درسنامه دیدگاه

Ok welcome to the point-of-view mini-stories for obsessive behavior. Let’s get started. Same story, now with three different versions. First version, “twenty years ago”.

Twenty years ago, there was a woman named Kathy. Kathy always obsessed about English. She constantly worried about taking the TOFEL test. When she worried she always rubbed her hands together. They were always chafed.

Her friend Gabriel was the opposite. He always opted to remain relaxed. He always reprimanded Kathy and said, “Kathy stop obsessing about English, damn it!” Kathy never stood up to Gabriel. She just said, “I’m sorry, don’t be mad”. Then she said, “but let’s go to the library now and study English please”.

Gabriel always nixed this idea. He’d say, “hell no! we’re not studying English”. Kathy felt unsettled, but she said, hesitantly, “um…ok”. However, in her mind, she would silently start to review English grammar. Then she always felt much better.

Alright let’s do the next version. The next version will start with “since last year”, ok.

Ok, there was a woman named Kathy. Since last year she has obsessed about English. She has constantly worried about taking the TOFEL test. When she’s worried, she has always rubbed her hands together. They have been chafed every day since last year.

Her friend Gabriel has been the opposite. He has always opted to remain relaxed. He has reprimanded Kathy every time she worries and has said, “stop obsessing about English, damn it!” Kathy has never stood up to Gabriel. She has always said, “I’m sorry, don’t be mad at me”. Then she’s always said, “but let’s go to the library now and study English, please”.

Gabriel has always nixed this idea. He’s always said, “hell, no! We’re not studying English”. And Kathy has always felt unsettled. And she’s always said hesitantly, “ok”. However, in her head, she has started to review English grammar every time, then she has always felt much better.

Ok, now did you notice I used the word “always” a lot in that version? always… always… always, why? Why did I always say “always”? Well, it’s because I’m talking about something that started in the past and has continued until now. So I wanna say always because I wanna make it clear that I’m not talking about one specific time, right?

I have a conversation here, “Kathy stop obsessing English, damn it!” right? He says this, she says that. Well, if this only happened one time in the past, we would use the simple past, right? I would say Gabriel said, “stop obsessing about English”. Kathy said, “I’m sorry”.

But this is a conversation that has happened many times. They always have the same conversation since last year. So ten month ago, they would have this conversation. And then five month ago, they would use the same conversation again, right?

So always, almost every day, starting one year ago until now, they’re always having this same conversation.

So that’s why I say has said, has always said. Always makes it more clear that it’s not something that happened one time; that it’s happening repeatedly, has happened repeatedly, starting last year until now.

If it was only one time, it would be past tense but since it has happened many times, starting last year until now; then we can say, has said, has said, has done, etc.

Ok. Last version, it begins with “next year”.

There is a girl named Kathy. Next year, she will always obsess about English, because next year she has to take the TOEFL test. Now, when she’ll worry, she’ll always rub her hands together. They’re always going to be chafed.

Her friend Gabriel will be the opposite. He’ll always opt to remain relaxed. He’ll always reprimand Kathy and say, “Kathy, stop obsessing about English, damn it!” Kathy will never stand up to Gabriel. She’ll just say, “I’m sorry, don’t be mad”. Then she’ll say “but, let’s go to the library now and study English, please”.

Gabriel will always nix this idea. He’ll always say, “hell no! We’re not studying English”. Kathy will feel unsettled, but she’ll say, hesitantly, “ok”. However, in her mind, she’ll silently begin to review English grammar, then she’ll feel much better.

Ok, those are our three versions. Please pause now. Try to tell each version. So twenty years ago, since last year and next year, three versions. If you can’t do it, it’s ok. Listen to one version again. Listen many times then pause, try to tell that version and then do it again with the second version and then again with the third one.

Just listen, listen, listen. Listening is the most important thing. Do not become worried and stressed about perfect grammar. Don’t obsess about grammar. Don’t be like Kathy, right? Don’t obsess about correctness, don’t obsess about being perfect. That is not the purpose of this lesson.

Listening is the number one thing you should do. If you feel relaxed, then ok, pause and try to tell each version yourself. If you feel stressed, don’t do that, just listen.

Ok, that’s all. I’ll see you next time. Bye-bye.