Dear Etniers, I have encountered a very strange problem with one of my students and wondered if anyone can give me some advice, which i so desperately need. Background. I teach am teaching a boy who is in grade 6 with EXCELLENT English. He just moved to this school. In his old school, in grades 5 and 4 he studied English with grades 8 & 7 respectively. He has a problematic home life (mom twiced divorced, some other problems). I teach him privately at the time when he has English at school. My problem is that no matter how much i explain stuff, he just doesn't GET IT! As an example, AT the beginning of the year, i spent quite a few lessons reviewing parts of speech. Other lessons have involved tenses. Lately, I taught him the definition of a sentence (A group of words expressing a thought), and the parts of the sentence (subject/predicate...which by the way, took AGES for him to get it.) Two weeks ago i reviewed with him the types of sentences (statement, question...etc). Last lesson, i get up and ask him: What is the definition of a sentence ...answer, "a group of letters." What are the parts of sentence? Answer: simple and progressive (!) What are the types of sentence? Noun and adjective. I could give more examples of this type of behavior! Another, quickly, is when i ask him to write a sentence with vocabulary words "to show that he understands the meaning." He just doesn't....I get this type of sentence over and over: The lady was phenomenal. The mechanic came yesterday. And i ask hm, how can i know what "phenominal" or "mechanic" mean from your sentence? Again, no amount of examples or rewriting helps the next time around. I am always feeling that he is just pulling words out of a giant basket of words, with no comprehension of what he is saying, yet when I am sitting with him on a particular lesson, he gets it. The amount of frustration I feel is awesome! I feel there are vasts "holes" in his English. I am wary of approaching his mom too much, as she puts a lot of pressure on him on the fact that he is "so good" in English. You know the type. I have to admit, that his vocabulary is phenomenal (and all from internet chatting, by the way.) If there is anyone there who recognizes this pattern, and what it could be, I would soooo appreciate a call. His other teachers don't find such a problem at all. It is halfway through the year, and i feel like we have barely progressed at all. I don't know to whom to turn for advice. I have spoken with the school counselor. She has told his mom he needs counseling due to his family problems. My phone no. is 03-9467955 or please email me so I can call anyone who may be able to help me. Linda ----------------------------------------------- ** Etni homepage - http://www.etni.org or - http://www.etni.org.il ** ** for help - ask@xxxxxxxx ** ** to post to this list - etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** -----------------------------------------------