Talking About the Future (Intermediate-Advanced)

Practice on Your Own

• Do you remember how to talk about time, days, and dates? Do some review if necessary.
• How does one talk about the future in the language you are studying? What do you need to remember? Is there a future verb tense that you need to conjugate correctly? Do you need to include a word or phrase that indicates the time, such as “tomorrow,” “next year,” etc.? Are there differences depending on how far in the future an event will happen?
  • Depending on the language and what aspects you have or haven’t learned yet, this worksheet can be adapted to focus on what you most need to practice.
• Practice talking about the future out loud. Describe what you will do later today, tomorrow, this weekend, this summer, when you graduate, etc.
• Also practice saying what other people will do in the future. What will your sibling study in college? Where will your parents go on vacation? How will your friend celebrate their birthday? Feel free to make things up as well.
• Practice saying what you or others will NOT do as well.
• Keep practicing throughout the week. Talk to yourself about what you will or won’t do this evening or tomorrow morning.

Practice in Conversation Session

• You may do a number of different activities to practice talking about the future. Possibilities include:
  • Talking about your plans for the evening or weekend
  • Convincing a friend who is worried about getting their work done to go to a concert with you
  • Sharing how you imagine your life 10 years from now, using both positive and negative sentences
  • Describing a real or imaginary vacation that you are planning
  • Talking about your class schedule for next semester, including days and times
  • Describing how you or a friend will celebrate a birthday or holiday
  • Making up a story about what someone will do in the future (perhaps based on a photo or drawing)
  • Role play planning a party with friends. Who will buy the drinks? When will you cook the food? Who will not be able to attend?
  • And there are many other possibilities…
• You may be asked to listen to your conversation partner or another student tell about their plans and then repeat that information to someone else.
• To practice comprehension, your conversation partner may say different sentences or paragraphs and ask you to identify when the events take place (past, present, or future).