Sorry if you are bored. I found this to be a very interesting thread, not so much about the language as the personalities.
When I was a kid in the US, the teachers used to hit kids for speaking any language but English. The Indian kids were always getting hit. Anyway, as a result, Spanish became a language that was only spoken amoung trusted friends and family. And since the language was learned without any instructions, people were illiterate and made a lot of mistakes.
Cut us some slack! If you are understood, you are doing ok. Just say it like they say it, and you will get by.
Ru