After just one hour of teaching, he PASSED the exam! Would you like to know what I taught him?
I focused on the foundation of English grammar: how to make questions and negative sentences.
The Two Types of Verbs in English
In English, there are only two kinds of verbs:
1. Be verbs (am, is, are, was, were)
2. General verbs (all other verbs)
Each type needs different rules for making questions and negatives.
Be Verbs
To make a yes-no question:
・Switch the positions of the subject and be verb
・Example: “He is kind” → “Is he kind?”
To make a negative:
・Put “not” after the be verb
・Example: “He is kind” → “He is not kind”,
These same rules hold true for past tense be, too.
・Example: “He was kind” → “Was he kind?”
・Example: “He was kind” → “He was not kind”
General Verbs
To make a yes-no question:
・Put “Do” at the beginning of the sentence if the verb has no ending, “Does” at the beginning of the sentence if the verb has “-s” ending, and “Did” at the beginning of the past tense sentence. The verbs must be all in root forms.
・Example: “You live here” → “Do you live here?”
・Example: “He lives here” → “Does he live here?”
・Example: “You lived here” → “Did you live here?”
To make a negatives sentence:
・Put “don’t” before the verb with no ending, “doesn’t” if the verb has “-s” ending, and “didn’t” if the verb is in the past tense. The verbs must be all in root forms.
・Example: “You live here” → “You don’t live here”
・Example: “He lives here” → “He doesn’t live here”
・Example: “You lived here” → “You didn’t live here”
These same rules hold true for irregular general verbs, too.
・Example: “You went there” → “Did you go there?”
・Example: “You went there” → “You didn’t go there”
Remember!
This pattern works for all English sentences. Even sentences with words like “can,” “may,” and “must” follow the be verb pattern – you switch the positions to make questions and add “not” to make negatives.
To help my student remember, I sang an original song called the “Interro-negative Song” using the melody of “Umi” (Sea), a song every Japanese person knows. The lyrics summarized these grammar rules.
I hope this helps you remember the basics of English too!
私立学校に英語教師として勤務中、40代半ばに差し掛かったころ、荒れたクラスを立て直す策として、生徒に公言して英検1級に挑戦することを思い立つ。同様の挑戦を繰り返し、退職までに英検一級（検定連合会長賞）、TOEIC満点、国連英検SA級、フランス語一級、スペイン語一級（文科大臣賞）、ドイツ語一級、放送大学大学院修士号などの成果を得る。
アメリカで生徒への対応法を学ぶ為に研修（地銀の助成金）。最新の心理学に触れた。4都県での全発表、勤務校での教員への研修を英語で行う。現在も特別選抜クラスの授業を全て英語で行っている。「どうやって単語を覚えればいいですか？」という良くある質問に答える為、印欧祖語からの派生に基づく「生徒には見せたくない語源英単語集」を執筆中。完成間近。常日頃洋書の読破で様々な思考にふれているが、そうして得た発想の一つを生かして書いた論文がコロナ対策論文として最近入賞。賞品の牛肉に舌鼓をうっている。元英検面接委員