Teaching English in Romania

I have lived, worked and taught English for 14 years in Targu-Mures, Romania. My experience is that Romanians are very good, diligent students. However, much of their learning is theoretical and based on older didactic methods. Newer methods are filtering through, but most students are not used to them. The result is that although their grammar may be excellent, spoken English is usually weak. Students do expect a high level of professionalism from their teachers and you have to prepare thoroughly, especially considering how weak our understanding of our native grammar generally is!"
Kevin, 06/09/07