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Who makes the sounds in movies? Present simple vs present continuous at work

This A1 ESL lesson plan contrasts the present simple vs the present continuous: what people do at work and what they're doing now.

Grammar
The present simple for jobs, routines and facts (She makes sounds for movies.), the present continuous for now (Right now she's walking.), What does she do? or What's she doing?, and signal words.
Topic
Foley artists, who make everyday sounds for movies, at a studio in Brooklyn, with words such as footsteps, sound effect, gravel and prop.
Activities
A studio-tour sign to read, a phone call and a podcast to hear, self-checking drills, a chat for a podcast, mime and sound-effect games, and a post to write.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Hello, movie sounds!

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: in a sound studioVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and chooseChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: meet a Foley artist

    • Look at the photo: a Foley studioPictureUnlock
    • Read the sign: meet a Foley artistReal-life documentTry it
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the right answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: what's that sound?

    • Listen to Liam and PriyaListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the right answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to Liam's podcastListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: she makes, she's making

    • Study the scheme: every day or right now?Grammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the right wordChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: every day or right now?Fill in the gapsTry it
    • Fill in the table: every day and right nowFill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the right sentenceQuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: your day, right now

    • Choose the right replies: Liam's podcastChatTry it
    • Open a box and answerOpen the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Put the words in the right orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Write a post: a person I knowWriting, checked by the teacherUnlock
    • Record a podcast: a person and a jobSpeaking, checked by the teacherUnlock

25 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Vocabulary

10 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+7 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • sound effect
  • footsteps
  • coconut
  • gravel
  • pit
  • actor
  • prop

Grammar: present simple vs present continuous

In a sound studio, both tenses have work to do: a Foley artist makes sounds for movies every day, and right now she's walking in the gravel pit. Comparing the present simple and the present continuous there, learners pick the tense from what the sentence is about, ask about a job or about now, and spot the signal words.

She makes sounds. Right now she's walking!

Present simple: jobs, routines and facts. Present continuous: now.

Jobs and routines, or right now?

The present simple is for a job, a routine or a fact: Tess makes sounds for movies. She records footsteps every day. The present continuous is for this moment: Right now she's walking in the gravel pit. Look! Felix is knocking on the door.

Present simple: jobs, routines, facts

  • Tess makes sounds for movies.
  • She records footsteps every day.
  • Does she wear boots? – Yes, she does.

Present continuous: now

  • Right now she's walking in the gravel pit.
  • Look! Felix is knocking on the door.
  • He isn't eating. He's making a sound!

The forms: do and does, or am, is and are + -ing

Present simple negatives and questions take don't, doesn't, do or does, and the verb stays plain: She doesn't make music. Does she make sounds? In the present continuous, the helper is am, is or are: She isn't walking. Is she walking?

Present simple: every person

WhoYes ✓No ✗Question ?
II make sounds.I don't make music.Do I make sounds?
youYou make sounds.You don't make music.Do you make sounds?
he, she, itShe makes sounds.She doesn't make music.Does she make sounds?
weWe make sounds.We don't make music.Do we make sounds?
theyThey make sounds.They don't make music.Do they make sounds?

Present continuous: every person

WhoYes ✓No ✗Question ?
II am walking. / I'm walking.I'm not walking.Am I walking?
youYou are walking. / You're walking.You aren't walking.Are you walking?
he, she, itShe is walking. / She's walking.She isn't walking.Is she walking?
weWe are walking. / We're walking.We aren't walking.Are we walking?
theyThey are walking. / They're walking.They aren't walking.Are they walking?

What does she do? What's she doing?

What does she do? asks about a job: She's a Foley artist. What's she doing? asks about now: She's walking in the gravel pit. Each question keeps its own helper, so What does she doing? and What is she do? are both wrong.

Two questions: a job or now?

