When I was 9 years of age, our family relocated to Montreal, where, after three earlier years in a very strict traditional schoolroom, I was placed in a "free form" experimental school. Few formal classes, no walls, lots of toys, lots of playing, and the odd "gather round the table" session with a teacher.

Three years later, we moved back to New Brunswick, where I re-entered the traditional school system, and the teachers were at a loss as to how to place me. My french was, of course, good. Math scores were through the roof, and my reading level was off the chart. But geography, history, and other memorization subjects were merely average.

I still don't really understand how that happened.

But due to my reading scores, I got bumped into an advanced English Lit course, bypassing the English grammer teaching that the others were all getting. As as result, I missed out on the only chance I ever had to done good for grammer.

But somehow along the way, I did pick up acceptable grammer; most likely from reading.

Cheers