Over confidence of non-natives
I don't know whether to laugh or to get offended at the attitudes of many non-natives claiming to have an unquestionably equal grasp of the English language as native speakers. Case in point - Penny / Ms Jones has the only coherent and correctly written response on the first page of posts (well said by the way Penny). As a native English speaker who has travelled and lived abroad extensively (and who takes pride in his native tounge), I'm amazed at the way non-native speakers overestimate their English abilites. It's as if they see English as an inferior or "toy" language that doesn't require the same levels of immersion and experience as others. It should be obvious that native speakers are the only ones who've actually spent *the majority of their lives* exclusively using English, and for this will always have a far deeper and natural understanding. It's plainly obvious just from reading the posts on this page. I do agree however that native teachers should be fully qualified.
—Guest Matt