sfuqua wrote:Maybe I needed a better textbook or program to work with.
I think this is the most important aspect. With a good basic training and a good program (that also has supplementary materials for the different needs of the students) a lot of teachers could provide students with the necessary support. When I was at high school, I remember I was thinking that most teachers were overcomplicating things. A lot of communicative textbooks were at least OK, some of them were excellent. A teacher who didn't do more, just choose a good one, read the teacher's book and make kids do the exercises was a rare gem. This minimalistic approach might not be the most efficient, but at least it can take good students to B2 in 4 years, which is a lot better than what is usually happening in a lot of schools.
On the original topic: No-one has ever asked advice from me on language learning IRL. On the other hand, I've been given a lot of unsolicited advice by people who speak one language badly. I agree with Cavesa, everyone is looking for confirmation, so when this topic comes up in a conversation (it's rare), nowadays I just listen. People think that my views are strange, hard to understand and uncomfortable. Since my kids talked about our plans to move to Italy in the school, we've been constantly scared off that we won't be able to tackle with the language. I don't even start the discussion. I'm not Don Quijote.