Teaching English as a Foreign Language

Chapter 5: Standing in the Spotlight: Presenting to the Class 71

Showing simple tenses

When you want to show that an action is in a simple tense (present simple,

past simple, or future simple) you put an individual point on the timeline with

an X or a spot and label it, as in Figure 5-1.

Figure 5-1:
The spot
marks when
I went to the
cinema.

PAST PRESENT FUTURE

cinema

With a simple label you can elicit a statement in the past simple tense: ‘I went

to the cinema’.

Likewise, you can demonstrate the simple future tense, as Figure 5-2 does for

the statement, ‘I will go on holiday’.

Figure 5-2:
Showing the
simple, but
hopefully
fun, future.
PAST PRESENT FUTURE

holidayX

Carrying through with continuous tenses

An action in a continuous tense (present continuous, past continuous and so

on) should occupy more space on the timeline. You can emphasise the dura-

tion of time by using continuous X’s or a wavy line as in Figure 5-3.

Figure 5-3:

Continuous

tenses take

more room.

PAST PRESENT FUTURE

XXXXI am speaking English now