Work Work Work!!!

Sorry I've been neglecting the blog a bit, but I've been terribly busy diving into the teaching profession and the dark, murky depths of English grammar. (You may have noticed that I chose to use the present perfect in the previous sentence, because we always use this form when talking about a period of time that began in the past but continues until now). Do you know the difference between 'will' and 'going to'??? Well, my friends, we use 'will' when we decide to do something the moment we are speaking or we are unsure of the named event taking place, yet 'going to' indicates that something has been previously planned or the mentioned consequence is likely. Does this rule actually hold true in the real world of native English speakers?? I hardly think so... I make no distinction between 'will' and 'going to', which makes it terribly difficult to correct the worksheets on this topic. But there MUST BE A RULE to regulate this linguistic chaos! I could probably ramble on about the idiosyncrasies of our language for some time (ask me about modal verbs sometime), but I think you get the point. Sometimes the 'correct' answer given by the book sounds like complete rubbish and would never be said by anybody, but is defensible given the 'rules'. It can be pretty frustrating, but I'm studying a lot and getting the hang of it. In addition to the grammar, there is the bookkeeping part. That is, keeping track of what each student has worked on, their progress, homework, and tests. Yes, I get to write my very first English test today. On the menu: Some vs. Any (no distinction made in German), Modal Verbs, Present and Past Simple, Present Progressive, and Will vs. Going To. Blech!!! On the positive side, I'm getting to know my colleagues very well and through them I am exploring the possibilities within the proffession, of which there seem to be many. I'm happy to be collecting the experience and making the contacts. (Contacts are EVERYTHING in the Austrian professional world). So, I think I'll go write that test... and meet my fellow teachers at the wine festival this evening... all in a days' work!