English Grammar - Simple Past Tense vs. Present Perfect Tense

Simple Past Tense vs. Present Perfect Tense

Although this topic has a few more points, this post will only cover one of the basic points of past vs. present perfect tenses.  Today we focus on the timing of when to use these tenses.

Simple Past Tense
I wrote 5 emails yesterday

We use the simple past tense to show that something happened in the past and it is finished.  These actions MUST be finished.

Some key words that indicate that an action is finished are:

• last week
• 1 week ago
• yesterday
• a few days ago
• at
• on
• in
• when 

Present Perfect Tense
I have written 3 emails today

We use the present perfect tense to show that something is not finished yet.  These actions all feel that they are incomplete!

Some key words that indicate an action is unfinished are:

• so far
• already
• yet
• this week
• just
• ever
• never
• been
• gone

Mysterious Traffic and the Magic "XXX"

I admit it's been a while since posting anything on this educational blog.  But I checked in recently and realized I have been getting dozens of hits a day from the USA and Egypt on the posting "Did you use to xxx?".  

Now, this post was about a grammar point, but it seems that dozens of Americans and Egyptians are finding my blog by google searching the following:

"xxx"
"yes xxx"
"xxx yes"
"how to xxx"

And so on.  This has made me realize that I need to make my English educational posts more "sexy" to appeal to my growing Ameri-Egyptian followers.

101 Ways to Use "Get"

"Get" is a very flexible word.  If you put it with another word, it will drastically change the their meaning.  Here are a few common "get" expressions.  The ones on this list all have double meanings (except for the last two, which I just like).

- get to

- get to 

- get back

- get back to (someone)

- get into 

- get into

- get it

- get it

- get together with

- get in touch with

Can you guess what they mean?  Here is a brief answer and example.  

- get to = arrive (I'll get to work at 9:00)

- get to = start (I'll get to my homework later)

- get back = return (I'll get back later than usual)

- get back to (someone) =  respond (I'll get back to you tomorrow)

- get into = enter (Get into the car)

- get into = become interested in (She got pottery after visiting the museum)

- get it = understand (I get it!)

- get it = buy/retrieve (Could you get it on the way home?)

- get together with = meet (Let's get together next Wednesday)

- get in touch with = contact (You should get in touch with her before she goes on vacation)

And there's more.  A LOT more.  "Get" is one of the most expressive words around, and it's really natural to use.  Learning and practicing these expressions will help out in just about any situation.  

Don't be Rude when you Tell People when to Meet you

Here is a quick English quiz - can you see the problem in the following conversation?

     - Do you want to have dinner with me tomorrow?

     - OK, that sounds good.  When do you want to meet?

     - We will meet at 7 o'clock.

Did that seem strange at all?  The grammar is perfectly fine, there are no mistakes here.  But it's not natural and it would confuse me if I heard it.  Here is a more natural version of the exchange:

     - Do you want to have dinner with me tomorrow?

     - OK, that sounds good.  When do you want to meet?

     - Let's meet at 7 o'clock.

The problem with the first version is that by saying "We will meet at 7 o'clock." you are taking away all the choice from the other person.  This is an unplanned invitation, so you need to get confirmation by saying "how about 7?" or "let's meet at 7." or something like that.  

It's OK to say "We will meet at 7 o'clock." if it is a pre-planned event, like a party or something.  This one is correct:

     - Do you want to come with us to the party tomorrow?

     - OK, that sounds good.  When do you want to meet?

     - We will meet at 7 o'clock.

In this case it's fine because the party is scheduled for 7, there's no need to get confirmation from the other person.  So good luck and be nice enough to give people a chance to say yes or no when you ask them out!

"Teachers Tread Water in Eikaiwa Limbo" - Is Teaching English Worth it?

This Japan Times News Article is, unfortunately, absolutely true.

As someone who has been involved in several "Eikaiwa" schools, I can say that they are good if you're a recent graduate or someone looking for an interesting change of pace. They are easy places to get "stuck" in, however.  Each of the major companies in Japan is scaling back the contracts and wages of their staff-level employees, while freezing the management level salaries.

