Wishing I payed attention in Mrs. Rockies Class

When I first got my invitation for Peace Corps and read that I would be an English teacher I thought that’s cool, I can do that. Now I am realizing that English verb conjugations might be easy, but explaining the tenses is not. I teach 4 classes a week for advanced students and they come to class with questions. Questions like when do I use Present Perfect and Present Perfect Continuous or if the actions are both in the past when do I use Past Perfect and Present Perfect. It is about that time that I wish I was teaching colors, numbers, or anything that doesn’t have to do with grammar.

I can give you the rule for the Perfect Tenses ( have + past participle) or the rule for Perfect Continuous (have + been + (verb)ing). I can even give you examples for all six tenses but what is really hard to explain is when you say

Tom has already eaten. (Present Perfect)
Tom had already eaten when his friends arrived. (Past Perfect)
Tom will have already eaten when his friends arrive. (Future Prefect)
Why wouldn’t you just say - Tom ate lunch before his friends arrived. (Simple Past)

Another question I got was when do you use

Tom has been studying for two hours. (Present Perfect Continuous)
Tom had been studying for two hours before his friends came. (Past Perfect Continuous)
Tom will have been studying for two hours by the time his friend arrives. (Future Perfect Continuous)
Why not say - Tom studied for two hours before his friend came over. (Simple Past)

My students know how to make the sentences and they can even give me great examples, but what they need to know is if they are writing a paper in English when do they use one form and not the other. Explaining this in English, because the Darija that I know cannot explain that yet, is one of the hardest and yet most rewarding parts of my day. If I can get them to understand that one minute was worth all of the frustration it took to explain it.

You see for my advanced classes they are learning English in school so they tell me what they don’t understand or want extra help with and I re-teach the material with more practice and some fun activities to show them how to use the idea in everyday English. Each of my classes comes with its own set of challenges, but there is always that moment either at the end of the class or then next day when I hear one of my students using something that they learned and it’s all worth it.