Grammar Issues (continued)

As you can probably remember from your school days, most examinations are written, and for an English language learner, that usually means a written grammar and vocabulary test. Many English students take an extra English course with a foreign teacher as a means of learning to speak English better AND acquire better grammar. If you are not up to speed on the subject, what have you got to offer? There is nothing worse than an hour-long lesson with your students firing questions at you in a bid to reveal your ignorance - and believe me, it will happen. sooner than you think. Here is a test for you:

If you are a grammar novice, think carefully about the differences between the following sentences and when you might use them:

1. I go to the market every week.

2. I went to the market every week.

3. I have been to the market every week.

4. I am going to the market every week.

5. I am going to go to the market every week.

6. I will go to the market every week.

Basic sentences - no problem. right? Well then you should be able to produce a proper explanation for number one. It might be, for instance:

"Number one means that I am in the habit of visiting the market at least once every seven days. I would use this sentence to explain my habits to someone."

Fair enough, but the explanation is far more complicated than the sentence. How on earth could someone with basic English understand this explanation? A TEFL course would teach you strategies to teach such sentences to a student without overcomplicating the issue and getting them even more confused.