For the students in my MBA class, the Economics professor was brilliant - a PhD from MIT. Yet, he was so difficult to understand for two reasons - he predominantly talked to himself while facing the board as well as his thick accent. Students had to put on an interpreter hat that filtered his language AND what the heck does guns versus butter really mean?
Do you find you learn more from teachers - either in a formal school setting or life lessons 'on the road' - that speak your language? I'm not talking about literally the King's English, but I mean relate to your situation, take time to find parallels and relative experiences to make it more personal?
One of my teachers had a writing exercise (in a pharmacology course) where he asked "do you need to do heroin to know how to treat it?" Experiential learning isn't necessary, but you need to have someone that can relay information in a way that can students can understand.
An American was awarded a Nobel Prize yesterday by doing just that (not heroin - explaining things well). He was able to explain various aspects of poverty and inequality. For the past four decades, he has completed research and explained why numbers matter in terms of every day wealth for people around the world.
If the stock market matters to your retirement planning, or the health of the American nation, or working towards greater equality for all really means something to you, see how this American helped shape the world by watching - and explaining - why simple things matter in big ways.
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economic-sciences/laureates/2015/popular-economicsciences2015.pdf