QuestionIt asks about…Answer
What does she do?her jobShe's a Foley artist. She makes sounds for movies.
What's she doing?nowShe's walking in the gravel pit.
What do you do?your job or schoolI'm a student. I study English.
What are you doing?nowI'm reading a book.

do + verb, but am / is / are + verb-ing

Don't mix them! What does she do? What is she doing? (Not: What does she doing? What is she do?) I work every day. I'm working right now. (Not: I am work.)

Signal words: every day or at the moment

Time words often settle the tense. Every day, every morning, on Mondays, usually and never go with the present simple; now, right now, at the moment, Look! and Listen! go with the present continuous: Listen! Felix is making a horse sound.

Present simple

  • every day, every morning
  • on Mondays, on Sundays
  • usually, always, often, never

Present continuous

  • now, right now
  • at the moment
  • Look! Listen!

Common mistakes

  • She is making sounds for movies every day.

    She makes sounds for movies every day.

    a job, every day → present simple

  • Right now she walks on sand.

    Right now she's walking on sand.

    right now → am / is / are + verb-ing

  • What does she doing?

    What is she doing?

    verb-ing → is / are, not does

  • I am work in a studio.

    I work in a studio.

    present simple: no am / is / are

More lessons on this grammar: Present simple vs present continuous lessons and exercises · Present simple lessons and exercises · Present continuous lessons and exercises

Try the present simple and continuous exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

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What's in the lesson

  • 11 auto-checked exercises
  • 3 games
  • 2 teacher-checked tasks
  • 1 real-life document
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • say what people do as a job or every day: Tess makes sounds for movies. She records footsteps every day.
  • say what is happening right now, and what isn't: Look! Felix is knocking on the door. He isn't eating.
  • ask What does she do? about a job and What's she doing? about now, and answer both
  • pick the tense from signal words such as every morning, usually, at the moment and Listen!

Lesson 25 opens Jobs people do, the seventh unit of English A1.2 · Out and About. It puts two known tenses side by side: the present simple with he and she from lesson 1 (She wears a red shirt.) and the present continuous from lessons 7 and 22 (It's raining. What's it doing?). Lesson 26 moves on to where people work. A Foley artist's job needs both tenses in one breath: she makes sounds every day, and right now she's making one.

Students spin a wheel of warm-up questions and learn ten studio words, from record to prop, with pictures and audio. They read a studio-tour sign about Foley artists, with pits of sand and gravel, coconut halves that sound like a horse's feet and Jack Foley's live sounds for Show Boat in 1929, then hear Liam's call from the studio (an AI-voiced dialogue) and his podcast intro. After the scheme come four exercises, checked as students answer, among them a table with each action in both tenses. In the speaking chapter, students answer Liam's podcast questions in a chat, then open boxes to mime actions and make sound effects for a partner to guess.

Homework begins with two self-checking tasks, sentences to put in order and studio words to match. Students then write a post about someone they know, with what he or she does every day and is doing right now, and record a short podcast about a person's job, both for the teacher to review.

Grammar:
present simple vs present continuous · What does she do? · What's she doing? · every day / right now
Topic:
Foley artists · movie sounds · sound effects · jobs · Jack Foley

Teaching tips

  • Start two columns on the board, every day and right now, and fill them from the sign and the call: They watch the movie on a big screen on one side, Now she's walking in gravel! on the other.
  • Play the Foley box as a guessing game: one student makes a sound with a pen, a book or a bag while the others close their eyes and ask Are you knocking on the door?
  • Pair every job with a right now: name a job, like a cook, and students make two sentences about one person, He makes pizza every day and Right now he's playing soccer.
  • Swap the roles of the podcast chat: after it, students host their own short show in pairs, asking What do you do? and What are you doing right now? before the homework recording.