For teachers, this is a demoralizing limbo that encourages high staff turnover.  Some companies want high turnover to give students fresh faces - these are the weaker schools, in my opinion.  The better schools will invest a lot more time and energy into training their staff, and they will do anything (except give a raise) to keep qualified and popular teachers.

For students, this situation is not so terrible.  Prices are decreasing due to competition and the huge variety of lesson types out there.  Quality will vary from school A to school B, but there are options for just about any student wanting to get some practice speaking English.  

Rory's Story Cubes Review - Fun Way to Practice Speaking English

I was blown away by these.  Rory's Story Cubes are such a simple and fun idea that I was a little shocked that I hadn't seen anything like that before.  I've seen several schools that use games like Taboo Game, Boggle, and Scrabble Deluxe Edition, but never this before.  Check this out:

These are dice that you can role - each side has a picture of something that's easy to recognize and probably not so unfamiliar to your students.  Take 2 or 3 dice for a beginner, roll them and have your student make sentences to connect the pictures together.

Adults may feel a little embarrassed playing games to study in a business-type situation, but if it is a casual or group class it can be a lot of fun.  They do make "expansion packs" for the dice in case the regular set doesn't have enough, but the basic set is enough to practice with for most classes.

Obviously Story Cubes would be a big hit in any kids type class - it's also good if you are trying to raise your own children to be bi-lingual.  Once younger kids realize that the pictures don't need to be literal, and that they can represent something, you'll be surprised at their creativity.  

How to Take a Phone Message in English

There are a lot of books about telephone English.  A lot of class time is spent on the topic as well.  The standard telephone English lesson says that you should take a message like this:

“I’m sorry, Mr. Smith is not available right now.  May I take a message?”

Or something like that.  But the danger of offering to take a message is that the caller might give you a difficult message!  Like this:

“Yes, thank you very much, could you please tell Mr. Smith that something came up and I’ll be unable to attend the meeting on next Tuesday.  Is there any way we could maybe push it back to the 18’th or some other time after that?  I’ll be available if it’s BEFORE 2 o’clock.  Unfortunately I’ll be busy after 2, so it’s better if we plan for earlier.  Thank you.”

Could you catch all of that over the telephone at native speed?  As you can see, sometimes taking a message is the wrong thing to do.  Instead, just offer to have Mr. Smith call them back, like this:

“I’m sorry, Mr. Smith is not available right now.  May I have him call you back?”

This way, all you have to do is get their name and number, and you’re done!

3 Steps to Help you Understand Someone Speaking in Another Language

How do you communicate with someone who is a much higher level speaker than you are?  Don’t be nervous that you cannot communicate well with people that you meet, instead of trying to listen to someone use 100% natural English with you – stop them.

Take these few steps to make sure that you can keep some control of the conversational situation.

1.     STOP them – Don’t just listen to the other person if they are speaking too fast.  Stop them!  Use a phrase such as “Wait a moment” or “Excuse me” hold the other person while you can think.  Remember to be aggressive!  Use a strong voice to interrupt people.

2.     CLARIFY what they mean – After stopping someone, they will be waiting, so ask your question.

·       If they are too FAST – “Could you please speak more slowly?”

·       If you want them to repeat themselves – “Could you please say that again?”

·       If you don’t know what they mean – “What does that mean?” or “What do you mean?”

3.     CONFIRM that you understand – Make sure that you really understand someone.  Try a phrase like “So you mean….” Or “Let me see if I understand, you mean…”

If you can follow these steps then even if you are a low level speaker, you will have a better chance to understand what somebody is saying to you.  Just remember to be brave!  It is hard to say “Excuse me” when somebody is speaking – don’t wait!  Just say it and you will be able to avoid miscommunication early. 

Active Voice vs. Passive Voice - Why do we use them?

