As a native speaker and an English graduate, I believe successful writing and speaking, with encouragement, is quite possible

I hold an Honours MA in English Language and Literature from Edinburgh University, a MSc in Teaching English for Specific Purposes and a PhD in Applied Linguistics, both from Aston University. I have been teaching in secondary schools and colleges for over 30 years in England, Scotland and France. I have published around 8 very readable guides to examination success for Bright Red Publishing. In these my teaching philosophy is clear: with support, encouragement and a throughly informed teacher/tutor, mastery of English is within the grasp of everyone. Whether negotiating the tricky business of language papers or the even trickier one of responding well to literature questions with well-constructed essays, the successful student needs to learn that there are moves and steps which can be mastered with the correct guidance.