Are English classes successful?

Michael (US)

As an ESL teacher in Uruguay, it's appalling that people who are less than proficient in English are "teaching" the language. Furthermore, I agree that the written-based approach is outdated. Some of my students can recite the past participle of any verb but can't order a cup of coffee... You do have to learn grammar but the goal should always be to communicate and sometimes we're so worried about testing that we forget why we learn a language in the first place: to understand new cultures, to meet new people, and expand our horizons.