a proposed short-term intensive grammar study plan on tense

Kooper
YOYO member
文章: 2725
註冊時間: 週三 4月 11, 2007 11:40 pm

a proposed short-term intensive grammar study plan on tense

文章 Kooper »

I always feel frustrated and confused when it comes to sentence tense, and I know myself well enough that I'm not persevering enough to go through it with a fine-tooth comb by myself. Today, it comes to my mind that why not picking other YOYO members' brains and studying together. So here is my proposal - Let's study the grammar books on hand and find some time later gathering for one or two hours. The gathering will consist of two sessions. In the first session we will clarify when and how each tense should be used. Then we will validate the rules we've found through reading real articles.The best time I can think of so far is 6:00 - 7:00 PM on Wednesday for two consecutive weeks. Is there anyone interested in my proposal?
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Timothy Cheng
YOYO member
文章: 38
註冊時間: 週三 10月 01, 2008 8:48 pm

Re: a proposed short-term intensive grammar study plan on tense

文章 Timothy Cheng »

Dear Kooper,
Great! please list me in.


Did you see that movie at the Sun(日新戲院)?
Have you seen that movie at the Sun?

What's the difference between them?
An open heart practicing compassion in everyday life.
---the Dalai Lama
Kooper
YOYO member
文章: 2725
註冊時間: 週三 4月 11, 2007 11:40 pm

Re: a proposed short-term intensive grammar study plan on tense

文章 Kooper »

Timothy Cheng 寫:Dear Kooper,
Great! please list me in.


Did you see that movie at the Sun(日新戲院)?
Have you seen that movie at the Sun?

What's the difference between them?
A good question. This is going to be one of the main topics at the gatherings. Hopefully we will get the answer after the gatherings. :sun:
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chiron
YOYO member
文章: 520
註冊時間: 週三 10月 03, 2007 4:23 pm

Re: a proposed short-term intensive grammar study plan on tense

文章 chiron »

Kooper 寫:I always feel frustrated and confused when it comes to sentence tense, and I know myself well enough that I'm not persevering enough to go through it with a fine-tooth comb by myself. Today, it comes to my mind that why not picking other YOYO members' brains and studying together. So here is my proposal - Let's study the grammar books on hand and find some time later gathering for one or two hours. The gathering will consist of two sessions. In the first session we will clarify when and how each tense should be used. Then we will validate the rules we've found through reading real articles.The bet time I can think of so far is 6:00 - 7:00 PM on Wednesday for two consecutive weeks. Is there anyone interested in my proposal?
Actually, I'm not so into tense. I dont' think grammar is that worth of studying, but I think we should really spend some time to study American slangs. Last time, as I was seeing "Confessions of a Shopaholic (購物狂的異想世界)", in it, the actress sais, "You also speak Prada" to a male. I asked a friend who is a professional translator what does that mean? He said it means you also understand Prada. (You know the terms in Prada. You can say their terms.) This is only a common example that Americans use so normal words to create another totally different meaning. So, what do you say?
Please call me Na'vi!
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Timothy Cheng
YOYO member
文章: 38
註冊時間: 週三 10月 01, 2008 8:48 pm

Re: a proposed short-term intensive grammar study plan on tense

文章 Timothy Cheng »

Dear Chiron,
I suppose that grammar is an important job for learning foreign language, if we would like to express our ideas or write something precisely with the foreign language. Unless, our learning goals are just for market uses (so-called 菜市場英文). As for American slang, it’s not that important for us when we are learning English, because the main purpose of learning English might be for international connections, not exclusive for American after all. Besides, some of the slang is not so decent. We might need to know some of the most popular slang, but don’t need to spend too much time on it.
最後由 Timothy Cheng 於 週六 5月 30, 2009 10:20 pm 編輯,總共編輯了 4 次。
An open heart practicing compassion in everyday life.
---the Dalai Lama
Sherry Liao
YOYO member
文章: 1482
註冊時間: 週五 12月 07, 2007 12:15 pm

Re: a proposed short-term intensive grammar study plan on tense

文章 Sherry Liao »

Great. I just bought an English grammar book the other day. What a coincidence.

