The DREADED FUTURE TENSE

[Otaku]

I am still utterly confused why the students 'officially' study English for two years in ES and one year in JHS before they ever touch on the Future Tense.

In the land where students are groomed from a very young to be one certain thing when they go up, and serious talks in JHS about what occupation they are going to choose, I would think the future tense would be much more important.

Seriously though, what is the logic of not teaching all the tenses together?

Even if I could figure out that question, I would still be confused. Why is the future tense taught as "...am going to..." instead of the much simplier "will"?

To the Japanese English education system, you are doomed to suffer through mass English confusion, and will not be able to have a real English conversation until you hand over your pseudo-English teaching to native English speakers. MEXTtards!

BTW, this rant could have been brought on by my new JTE who teaches a 99% Japanese classroom in English class.

[Richard_BenoitEnglipedia Drone]

BTW, this rant could have been brought on by my new JTE who teaches a 99% Japanese classroom in English class.

And there is the problem. Multiply that times a few thousand. I think 5 out of 6 of my JTEs do the same! Then you have a nation confident in the "theory" of English!

[Richard_BenoitEnglipedia Drone]

P.S I taught WILL last week, and I left "going to" to the JTE for the following week for when I was at a different school!

[jessen100]

while i dont want to negate your rant, i may have an answer for you...

I dont really understand why you would think it could be better to teach all the tenses at the same time, ive never seen or heard of a language class structured as such. In english dealing with the "be" verb is of greater priority, since its needed for future tense in using "[be] going to"

In my japanese classes and all other language classes ive taken or seen, learing a single tense at a time and listening, understanding, practicing then using that tense, then moving on to the next tense and listening, understanding, practicing then using that tense, was how it was done, and how its structured here. not much talk about run on sentences though.


also i dont see whats so difficult about "[be] going to" as long as students understand the "be" verb. since its a commonly used and important phrase what sense would it make to not teach it? if they want to use one or the other, thats fine i guess, but they absoloutly need to use both.

Would there be any harm in asking the JTE if you could just do your classes yourself? Maybe just a few, then hopefully they might see how they could work with you better as a team at the very least.

and by the way, you arent going to have a real conversation with anyone in any language you are studying, until you have studied it for a few years. but yea, certainly longer if your teacher is always speaking in your native tongue.

[jeisensei]

BTW, this rant could have been brought on by my new JTE who teaches a 99% Japanese classroom in English class.

Thank your lucky stars that you have that 1%. I once (a long long time ago in a land far far away) had an English teacher that refused to speak any English when I was in the classroom. Maybe it was because she had no confidance in her English abilities, but that is still no excuse not to speak the language you are paid (by the tax payers no less) to teach.

[himitsu]

There are two things about English grammar that I detest: future tense and past tense (simple vs. perfect).
Going to vs. Will (vs. present continuous): Even though apparently there are rules (according to text books), natives don't really seem to know or care about them. And in many situations, one wonders what rule is to be applied. And sometimes both seem to be alright...
How about this example:
- What are you going to do tomorrow?
- What will you do tomorrow?
- What are you doing tomorrow?
What's right what's wrong? What's different?
(p.s. just did an online test about the future tense, had 19 out of 20 right, but it still feels impossible to understand this 100%...)

[GETAK]

I dont really understand why you would think it could be better to teach all the tenses at the same time, ive never seen or heard of a language class structured as such. In english dealing with the "be" verb is of greater priority, since its needed for future tense in using "[be] going to"

This is a good piont. You have to build a foundation in an approachable way so they can absorb and use what they learn.

One thing that I absolutely think is insane, however, is that students study English for a YEAR, before they learn the past tense.

At least for "do" would be nice.

Me: "What did you do last weekend?"
Student: "...."

[GETAK]

There are two things about English grammar that I detest: future tense and past tense (simple vs. perfect).
Going to vs. Will (vs. present continuous): Even though apparently there are rules (according to text books), natives don't really seem to know or care about them. And in many situations, one wonders what rule is to be applied. And sometimes both seem to be alright...
How about this example:
- What are you going to do tomorrow?
- What will you do tomorrow?
- What are you doing tomorrow?
What's right what's wrong? What's different?
(p.s. just did an online test about the future tense, had 19 out of 20 right, but it still feels impossible to understand this 100%...)

You intuituvely use "going to" and "will" for different uses. Although you would have no idea how to explain why without reflecting on it quite a bit.
Here are is the general feeling I get from each:

"Going to" is used for plans, or situation when the speaker is quite sure about something that will happen, and they knew about it from before.

"Will" is used to when making decisions about the future.
(What's for dinner? ---> **...thinking....** I think I will make haggus(sp?).
It is also used to state predictions with certainty and offers to do things.

Of course there is a little overlap, and some exceptions.

[moolooman]

過去形　　　現在形　　　未来形

Maybe you`ll like it better if I put it like that.