i think you are right,"if someone from Australia is fluent in a language I want to learn, they actually have a distinct advantage over a native speaker when teaching?"at least,they how to learn

maybe you can try to use the lannguage you are learning to write a composition next time

Yeah i totally agree Eva. I think the reality is - whatever you can get will help. I think it's important to have a teacher, because a teacher means you're speaking, and from my experience, that is by far the hardest part of language learning, actually turning what's stored in your head into words...particularly with some semblance of comprehension! My main point was that most people just assume that because they speak a language natively that they can then also teach. I myself didnt put any value in people who were say from my country but fluent in a language. That changed, that's all :)

First, I think at the beginning of learning a language, maybe we'd better get 2 teachers, one is our mother language speaking people, the other is native speakers. The first one can tell us some tricks as you said and rules to learn the langue more easily, the later one can teach us the correct pronunciation and conversation. But as I live in Vietnam, I can not find a Chinese who can teach Japanese, so I learned Japanese by Vietnamese at the beginning, sometimes I can not understand clearly, and can not tell the differences of the grammar and words, So self-study plays a big role in my Japanese learning. I try to feel the new words or grammar and get the exact corresponding Chinese explain or using environment , then I can use it. Second, I think not every native speakers can teach their languages, because not every people is good at explaining words, grammar, summing up language rules, And not every people are sensitive with the nuances of the words and can explain the differences by words or by any right way by which students can understand..... But as per my opinion and my learning experience, we do need a native teacher to learn their language, because normally they have correct pronunciation, they know their languages' history, development, and changes, they know the subtle feelings about the different words, and if we are lucky to meet a good teacher, their explains, even a short simple explain can give us a good inspiration to understand the words or grammars, or the connections and differences between each other, why they write or speak like this, and so on.... we get one why and later we can understand some others. In all of the abilities for a teacher, for me, i think most important abilities are Explain and Summary... Then, if no conditions to get 2 teachers, I prefer to study with native speaker from beginning to the end... and at the same time I work hard to self-study . What do you think about this? :)

当然，你说的都对，其实只要找到适合自己的学习方法，那就是最好的。