“And add sentence diagramming. Unless you understand the structure of your native language, you will not use it correctly or properly understand any foreign language.”
Completely correct! Alas, I don’t think that’s been taught for two generations. If it were, even the bare basics, you wouldn’t hear coming up with wrong sentences trying to sound smart, such as, “Jim sent his regards to Steve and I.”
Same thing drives me nutty—AND THE NEWS REPORTERS ARE THE WORST! Contrived combinations of tenses, incorrect pronouns, and made-up words using “-ality” or a variety of suffixes makes them feel intellectually superior.