Perfect vs. Past Tense
As an English teacher, there isn't a single day that I live without teaching. Lately, I have taught the difference between present perfect and past simple by adding since and for along them. Therefore, I would like to give you some tips about teaching the difference between these tenses and using of since and for in present perfect. In this post, I am going to use some of the photos I have taken in my class.
First of all, explaining rules without any example doesn't make any positive effect on your students. Therefore, we always learn new things through some activities like reading, writing or listening. In order to show the difference between these two tenses mentioned above, it is important to choose a great text. I would like to share the short text that I have written for this post.
An Amazing Couple
Mary and Michael are a great couple. They have been married for 12 years and it seems that they are still happy with their decision. They lived in Madrid for 3 years, but 2 years ago they decided to change their city. They have lived in London since 2015 and they always say that life in London is much better for them now. Michael worked as a teacher for 3 years, but he wasn't happy with that, so he made a change 2 years ago. He has worked in a company for 2 years
In my own lesson, we had a similar text and I wrote some sentences that I got from the text on the board. When I was done with writing, I asked my students to tell me the difference and they tried to understand the difference between them. While explaining the rules, I added some important words which are " still, duration and over". These are the key words in explaining the difference between these two tenses.
Setting the rules
If you want your students to set the rules by themselves, you may prepare some prompt in which they can complete with some suitable words. Let's have a look at this example. You may ask your students to complete the following sentences with either for or * since*
- When we emphasis the duration in a sentence, we use......
- When we emphasis the starting point of an action we use......
Your students will probably complete the rules easily as everything is so basic and clear in the paragraph. This is one of the easiest grammar subjects that I teach in my own classes. When your students are done with setting the rules, it is time to start production part.
Practice!
Like in all lessons, it is important for your students to practice what they have learned. For this grammar difference, you may prepare an exercise like the one that I would like to show in this post. You may ask your students to choose the correct words and complete the sentences with the suitable words which are true for them.
I lived / have lived in this city for......
I bought / have bought my laptop....... ago.
I *have learned / *learned/ English since......
When your students are done with completing the rules with correct grammar and words which are true for them, you may ask each student to answer the sentences. When each student repeats the sentence, they will learn it more effectively. This is the way I prefer to teach in my classes.
Education
I really hope that this post will help you to shape your lessons. Learning and teaching are endless things. As an English teacher, I always learn and try to transfer what I learn to my students. By doing this, everybody is getting better in society and the world in larger scale. If you have any questions and critics about the post, you are welcome to share with me.
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