In a lot of ways, non-native speakers understand English grammar a lot better than native speakers do.  Active and Passive voice is one of those things that most native speakers can use well, but can't really explain well.  On the other hand, a lot of students can explain it quite well.  Students can even do all the exercises to transform one to the other, but in the end they often can't use it naturally.

Here is a little explanation of each.

Active voice:

Subject A does something to Subject B

I fed my cat

Passive voice:

Subject B receives an action (from Subject A)

My cat was fed (by me)

So we can make sentences like "I hit my brother" or "my brother was hit", and they basically mean the same thing.  A lot of classes spend a TON of time practicing changing from active to passive and passive to active, but unfortunately not so much time understanding why you would use one or the other.  

A lot of native speakers are told to just not use the passive voice (I remember being penalized for using the passive voice on a paper once...).  However there are good situations to use the passive voice, it's just that we tend to use the active voice more.

3 reasons why we use the active voice:

• Active voice is mainly spoken 
• Active voice is emotional
• Active voice has blame or responsibility (he did it!)

3 reasons why we use the passive voice:

• Passive voice is mainly written
• Passive voice is informational
• Passive voice doesn't know or doesn't care who did it

Finally, just a few examples of natural situations for each.  Active voice is often used in conversations, and generally most of the time.  Passive voice is trickier.  Passive voice is good in scientific writing, news stories, and when you don't care or don't know who did something.

A Natural Pronunciation Tip - Speak Smoothly

So here is a general pronunciation rule that most native speakers use when they speak.  Even if you, as a learner, don't actually use this pronunciation technique, you WILL hear it and should learn to recognize it.

When one word ends with a consonant sound, and the next word begins with a vowel sound, the sounds BLEND.

That's it.  Just to review, vowel means AEIOU, and  consonant means BCDFGHJKLMNPQRSTVWXYZ.

For example:

Under every chair 

Unde-revery chair

Consonant sounds count too.  For example:

Once every week  

One-severy week

So give it a try.  Just take a look in any newspaper, magazine, or blog article and try to read some of those sentences out loud by linking and blending the words together.  It sounds a lot more natural that way.  

3 Online Resources for ESL Students (and Teachers)

There are A LOT of places out there to go to learn English.  Some are very good, and some are very, very, very bad.  Here are a few of my favorites that I hope you can utilize and enjoy.

Amazon

Of course.  No question.  Amazon is a fantastic resource.  Not much more to say.  They have just about anything for anyone.  Just one recommendations (not really a recommendation, just get it) for teachers:  

ALL ENGLISH TEACHERS MUST MUST MUST HAVE THIS BOOK.  It'll tell you everything you'll ever need to know about grammar.  It'll even help you to answer all those tricky questions that students love to ask.

Dave's ESL Cafe

One of the original resources out there.  They have links for students, resources for teachers, and a very user-friendly interface.  Very nice site, regularly maintained.

English Club 

Although not as "beautiful" as Dave's ESL Cafe, it is still a very nice place.  Not so much for the resources, but very much for the community.  There is a very active base of students and teachers who are all friendly and eager to communicate.

4 Answers to "Did you use to XXX". "Yes, I did", "No, I didn't", and 2 more...

I USED TO

It isn't as easy as it sounds.  For example let's talk about Bill.  Here's some background about Bill:

• Bill was born in Texas.
• Bill has never lived in Europe.
• Bill recently moved to California.  
• He has been to Japan, but only once.

Now let's ask Bill 4 questions using "use to":

1. Did you use to live in Texas?               Yes, I did.
2. Did you use to live in Europe?               No, I didn't.
3. Did you use to live in California?               No, I still do.
4. Did you use to visit Japan?               No, only once.

#1 and #2 should be easy enough for everyone to answer.  But there are two special conditions about "I used to".  

* "I used to" means that I don't anymore.  So #3 must be NO!  I still do.  I do now. 

* "I used to" means that it was regular.  So #4 must be NO!  I only did it once.  Never regularly. 

So try making a few questions using "Did you use to XXXX", and try making some answers for yourself!

