off in off ten

When I was in 9th grade, my drama teacher, Ms. Wilburn, told the class that the "t" in often is silent. That was the first time in my life I had ever heard that, but she was a frightening old woman, and I couldn't help but to take what she said to heart. (triple compound sentence?)

Now I cringe when I hear people hit that hard "t". According to the dictionary either pronunciation is correct, but I really wish more people would say "offin". It is such a lovely soft word.