Speak Better: Really Learn English Grammar
So you want to speak better English, right? You want people to understand you when you try and communicate with them, and you want to understand what other people are saying. However, if you’re like most students (I am sorry to generalize), then you probably don’t like studying grammar. You might even be someone who thinks, “grammar isn’t important, just as long as people understand what I am trying to say.”
This thinking is so harmful to your English fluency.
Whether you like it or not, grammar is important because it’s grammar that helps you effectively communicate what you want and are trying to say. Auxiliaries give extra meaning to main verbs, so “you must do your homework” and “you can do your homework” have 2 very different meanings, and all because of a simple word: “must” or “can”. Time tenses are especially important because they will give so much meaning to a sentence. Effectively using time tenses when you speak will help your listener not only understand when something happened, but if it is still happening (present perfect/present perfect progressive), if it happened before something else (past perfect), if it was a continuous action or instantaneous (progressive vs simple), and so on.
Whenever students express interest in studying grammar with me in my private, online lessons, I always stress to them the importance of understanding the time tenses (all 12 of them) thoroughly. Even if these students have a strong understanding of English, or have been studying for a bit of time, I ask them how strong they think this basic foundation of their language is. Do they understand the mild differences between “will” and “be going to”? While each of those express the future, they can emphasize entirely different actions and intentions.
This is key in speaking better English, understanding how to emphasize actions with the accurate use of grammar (and time tenses!).
Hopefully I have convinced you the importance of studying and understanding English time tenses, so I’d like to show you how to study them. Luckily, you’re on the Internet and have heaps (*a lot*) of resources, there are even some on this blog.
You can review the future tense here, the past perfect here, and review some of the differences between the simple past and present perfect here.
These are great resources as individual tense practice; however, I’d like to share something even more convenient, a complete set of information regarding all 12 of the time tenses. This complete set is by Really Learn English, and is called Step-by-Step Rules, Stories and Exercises to Practice All Tenses.*
image via Really Learn English
I was able to access these materials, and because I read some chapters, saw the exercises, and reviewed the structures, I can say confidently that this material is incredibly effective for teaching and learning these time tenses.
By buying the complete set, you’ll save a lot of money, because you’re getting all of the story books and work books for each of the time tenses. The set is divided by the 12 tenses, and teach you how to use it through stories and authentic language. You won’t just read about the grammar structure and see an example, the grammar will come to life with descriptive stories and language.
Why do I recommend Really Learn English’s complete time tense set?
- The books give more than just grammar, they review spelling, important notes, common verb collocations, and other useful vocabulary too!
- Each story comes with exercises and practice to do before you read (to get you ready and thinking about the story and grammar), as well as follow-up to check overall understanding.
- Bonus books include 20+ sample dialogues for you to see and follow along with real conversations utilizing the grammar
- these also include an explanation and practice exercises
- These books will help you understand the differences between confusing tenses (present perfect and past perfect) with situations that are easily understood
- The books are thorough and complete! There isn’t just 1 or 2 stories examples, there are at least 5 different, interesting stories in each book. That’s a lot of language practice!
If you aren’t sure (*you don’t know*) whether these books are right for you or not, another great advantage is that Really Learn English offers a free sample download of a chapter so you can see for yourself! You can download that free chapter, and learn more about the complete set, what’s offered, and further descriptions by clicking here.
Remember that investing in your language will continue to benefit you now and into the future as you can excel in your career, and connect with even more people around the globe. Investing into valuable products can save you time, energy, and additional money down the road, so this is definitely a product that I would recommend.
Don’t hesitate to ask questions about the product, either via e-mail or comments below. I am always here to help!
**TEACHERS, these books are also an excellent resource for your classroom. They can be used as lesson plans with reading and listening/speaking practice (if students read aloud) and can provide so much more than grammar review. Save time and energy, and get these products into your curriculum by utilizing the same links above.**
Good luck reviewing your tenses, and please share your own sentences and success stories in the comments below. If you know someone learning English, I would love if you clicked the share buttons below and introduced them to this article. Thank you. As always….