I can tell you as a ESL teacher in Taiwan, time is not the issue. I have students that literally spend 20 hours a week studying, cramming vocabulary for years.... but they still can't speak or write very well. The important thing is to have an interest or a motivation. 

Right now, I'm learning German in a class full of Chinese students. My goal is to be able to pass A1 by the end of the semester. However, this teacher and students aren't motivated to learn. They are still "stuck" on the first few pages of the textbook. Meticulously memorizing each word and yet when I ask them "How are you?" They have to pause to think of the answer.

I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS tell me students if you don't use it you loss it. So, if you learn a new word that you think is pointless don't waste your time memorizing how it works. Also, I believe accents are one of the most important things. If no one can understand you, why learn a FL to communicate with others?

@NoAgenda

哇！你住在中和區？離我很進！

I  agree with you though, but these traditions and values come from the Chinese Dynasties. Where taking a government exam ment the different between a like of luxury and a life of a poor man. I would really like to do a study on how the amount of cram school in a country effects test results in Toefl and Ielts scores. My prediction would be that a high concentration of cram/language school will have an inverse effect of scores. Ex: A country with more cram school will perform poorly compared to countries with less cram school.

@Mackenzie

I find your criticism very harsh, but understandable. When you talk of poor grammar usage, are you talking about teenagers or the population as a whole? The internet has really changed how the younger generations communicate with the world.

@meixin804
Your response reminded me of a story called "愚公移山 <a href="http://www.chinaenglish.com.cn/html/2007-12/22198.html">(A stupid man Yu Gong's approach to moving a mountain)</a> " that almost every teacher and parent in Taiwan would teach their kids. The moral of the story is that it doesn't matter how slow and small the progress is, as long as one is absolutely persistent and adamant, there is no goal he can't reach in the end.

Unwavering determination and effort is valued highly in Chinese culture. Yu Gong is thought of as a role model to learn from and a hero to be admired.

I just thought maybe some of us Taiwanese brothers and sisters can start re-examining how some of these unquestionable ancient traditional values we hold so dearly are actually holding us back in this day and age.

Not solely with nor completely without. Grammar is just a part of language learning. Of course if you solely focus on grammar that is not a good thing. But grammar helps you in writing, and even in reading, analyzing a text. So I do value grammar. But I cannot judge the curriculum of countries where the students can hardly speak languages, I am sure you're not talking about the Netherlands. In which countries students hardly learn anything from language education then?

I do apologize. I know there are many errors in my English above and in my defense it is really late and I must be going to bed.