But the proposal is not right up my alley. As far as I am concerned, grammar is not the main course of language learning; it is a system of rules generalized from practical use of a language. I would prefer the reverse order, that is, we read real articles first, then try to find out the rules of the sentences we are interested with our grammar books. See if you agree.
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Rock
YOYO member
文章: 2161
註冊時間: 週三 10月 31, 2007 9:03 am

Re: a proposed short-term intensive grammar study plan on tense

文章 Rock »

To Sherry,
What grammar book is that? May I take a look at it? Is it an interesting grammar book?

To boss Kooper,
:lol: I will follow you. When are you going to start this grammar seminar?
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
Kooper
YOYO member
文章: 2725
註冊時間: 週三 4月 11, 2007 11:40 pm

Re: a proposed short-term intensive grammar study plan on tense

文章 Kooper »

Rock 寫:To Sherry,
What grammar book is that? May I take a look at it? Is it an interesting grammar book?
I am curious about it, too. :sun:
Rock 寫:To boss Kooper,
:lol: I will follow you. When are you going to start this grammar seminar?
Great! Now we've had four members. The grammar study is supposed to commence on next Wednesday (Jun/10) and last for two or three consecutive weeks. My reason for not starting it this week is to give us enough time to prepare ourselves well for the topic.
Kooper
YOYO member
文章: 2725
註冊時間: 週三 4月 11, 2007 11:40 pm

Re: a proposed short-term intensive grammar study plan on tense

文章 Kooper »

Sherry Liao 寫:Great. I just bought an English grammar book the other day. What a coincidence.

But the proposal is not right up my alley. As far as I am concerned, grammar is not the main course of language learning; it is a system of rules generalized from practical use of a language. I would prefer the reverse order, that is, we read real articles first, then try to find out the rules of the sentences we are interested with our grammar books. See if you agree.
Hi Sherry,
Though I know exactly what you meant and share the same concern as you, I still prefer to start from the general rules and then move on to their uses in real articles. In order not to make the first part too tedious, my plan is that each member needs to present the tenses they are assigned in a very concise, crystal clear, and organized way. Anyway, let's just play it by ears. Your proposal could be used as a fallback plan if my plan doesn't work out well.
Sherry Liao
YOYO member
文章: 1482
註冊時間: 週五 12月 07, 2007 12:15 pm

Re: a proposed short-term intensive grammar study plan on tense

文章 Sherry Liao »

Rock 寫:To Sherry,
What grammar book is that? May I take a look at it? Is it an interesting grammar book?

To boss Kooper,
:lol: I will follow you. When are you going to start this grammar seminar?
Hey, Rock, I never knew you would be interested in grammar. What happened to you? :twisted:

Anyway, I will bring my newly bought grammar book with me, if you can make it this Wednesday.

Oh, and... welcome back, bro. :D :D :D
Sherry Liao
YOYO member
文章: 1482
註冊時間: 週五 12月 07, 2007 12:15 pm

Re: a proposed short-term intensive grammar study plan on tense

文章 Sherry Liao »

Kooper 寫:
Sherry Liao 寫:Great. I just bought an English grammar book the other day. What a coincidence.

But the proposal is not right up my alley. As far as I am concerned, grammar is not the main course of language learning; it is a system of rules generalized from practical use of a language. I would prefer the reverse order, that is, we read real articles first, then try to find out the rules of the sentences we are interested with our grammar books. See if you agree.
Hi Sherry,
Though I know exactly what you meant and share the same concern as you, I still prefer to start from the general rules and then move on to their uses in real articles. In order not to make the first part too tedious, my plan is that each member needs to present the tenses they are assigned in a very concise, crystal clear, and organized way. Anyway, let's just play it by ears. Your proposal could be used as a fallback plan if my plan doesn't work out well.
No problem! Boss, I will follow you. :lol:
Kooper
YOYO member
文章: 2725
註冊時間: 週三 4月 11, 2007 11:40 pm

