totoro,
I am not sure why it is “obvious” to you that I feel that apostrophes are unnecessary. They are necessary. People who don’t use them are just being lazy. First of all, it is not a difficult concept. Missing letter = apostrophe. Second of all, a little attention paid while reading should tell most people who and why they are used. I think anyone who does not use apostrophes does not read very much.
However, the rules for colons and semi-colons, are more confusing and more arbitrary, and it is quite possible to write very well without ever using them.
Most people do not know the grammar of their own language, and do not wonder about their own language. I do not wonder about languages that I am learning. I just accept the patterns of the language as normal, and try to make it normal for me.
Those immigrants who want to improve, who want to develop language use patterns more similar to native speakers, have to make a special effort. They have to listen and read a lot. With a lot of exposure, they start to become familiar with the language, and at that point, reading a grammar book can also help them, if they are interested.
On the other hand, those Chinese speakers who continue to say " my husband, she", or Germans who say " I live here since 5 years", or Frenchmen who say " Heven when I am 'ungry, I 'ate to heat 'amburgers", and all the people who say “I am very interesting in listen him” or “the train leave at 3 pm”, it is not because they do not know the rules or did not study grammar for 10 years.
I recently sat in, via skype, on a class of unemployed professional Chinese immigrants in Toronto. I explained to them some of my views on language learning, the importance of input, of listening and reading and of vocabulary. The comments I got back included the following;
“Yes but I want to improve my pronunciation.”( I explained that her poor phrasing was a much bigger issue, although also gave some advice re pronunciation)
“I never read a book because there are so many words I do not understand”. ( I had suggested improving their understanding to the point where they can enjoy reading a novel, as a goal.)
“By nature I like to find the easy way, that means usually speaking Chinese, reading Chinese and watching Chinese videos.” ( I told hime that I was working on a system for learning English while only listening to and reading Chinese.)
To learn a language requires, mostly, a lot of input, and in an organized and systematic way, dare I say it, like LingQ!