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Post by prncsfungi on Jun 2, 2008 13:43:42 GMT 8
This is a bit random but who knows maybe there are other grammar nerds out there like me. Today for the second year junior high students the lesson was "am going to..". I forget the actual name for this grammar point, but I believe it falls under the realm of future tenses in English. Listening to my JTE explain the point to her students (in Japanese) made me remember that there really isnt a future tense per se in Japanese. After class I asked her how she explains the differences between "i will..."/"i am going to..." to the students.
My JTE said that in Japanese, while they have options like nani nani tsumori desu/yotei desu, future tense is more of a situational "feeling". So when she explains both I will/am going to she uses the those same 2 japanese phrases but describes "I will" as "a future hope".
It got me thinking...can you use future hope with I will? I can see what she is trying to get at..but I think that "I will" carries a degree of certainity with it. i.e. I will be a doctor vs. I hope to be a doctor vs. I want to be a doctor...to me all have very different meanings. Also "will" itself I also think of of something more in the distant future wheras "am going to" is sort of closer future. Haha somewhat inane, yes I know, but anyone have any thoughts?
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yopparaisaru
Englipedia Fana
I drink copious amounts of fire and piss excellence
Posts: 312
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Post by yopparaisaru on Jun 2, 2008 14:10:20 GMT 8
I agree that this is difficult topic to breach especially working within japanese not having a future tense. But I disagree with some of your statements about 'will.' Afterall, it doesn't necessarily have to be a more far off thing, I often say will in terms of more immediate future matters. Like. Sorry I'll (contractions still count as will ) be away tomorrow or whatever. I guess if you limit the usage of 'will' to just what you want to be in the future like you said it does hold more of a definite meaning than say i am going to or i hope to be. I don't know how my JTE's describe that but i imagine they would do it similarly as they have the habit of creating distinctions in English words and grammar when there really are none in the English in question.
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Post by rollypop on Jun 2, 2008 15:13:23 GMT 8
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Post by Otaku on Jun 2, 2008 21:53:51 GMT 8
This is my two cents, take it or leave it... People can argue all they want about the nuances of those two meanings but I always try to keep in mind the students when it comes to teaching. At the basic level, which is the level they are learning English, those two meanings are the same. The same holds true about whether you should start a sentence with "but, because and". Scholars argue about these pedantic things all the time but at the basic level of teaching, I believe they shouldn't be used. I think your JTE may be trying to find the difference with these two grammar points and not trying to analyze it any further. Maybe he/she never thought the textbooks could be flawed. Here's a really easy way to show how screwed up NH is in this particular case. You find 'am going to' grammar in lesson 2. The grammar point "am going to" sets up an infinitive verb (to + verb): I am going to write a letter. While this may or may not be a true infinitive, lesson 3, then teaches infinitives. If nothing else, that is hella confusing for the students. That's my two cents... BTW, on each grammar page, I try to attach a hyperlink at the top of the page that will take the user to a website that will explain that particular grammar point. I try and choose sites that explain the grammar point in laymen's terms cuz' I don't know about you peeps but I'm a little weak in this area. This is the link I have for that particular grammar point: www.english-at-home.com/grammar/using-future-forms/Also, I just added a 'grammar site' page to the external links which you might find extremely useful.
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