It goes both ways, really. I do want to learn the grammar. I really do. But not at the cost of knowing how to read the most complicated stuff but being mute and deaf when you get into a practical situation. Sometimes, your needs change depending on the situation and the sad truth is, most people in the Czech Republic just aren't really going to have a use for French in their daily life unless they make an effort to figure out how to introduce it.
You're right, they won't bother to learn a foreign language (and I've seen the same problem not only in French teaching but also German) and find how to use it=get out of here or at least work for an international company. Instead, they will keep complaining and staying poor till the end of their lives.
I think there is a huge misunderstanding about what are the grammar explanations for. Many people seem to see them as something extra, something to learn "at the cost of being mute and deaf in a practical situation." Grammar is for those practical situations. Grammar allows us to make our own sentences and not just parrot the coursebook. The grammar knowledge and practice is the best way to start speaking and writing on our own.
Sure, my experience is limited to the european languages. But most people struggling to speak that I've ever met were struggling because they hadn't learnt the grammar. Not because of having learnt too much of it and having dumbly memorised too few phrases.