Re: a proposed short-term intensive grammar study plan on tense

文章 Kooper »

Here is how I plan to run it.
1. Participants: Timothy, Sherry Liao, Rock, Kooper
2. Date & Time: 6/10, 6/17, 6/24(optional) 6:00 - 7:00 PM
3. Everyone reads through the tense section of your grammar books before coming.
4. Summarize and report the tenses you are assigned during the meeting. It has to be well-organized, concise, and to the point.
- Present: Kooper
- Past: Timothy, Rock
- Future: Sherry
5. Compare your assigned tenses to other similar tenses. Below is a list of them.
6. Bring your grammar books.
7. Bring copies of the tense section of your grammar book for the other members.
8. Bring copies of tense-related exercises of your grammar book for the other members.
9. Bring real articles or sentences that you would like to discuss.
10. In order to save time, we will discuss in Chinese.

Agenda:
1. General rules for each tense (in which case should each tense be used) and examples
- present tense (simple, continuous, perfect)
- previous tense (simple, continuous, perfect)
- future tense (including present tenses for the future)( (simple, continuous, perfect)
2. Tense comparison
- present continuous vs. present simple
- past continuous vs. past simple
- present perfect continuous vs. present perfect simple
- present perfect vs. past simple
- future continuous vs. future perfect
- I will vs. I’m going to
- I am doing (present tense for the future) vs. I am going to do
- others
3. Do exercises listed in the grammar books (maybe do it at home and discuss unsolved problems only)
4. Discuss real articles

The efficacy of the gathering is contingent on your adequate preparation. I'd appreciate it if you're well-prepared. :ssmile:
Kooper
YOYO member
文章: 2725
註冊時間: 週三 4月 11, 2007 11:40 pm

Re: a proposed short-term intensive grammar study plan on tense

文章 Kooper »

Please list your grammar books on hand so that the speaker knows if any of us owns the same book as theirs and then knows how many copies are needed.

Here are mine:
1. English Grammar in Use, Raymond Murphy (2/E)
2. Collins CoBuild English Grammar
3. Focus on Grammar - A high-intermediate course for reference and practice, Marjorie Fuchs & Margaret Bonner (2/E)
4. Focus on Grammar - An advanced course for reference and practice, Jay Maurer(2/E)
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Rock
YOYO member
文章: 2161
註冊時間: 週三 10月 31, 2007 9:03 am

Re: a proposed short-term intensive grammar study plan on tense

文章 Rock »

Yeah, I also have this "English Grammar in Use", and it's good for killing time. As for the assignment, I'd like to suggest that we don't really limit ourselves in a fixed tense. Maybe we can just share any interesting ideas from the grammar books, and skip some unnecessary and easy parts? Anyway, we are not writing a grammar book, right?
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
Sherry Liao
YOYO member
文章: 1482
註冊時間: 週五 12月 07, 2007 12:15 pm

Re: a proposed short-term intensive grammar study plan on tense

文章 Sherry Liao »

Kooper 寫:Please list your grammar books on hand so that the speaker knows if any of us owns the same book as theirs and then knows how many copies are needed.

Here are mine:
1. English Grammar in Use, Raymond Murphy (2/E)
2. Collins CoBuild English Grammar
3. Focus on Grammar - A high-intermediate course for reference and practice, Marjorie Fuchs & Margaret Bonner (2/E)
4. Focus on Grammar - An advanced course for reference and practice, Jay Maurer(2/E)
Whoa, what are those? Now that's SOMETHING!

My grammar book is this one:
朗文新英文文法全集 A Comprehensive Survey of English Grammar(5th Edition)

It is in a Chinese version, with some illustrations in it. And it's an easy read: small, lovely and breezy (only 616 pages), just like a story book.

But it might not be adequate for those who want to study in depth. For example, the sentence pattern "Some, others, still others, the others" we talked about before is not found in this book.

Hey, I think I should take this grammar study more seriously.
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