Thread: "I'm going to the movies tonight" - present continuous?

Originally Posted by Cyrille

I don't think you got 'hammered' on the grammar point now did you, toc?

I'd sooner my kids avoided using 'will' as a catch-all future construction (the way SL users use it). Indeed, if you think about it the word 'will' really isn't all that common in English at all (as opposed to the contracted forms, which of course Thais can't say!)

I was being pedantic but I'm still f-ing right!

I will get my coat.

Originally Posted by tropic of cancer

(as opposed to the contracted forms, which of course Thais can't say!)

Incredibly difficult for thais, isn't it.

Clearly a pron problem rather than a grammatical one.

In Thailand it takes a lot of determination as a teacher to emphasise pron ahead of grammar, but clearly that's the way to go.

Pron involves potential loss of face, because so many thai students are convinced that, for example, that third person __s is a cakewalk, and what they REALLY need to work on is the past perfect passive.

Oh well - keep on keepin on, eh?

Hey Asper

If you've got a 'net connected PC in yr classroom [and ideally a projector] just type 'present continuous cartoon' into You Tube.

There's some great stuff on there and students young and old love it.

I think as a rule it's better to teach the usage rather than the grammar - particularly with low-level students.

In real-life, no student ever ponders his way through Grammar Monsters excellent analysis of future aspects as in "am I talking about a plan or a prediction?" before they open their mouths and say "I'm going to Big C this afternoon/I'll go to Big C this afternoon." They just default to 'will' because that's what they learned in school, and that's what ties in with their L1 (the 'ja' future particle).

Rather than explain the grammar to them, I think it's better to get them practicing the function (telling someone plans/making a spontaneous decision,etc) using the appropriate construction - the idea being to change the 'default' usage in that particular situation. For higher level students - intermediate and above - grammar explanations become more appropriate because they likely have the sophistication to understand the nuances, and they're also not still struggling with the basics.... pron, the verb be etc....

Originally Posted by Asper

I don't think so, though the textbook used it as an example.

I'm trying to get my students to distinguish between present simple (routine, repeated) and present continuous (now), and then I have to explain to them how "tonight" is "now".

I think that when we say "I'm going to the movies tonight" it's verbal shorthand for "I'm going to go to the movies tonight" (future continuous) and that we drop the "to go" in speech because it seems redundant, though correct.

Am I right? Or is there a different explanation?

The -ing tense can be used for the future, as it is in your above example:

I'm going to the movies tonight.

This is not the present continuous for the present, but a contruction for the future (tonight).