     

Over and Under + Adjective = Disaster!

Being overpaid sounds nice.  Being underworked doesn't sound so bad either.  But over and under is generally something that is not good.  If you're overpaid, then your customers and company are getting cheated.  If you are underworked you're not being treated fairly.

Over + adjective is too much.  Under + adjective is too little.  Here are some common examples:

• Overdressed                                                          Underdressed
• Overpaid                                                               Underpaid
• Overworked                                                          Underworked
• Overcooked                                                          Undercooked
• Overbooked                                                          Underbooked 

All not so good for somebody.  So if over and under is not good, then what is?  There's no easy one word solution, you'll have to use your judgement in every case.  Here are few examples in blue that could be more positive situations.

• Overdressed               appropriately dressed          Underdressed
• Overpaid                    fairly paid                            Underpaid
• Overworked               fairly worked                      Underworked
• Overcooked               well cooked                       Undercooked
• Overbooked               fully booked                        Underbooked 

Tag Questions are easy (a little easy). Answering them is a bit tougher.

There are basically 2 types of tag questions: positive and negative.  

Like this:

"You are American, aren't you?"  =  (I think you are American.  Is that right?)

"You aren't American, are you?"  =  (I don't think you are American.  Is that right?)

We use tag questions to confirm information that we think we know.  

You can change the verbs in sentences to use tag questions in many situations.  Like, "this isn't easy, is it?", or "you are getting frustrated, aren't you?".  Anyway, so far so good.  But a lot of people get confused on how to answer.  

Answer these:

1. The fire is hot, isn't it?     (I think the fire is hot)
2. The fire is cold, isn't it?     (I think the fire is cold)
3. The fire isn't hot, is it?     (I think the fire isn't hot)
4. The fire isn't cold, is it?     (I think the fire isn't cold)

How was it?  Could you answer all 4 questions without getting confused?  Let's see.  The best answers should be:

1. Yes, it is.     (agreeing)    
2. No, it isn't!     (disagreeing)
3. Yes, it is!     (disagreeing)
4. No, it isn't.     (agreeing)

I put #2 and #3 in bold type to show that you are disagreeing with me.  Please you a strong voice and shout out that I am wrong!  

My TV deserves an article! Or at least tell me who's TV you're talking about.

Do you see a problem with the following sentences?

1. Please turn on TV.
2. Yesterday I watched new movies.
3. Let's go to Chinese restaurant for lunch on Saturday.

Hopefully these sentences sound a bit strange if you say them out loud to yourself.  Although the message is mostly clear, there is some potential for confusion if you speak like this.  The first thing I think when I hear these sentences is...

1. Which TV?
2. What new movie? How many movies?
3. Which Chinese restaurant?

If you use a noun like TV, movie, or restaurant, you need to tell me WHICH ONE!  Even if there's just one TV in the room, I promise, I will freeze for a moment and try to think about which TV you mean.  This one?  That one?  My TV?  My mother's TV?  I know it's stupid, but that's how it is.  

So if you use a noun, you need to give me some detail.  Please say:

• a TV
• The TV
• This TV
• His TV
• 17 TVs
• Bill's TV

Or something like that.  Please clarify or there may be a little confusion.  Now, try those 3 sentences again and see if you can make them a bit more natural.

Present Tense vs. Present Progressive Tense - Mini Lesson

A quick test.

Q1 - What is she doing?

Q2 - What does she do?

Most of the time the answers I get from students are the same.  I often here “she is studying”, or “she is doing homework”.  But that is almost the same answer.  I asked two completely different questions.

The answer should be:

 A1 - She is studying.  (or any other kind of action)

A2 - She is a doctor. (or any other kind of job)

What does she do? = What is her job. 

For a native speaker, these questions are worlds apart, but test your students.  Many think that they know the answer, so they don’t want to spend much time studying basic tenses.  But a lot of the time, they don’t really know it deeply and instinctively.  Most students do want to master the basics, so push on and make sure they can answer this question.

