Teacher Discussion Forums

Help....
I have one "beginners" class and have difficulty in explaining the verb "to be" and how it differs from other verbs since we don't have it in our language (Hebrew).
Will appreciate any help
Michal

HI Michal

Forgive the coward's advice, but with beginners I'd leave well alone in terms of 'explaining the verb to be'.

Superficially, it is of course a very small verb. Unfortunately, at a subconscious - psycholinguistic - level, there are huge complications. That's perhaps why so many mistakes are made by L2 learners with this: with 'there is' and 'there are', even more so.

Perhaps if they think of lexicogrammaticla chunks like "is s/he" or "are you" and their attendant statement forms, it would be - for now - a lot easier than dealing with a very complex problem out of its context.

Al

Hi Michal,

I agree with Al. You don't really need to "explain" what "is" is. You have the luxury/curse of teaching a class with all the same native language background, so I imagine there are times you may slip into your native language to explain things. Since I don't have the luxury of doing that with my classes of many different language backgrounds, I usually explain "is" in the very beginning as a sort of "equals".

He = a student. He is a student.
It = red. It is red.

I just explain that that's English, and they learn it that way. It's not necessary to be precise in the grammatical explanations at an early stage in my opinion. (Although you never know--this thread could develop into a philosophical discussion of "is" )

Same problem in Arabic. I just say you must use the 'is" not like in Arabic.

Expect confusion here and elsewhere. Just keep plugging at it.

Sometimes you have to remind yourself that confusion is the normal state of affairs for students in the midst of studying a new language, particularly in the beginning stages. It's hard enough to keep from being confused even when it's your native language! Encourage your students to keep at it, and to expect the discombobulation. The fog will gradually clear.

Larry Latham

I teach Koreans and so far have not had problems with the hoary old "verb of identification" or even "the copula". Actually I send them to a bilingual dictionary for those terms. But, Korean also has a copula, so I'm not in the same position.

It might go against the grain to say so, but you could suggest that they complete a shed-load of mechanical (monotonous/tedious..) grammar gap-fill exercises until it just sinks in. Repeated exposure could do the trick.

mwert wrote:Help....
I have one "beginners" class and have difficulty in explaining the verb "to be" and how it differs from other verbs since we don't have it in our language (Hebrew).
Will appreciate any help
Michal

Just out of curiosity, how does one express something "I am a teacher" in Hebrew?

Iain

It would be : I teacher...
or did you want to hear it in Hebrew ?
Ani (I) Mora ( female teacher)....

Thanks, mwert

In Arabic "ana mudaris".

testing ^^

Hi, everybody

This is my first msg here. And I'm just so happy to read about all of these things I love. I've been teaching English since 1999, when I was 16. However, I was such a lamer at the beginning, and still have lots to learn. I started loving Linguistics last year, and through this I found out teaching is so much more than what I thought it was.

Well, I'll just keep reading your messages. I think they'll help me grow a lot as a teacher, and as a student too.

As for the verb To Be, it is hard for students here in Brazil too. Specially because we don't use auxilliaries in Portuguese, and they have difficulties in figuring out when they have to use "am"/ "is"/ "are" or "do"/"does"... But I've noticed it's quite easier when we don't try to teach them these structures associated with the similar ones in our first language. They can get lost sometimes.

Right you are, Miz ,

Sometimes it's hard for students (and teachers too) to remember that English is different! Anyway, seems like you're learning fast.

Larry Latham

Thanks, Larry

In fact, it was hard for me too!
But, finally, I saw the light, lol...