The teaching of the -masu form first really sticks in my craw. I once nearly brought a friend to tears when I argued fervently against it. (She taught Japanese to foreigners in Japan and, unbeknownst to me, had the complete opposite viewpoint. Yes, I felt like an ass and changed the subject immediately.)

The one lucid argument I saw in favor of masu-first stated that it was to protect foreigners from Japanese people prejudging them by their manner of speaking when they're beginning their language study, especially if they have to talk to authority figures like school principals and cops. (Um, I guess that's a really vague description of what was a multi-page essay, but maybe I'll translate it when my boxes arrive from Japan.)