This makes all the difference!

Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" is one of the most-read poems in the English language. It may also be misunderstood by most. Is it about the self-asserting choice of direction at a crossroads? Or is it, when looking back ages and ages hence, the imagined version of events that matters, whichever road you take?

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. (Robert Frost)

Both roads are there, and they appear about the same. The thing is, of course, that way leads on to way. In life, one thing always leads to another, so you won't return to those exact same crossroads. Looking back, you might try and find meaning in your choices, but it is what it is on the road taken. Frost's traveller picks one road, feeling sorry he can't travel both – in which case, he might have compared the two.

Starting on the right foot

But what if you could see past the first bends in the road and make a more informed decision? At the crossroads of introducing either the Present Simple or the Present Continuous first, hardly anyone considers the latter. It's undeniably the road less taken. But with my students, I travelled both and saw what happened.

And here's the thing: most coursebooks have students start on the exception instead of the rule – on Simple instead of Continuous. How does that make any sense? I'd say the exception is the exact opposite of what students need first. So I retraced my steps and decided to take an approach that shows the typical pattern of English. It makes all the difference.

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The One Rule approach centres on the typical pattern of English, and that makes a huge difference - all the difference.

👉🏻 Hi, I'm Leon, and I help English language teachers discover how a ONE RULE approach to grammar ✔EMPOWERS them & their students, ✔SAVES TIME better spent on serious fun with the language, and ✔BOOSTS motivation & results. ONE RULE, to rule them all...