Unexpectedly bumped into this thread and see a few old nostalgic guys chatting happily, without knowing that their long windedness has scared away those younger ones who are in desperate need of help...

Since you guys are the very few who can still remember the importance of gramma, you might want ot share with us common folks  :
1. why is gramm not taught in schools now ? There must be a reason for EMB to justify this decision ?
2. how you mastered the rules, frustrations and secrets ?
3. you surely would not suggest young kids now to look for the gramma books you used back then ?

If I sound too intrusive, I apologize for my English incompetence...

Thanks for all your suggestions and experience sharing. They are all very inspiring. Learners can use whichever ways they find most suitable for them.

The Educationa Department indeed "promoted" communicative approach at that time. But the problem was grammar teaching and exercises without context were discouraged. Most grammar books were not contextualized but just rules and exercises. As a result, teachers who were not prepared to do thextra work just stopped teaching grammar. And English standared lowered.

One more point I am not really sure of : grammar should come after extensive reading for checking structures we are not sure about, not before. The number of rules related to the use of articles may be well over 100 and it is simply impossible to learn a language just by rules.

I always see HK students memorized a lot of grammar but unable to write without error within the given exam time. Any opinion ?