We had been reviewing sentence patterns in our classes and learning how to use the different English tenses to express action in relationship to time, and the continuation or completion of the action.
At the LITE English school, we do not teach the 12 tenses like this:
Past:
The mountaineers scaled the tallest mountain in the region.
The mountaineers were scaling the tallest mountain in the region.
The mountaineers had scaled the tallest mountain in the region.
The mountaineers had been scaling the tallest mountain in the region.
Present:
The mountaineers scale the tallest mountain in the region.
The mountaineers are scaling the tallest mountain in the region.
The mountaineers have scaled the tallest mountain in the region.
The mountaineers have been scaling the tallest mountain in the region.
Future:
The mountaineers will scale the tallest mountain in the region.
The mountaineers will be scaling the tallest mountain in the region.
The mountaineers will have scaled the tallest mountain in the region.
The mountaineers will have been scaling the tallest mountain in the region.
But we do learn each of these 12 active tenses as well as the additional 12 passive tenses which emphasize who RECEIVES the action in the sentence, rather than the DOER of the action.
The tenses are taught as sentence patterns similar to the way children learn their own native language: the patterns are spoken to the child or he hears them in his day-to-day life, and he remembers them and repeats them.
This is called MIMICRY and is a vital element in proper language learning.
The patterns are explained to the students one by one, so they thoroughly understand the meaning and usage of each pattern and then they spend much time on each pattern, making their own examples until they achieve full mastery of the tenses.
This takes much time and many lessons of practice until the students can use the different tenses effortlessly. They are used as statements, as questions and in many different scenarios and situations.
The students are also given written homework in which they write examples of the tenses in sentences, either in a written assignment such as an essay on a particular topic or just by writing sentences over and over again in order to hone their skills.
One student in a recent Intermediate class was working diligently on this; writing her homework devotedly after each class and making plenty of examples.
She was also very busy in the classes, making sentences and asking lots of questions as to how to use the tenses correctly to express various ideas.
As the lessons progressed her error rate began to decrease until finally one evening as I sat grading her homework, sentence after sentence after sentence was written with perfect English grammar. Many examples of all 12 tenses lay written upon the page and all were 100% perfect!
I smiled to myself as I wrote my comment at the bottom of the page, “Well, it looks like you’ve got this figured out now.”
A perfect score.
But the heart of the matter was not the score, it was the knowledge that this student could now express her ideas easily and fluently in English, without having to think too much about what she was saying.
Her grasp of the language had become such that she can now speak and articulate her thoughts with a proficiency near to that of a native speaker in English – and in some cases, better than a native speaker!
I felt very proud of her at that moment and I still feel proud of our accomplishment now. Of course, constant practice is needed to achieve true mastery – but we have certainly achieved a turning point in her journey towards a command of the English language.
Written by Ian
(中文譯文)
精通 12 英文時態
我們在課堂上一直在複習句型，學習如何運用不同的英語時態來表達與時間有關的動作，以及動作的延續或完成。
在淶特英語，我們不是按照以下的方式學習12個時態：
過去：
登山者攀登了該地區最高的山峰。
登山者正在攀登該地區最高的山峰。
登山者曾經攀登過該地區最高的山峰。
登山者一直在攀登該地區最高的山峰。
現在：
登山者攀登該地區最高的山峰。
登山者正在攀登該地區最高的山峰。
登山者已經攀登過該地區最高的山峰。
登山者一直在攀登該地區最高的山峰。
未來：
登山者將攀登該地區最高的山峰。
登山者將要攀登該地區最高的山峰。
登山者將已經攀登過該地區最高的山峰。
登山者將一直在攀登該地區最高的山峰。
但是我們確實學習了這12個主動時態，以及另外12個被動時態，強調在句子中的受詞，而不是執行動作的主詞。
這些時態以句型的形式進行教學，類似孩子學習自己的母語的方式：會對孩子說這些句型，或者孩子在日常生活中聽到它們，然後他記住並重複。
這被稱為模仿，是正確語言學習的重要元素。
我們會逐一向學生解釋這些句型，以便他們能夠充分理解每個句型的意義和用法，然後他們會花費很多時間在每個句型上，自己寫例句，直到他們完全掌握了這些時態。
這需要很多時間和多次課程的練習，直到學生能夠毫不費力地使用不同的時態。它們用於陳述句、疑問句以及許多不同的情境和場景。
學生們還會被要求完成書面作業，他們需要在句子中寫出時態的例子，可以是書面作業，比如關於特定主題的文章，或者只是反覆寫句子以提高他們的技能。
最近一個中級班的學生在這方面很努力，每節課後都專心寫作業，並寫了很多例句。
她在課堂上也非常忙碌，寫例句之外，也多次詢問如何正確使用時態來表達各種想法。
隨著課程的進行，她的錯誤率開始下降，直到有一天晚上，當我在批改她的作業時，一句接一句地用完美的英語語法寫下來。許多關於12個時態的例子都寫在紙上，全部都是百分之百完美的！
當我在頁面底部寫下我的評論時，我心裡微笑著說：「嗯，看來你現在已經搞清楚了。」
完美的成績。
但問題的關鍵不是成績，而是這個學生現在可以輕鬆流利地用英語表達她的想法，而不必過多思考她在說什麼。
她對語言的掌握已經達到了可以用英語流利表達和闡述思想的程度，接近母語人士，有些情況下甚至比母語人士更好！
那一刻，我為她感到自豪，現在我仍然為我們的成就感到自豪。當然，要真正精通，需要不斷的練習，但這確實是在精通英語的旅途中，一個重要的轉捩點。
由 Ian 撰寫