(As a follow up question to test them, ask “What are you wearing?” followed by “what do you wear?”)

Studying for the TOEIC Exam? Practice Grammar with TOEIC Part 5

Today we'll look at a TOEIC study book review.  "Tactics for TOEIC" - I use this book almost exclusively with my intermediate to advanced level students.  We have often seen students improve about 100 points after going through this book in class.

 I like this book because it is a whole package at a very reasonable price (for an English textbook).  It looks nice, has good packaging, and comes with everything you need to study by yourself or in class with your private teacher.  It comes with:

* A Textbook with a lot of good advice for students
* 4 CDs for the textbook and practice tests
* 2 Practice Tests with answer keys
* A transcript booklet so that you can see what is on every CD.

The key feature of this book is the format of the textbook.  As you (hopefully) know, the TOEIC test has 7 parts.  The book has 28 chapters, 4 chapters for each part of the TOEIC test.  Each chapter has 2 key points to help you prepare for the TOEIC test.  It starts off pretty easy, but gives INVALUABLE advice to help you improve your score.

For Students:  The key point of this book is that you learn the techniques in the book and NOT focus on the new vocabulary so much.
As a very nice grammar practice, take a look at the practice part 5. Cover the answers and just look at the question.  1. Try to find what kind of word will fit.  Is it a noun/verb/adjective, etc.?  2.  Try to imagine a word that fits in the situation.
This is a good practice to see how well you know your grammar.

For Teachers:  Don't be lazy!  While your students are doing a timed exercise, be proactive and go through the same section as your student and write out key vocabulary on another sheet of paper for your them.  In class make sure your students know the 2 key points of every chapter.  After the timed exercises is a good chance to go back and emphasize any vocabulary that you think it is important for your students to know.

Improve your English Listening Skills with Dictation

How to improve your listening:

DICTATION 

(But You're Probably Doing it Wrong)

Dictation is a pretty well known and effective technique.  BUT many people don't get the most out of it.  Basically dictation is when you listen to something and then write it down.  If you follow these steps, however, you're guaranteed to improve a bit more quickly.

Steps to practice dictation effectively:

1. Play 1 sentence from your CD or MP3.

One sentence only.  A lot of people try to do too much.  It's better to focus and get this one thing right.

2. Write that 1 sentence down.

Even if you didn't catch every word, you'll probably get a few of the content words. 

3. Check your what you've written; correct it, and try to guess what the missing words might be.

Most people don't do this extra step.  But it's useful to see how well you can understand what a real, complete, correct sentence should look like.  Give it a try.

4. Listen to the CD again to check it.  Were you right?

Again, most people don't do this.  Do it and confirm that your mind isn't tricking you.  Listen carefully!  Don't trust yourself from 5 minutes ago!

5.  Finally, check the written audio script and see if you were right.

At this point, you're 1 sentence practice has probably cost you a few minutes.  But it's worth it!

If you've followed these steps, I promise that your listening skills will develop more quickly than if you had just listened to something and written it down and moved on without checking.

Using these steps you are not just listening to content words, but also learning to catch the tougher, faster, function words too.

A Key Point to Keep your English Study Fresh and Fun.

Ok, to start off with, let me tell you the most important thing for improving your language skills.  It's easy, it's obvious, but it's important.  It's:

MOTIVATION!

You must, must, must have a reason to get better.  Since you need to put in a lot of time and effort to get better, you have to have a reason to keep trying.  If you don't have a reason, please make one now.  Do you need to study for fun?  For a promotion?  For a vacation?  Get a reason, and when you start to lose energy, review your goals.

Easy, right?

Welcome to a New ESL/EFL Study Blog for Teachers and Students!

Welcome to:

ESL Study - Invest Your time Better!

The purpose of this blog is to show a few techniques for English as a Second Language (ESL) students to pick up a some good idioms, expressions, phrases, vocabulary, or grammar suggestions to help them study.

I will try to give some unique advice that is a little different from what is usually on ESL blogs.  Please enjoy!