When the present is perfect…or is it?

Of course it never is only perfect. It is sometimes simple, progressive or continuous. And before long it is past, or even past perfect. And as a teacher, particularly in Asia, you may need to know just how perfect today is.. or has been, or was going to be…..

Both knowing and being able to teach grammar is often something that worries new teachers. Many native English speakers may not be familiar with why they say sentences in a certain way. We just know what sounds correct, and what doesn't. Whether a Present Perfect Simple grammar tense is being used, or not, is a minor consideration.

Plenty of people will also say that using the correct grammar is not as important as using the correct vocabulary. For example, "I go to shopping yesterday" is understandable, while "I have been to the sickplacehouse" (hospital? doctor's clinic? the house of my sick friend?) may not be.

However, (maybe unfortunately?) foreign students are often taught English from a very early age with a heavy emphasis on grammar. They become fully aware of the names of the tenses, parts of speech (nouns, verbs and so on) even when they can barely string together a basic sentence!

In order to help trainee teachers become more confident teaching grammar, our experienced Trinity CertTESOL trainers will provide input and practice sessions on the most important language structure skills. These interactive sessions are carefully designed to ensure that each trainee knows the proper terminology and ways to both make and use language structures correctly. With guidance from our trainers, lessons are planned focusing on the best ways to both teach grammar and use it within functional communication.

Even before the course begins, a pre-course pack introducing language structures is sent to each new trainee, giving them the opportunity to begin preparing themselves before arriving at our centre.

Our methods help to ensure that by the end of the course, each of our newly-graduated Trinity CertTESOL teachers know exactly how perfect the present really is!