The term 'preterit' isn't listed as an archaic term in Webster's. I haven't come across it in the grammar texts we use at school, and, as I wrote above, never have I heard it used as a term in high school here in the states.

The reason I posed the question was out of curiosity about whether English grammar instruction in countries other than the United States might still include the term. I've been looking at ESL language sites for the past few weeks to see how English is taught to students of various nationalities, and I have noticed that terms on those sites are sometimes different from the ones I'm more accustomed to as an American teacher of English. I must admit that I'm surprised not to have ever heard 'preterit' used, but thought perhaps it is used elsewhere (more likely as preterite or praeterite, from what I've read today). If there is any snobbery out there, far be it from me to be of the first to judge. I might be one of the educated last to be aware that the term exists.

Please respond if you're from a country outside of the USA in which the term is common. Thanks.