Could you check this paragraph, please?
I have been studying English since I am 11 years old in an institute of english. At primary school, teachers used to teach english by memorising grammar rules, and it helped me to pass the exams. However, it is not an useful technique. Nowadays, I learn english by imitating sentences of native speakers. Moreover, reading books of history, literature essays and listening conversations or watching series are the best way to learn the aspects, attributes and the peculiarities of the language. In conclusion, I think that learning english is a process and teachers at school should give us the tools to improve it.

Question

Could you check this paragraph, please?
I have been studying English since I am 11 years old in an institute of english. At primary school, teachers used to teach english by memorising grammar rules, and it helped me to pass the exams. However, it is not an useful technique. Nowadays, I learn english by imitating sentences of native speakers. Moreover, reading  books of history, literature essays and listening conversations or watching series are the best way to learn the aspects, attributes and the peculiarities of the language. In conclusion, I think that learning english is a process and teachers at school should give us the tools to improve it.

SpawnofGiratina · Accepted Answer

'However' is a contrast conjunction, you're right.  In this context, I used 'however' to create a contrast between the pros and cons of using your teachers' methods: you have said that the ways they taught English to you were good because they let you pass your exams, but you have also said that it is "not a useful technique".  'However' is used to say that while your teachers' methods are good in some ways (because they let you pass your exams), they are bad in others (because they are not useful techniques), and 'however' highlights the importance of the bad parts of the technique (you put them after the 'however', so they become your main points in the sentence).

I'm not sure what you mean by your 'explanation'.  Your explanation of the 'however' is fine, except that the contrast is between the good and bad parts of your teachers' methods, not between their methods and the concept that the methods are not practical. 
Your explanation in the paragraph is also fine, although you could say why they aren't useful - do they teach you older, or incorrect, English?  Do they prevent you from learning vocabulary?

If you need it explained more simply, I can try to simplify it.  Feel free to ask more.

julesew · Answer

I have been studying English since I ✏️was 11 years old in an English institute . At primary school, teachers used to teach English by ✏️ making us memorise grammar rules, and it helped me to pass the exams. However, it is not an useful technique. Nowadays, I learn English by imitating sentences of native speakers. Moreover, reading  ✏️ history books, literature essays and listening to conversations or watching TV series are the best ways to learn the aspects, attributes and the peculiarities of the language. In conclusion, I think that learning English is a process and teachers at school should give us the tools to improve it.

SpawnofGiratina · Answer

Your paragraph is more or less fine.  However this would be best:

I have been studying English since I was 11 years old in an [English learning institute/Institute for learning English/school for learning English].  At my primary school, teachers used to teach English by having the students memorise grammar rules, and it helped me pass my exams.  However, it is not a useful (practical might be better here, but useful is fine as well, and I don't know the context) technique.  Recently (or 'these days' if you started a while ago) I have been learning English by imitating how native speakers write English, and also reading history books, literature essays, listening to conversations and watching television shows.  I have found that these are the best ways to learn the aspects, attributes and peculiarities of the language.  Because of my experiences with the process learning English, I think that teachers at school should give us the tools to help us in our quest ('in our quest' is fairly informal, so in a formal setting, omit this) to improve our English and to help us to learn English. 

If you are unsatisfied with the answer, tell me the context of the paragraph and I'll try to improve it.

SpawnofGiratina · Answer

The definite article 'the' is used when referring to a specific object/s.  In your sentence, the students are those specific objects (although it would be better to say that the students as a class were one object - the class).  You couldn't use the indefinite article 'a', as you are referring to a specific group of students. 
The indefinite article 'a' is used for unspecific objects - for instance, in the sentence "The teacher pointed at a student" the student is unspecified - it doesn't specify any one student, it is just a student in general.  

If we compare the sentences "The teacher pointed at the student" and "the teacher pointed at a student", the use of 'the' requires specification of a student beforehand (for instance "A student laughed.  The teacher pointed at the student"), whereas 'a' does not, but also implies that the student's specific identity is not important.  Also, while 'the' can be used for singular or plural nouns, a can only be used for singular nouns, and is replaced by numbers like 'two' for plurals.  However, although 'pointed at two students' uses this non-specific form, 'pointed at both the students' is actually the specific form, as it is a shortening of 'both of the students', which uses the definite article.

To summarise, I would say 'the definite article refers to specific and/or pre-specified nouns, and is used for singular and plural nouns; the indefinite article refers to an ambiguous (or 'not specified') noun, and can only be used for singular nouns.  An example is "The teacher pointed at the students," which requires pre-specification of which students the teacher is pointing at, and "The teacher pointed at a student," which does not specify the indentity of the student and suggests that their identity does not matter."

I'd suggest cross-checking this with your teacher, an online website, or even better someone on HiNative, as, being a native speaker, I use articles on instinct and so may have missed something.  However this should give you a good base on which to work on articles, and should hopefully answer your question.

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