Customer Reviews

Teaching Tenses

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This book, I find, is one of the most helpful in the area of grammatical tenses and how to teach them.
It's full of innovative and at times extremely simple ideas that can help the EFL teacher no end in the presentation and development of contexts and concepts of tenses and language items to draw the target language.
The introduction is a big eye-opener and each section has a tense analysis, questions to draw the target, suggested contexts (very useful!) and it also contains interesting photocopiable material.
I've used it many a time successfully, and it works especially well with many teachers' nightmares: those dreaded perfect tenses!
If you are an English language teacher, and feel you need more help and/or information on the application, use and presentation of English tenses, this book is a MUST!

The previous reviewer did such a good job describing the assets of this book that there's little I can add in that respect. But, like her, I just can't help singing its praises.

Other teachers, and advanced and professional-level students (e.g., translators) that I've recommended "Teaching Tenses" to are just as enthusiastic.

You're a teacher and thought you "knew" tenses? Now you'll understand each in depth. And so clearly viewing the entire spectrum, you'll "get" the part that's hardest for the students: the *differences* between them, "when to use which" -- like exactly *why* "it has to be" present perfect here (not simple past), or a conditional; or the different ways of expressing the future (not solely "will"!).

This book has really deepened my insight into (and across) tenses. And with the clear, *everyday-use* lesson-approach ideas it contains, plus the ideas it inspires in me, I'm continually constructing so many valuable lessons and games that students really respond to.

Even better, it's helped me to be able to give brief, instant, example-specific explanations in class that the students can immediately grasp and use!

This skill is extremely useful in countries where the native language is quite different from English. And it's also invaluable for native-English writers and editors in explaining why the customer's cherished misconceptions about English will not get the results he's after.

"Teaching Tenses" is in the top ten -- maybe top five! -- in my personal library of teaching references. If you're really into teaching -- or learning -- English, this is one of those select books that you'll recommend to everyone... but will *never* lend out your personal copy!

I'm an EFL teacher with sixteen years experience and am presently preparing my own book criticizing much of what is currently accepted thinking about verb tenses. Because of my work I have become intimately familiar with the contributions of other authors in the ESL field: Swan, Azar, Eastwood, Murphy, Hewings, Thompson & Martinet, etc. as well as writers specializing on the English verb: Lewis, Maule, Close, Leech, etc.

The bottom line: I agree completely with the other two reviewers here; this is a wonderful book on an essential professional topic - one of a very few in the market that are truly worthwhile! I can only add that it is a shame this book is not more easily available through Amazon U.S.A. (I'll do what I can to see this change...)

There is good news however: It *is* available through Amazon Canada or Amazon UK under ISBN 0952280868, ELB Publishing 2002 (original edition by Longman UK), with the cover corresponding to the customer image provided here by Eugene Lesmez. The cost is reasonable even with the international shipping... hell, I'd pay a hundred bucks if I had to replace mine!