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The whole course: English A1.2 · Out and About

32 lessons that pick up where English A1.1 ends, in simple American English, from the present simple with he and she to was and were. Eight units cover shopping, the weather, getting around, celebrations, health, animals and nature, jobs and weekends. Pictures and definitions replace translations, and the practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Shopping

    clothes and colors, he and she in the present simple, sizes and prices, paying in a store

    1. Lesson 1What does she wear on Aloha Friday?Present simple with he, she and it
    2. Lesson 2A basket on wheels?Present simple negatives with don't and doesn't
    3. Lesson 3What size are these boots?What questions and a pair of
    4. Lesson 4Can I try it on? The Santa Fe Indian MarketRequests and permission with Can I and Can you

  2. Unit 2 Weather and seasons

    the weather, seasons and months, the present continuous, how often it rains or snows

    1. Lesson 5Is the Windy City windy?Weather adjectives with It's
    2. Lesson 6Does it rain in the desert?Yes/no questions with does
    3. Lesson 7Baseball at midnight?The present continuous for now
    4. Lesson 8Is it always windy on Mount Washington?Adverbs of frequency and their place

  3. Unit 3 Getting around

    transport, timetables, where places are, tickets with want and need

    1. Lesson 9How do you get to work?By + transport, take the bus and on foot
    2. Lesson 10What time does the ferry leave?Wh- questions with does
    3. Lesson 11Where's the streetcar stop?Between, behind, in front of and across from
    4. Lesson 12Do you need a ticket?Want and need with a noun

  4. Unit 4 Celebrations

    dates and holidays, in and on, party invitations, object pronouns

    1. Lesson 13Why is it called Juneteenth?Ordinal numbers for saying dates
    2. Lesson 14Never on a Sunday? The Rose ParadeIn, on and at for dates and times
    3. Lesson 15Come to our Lunar New Year party!Some and any with plural nouns
    4. Lesson 16Thank you, teacher!Object pronouns me, you, him, her, it, us and them

  5. Unit 5 Healthy me

    the body, how often, at the pharmacy, steps with first and then

    1. Lesson 17Does your back hurt?Hurt and hurts with parts of the body
    2. Lesson 18How often do you walk?How often questions and expressions of frequency
    3. Lesson 19What's the matter?Have and has for health problems
    4. Lesson 20Clean hands in five stepsSequence words with imperatives

  6. Unit 6 Animals and nature

    there is and there are, what animals are doing, parks, a, an and the

    1. Lesson 21Which frog sings its name?There is and there are for what's in a place
    2. Lesson 22What's the bear doing now?Present continuous questions and negatives
    3. Lesson 23Are there any horses on the beach?Questions with is there and are there any
    4. Lesson 24Where do the baby turtles go?A, an and the for first and second mention

  7. Unit 7 Jobs people do

    jobs and workplaces, the present simple and continuous, job interviews, possessive pronouns

    1. Lesson 25 · you're hereWho makes the sounds in movies?Present simple vs present continuous
    2. Lesson 26Nurses on horses?At, in and on with workplaces
    3. Lesson 27Can you be a lifeguard?Verbs with prepositions
    4. Lesson 28Whose hat is this?Possessive pronouns from mine to theirs

  8. Unit 8 Weekend stories and plans

    was and were, how long and how tall, and, but and or, camping food

    1. Lesson 29Why do we have two days off?Was and were, the past of be
    2. Lesson 30How long is a blue whale?How + adjective questions about size
    3. Lesson 31A cow made of butter?And, but and or for joining ideas
    4. Lesson 32What do you need for s'mores?Containers and quantities with of

Questions about this lesson

What's the difference between the present simple and the present continuous?
The present simple is for jobs, habits and facts, and the present continuous is for what's happening now. She makes sounds for movies. She records footsteps every day. Right now she's walking in the gravel pit. The forms differ as well: the present simple is the plain verb, with -s after he, she and it, while the present continuous needs am, is or are and an -ing verb.
When do you use the present simple vs the present continuous?
Let the time words in the sentence decide: every day, every morning, on Mondays and usually go with the present simple, while now, right now, at the moment, Look! and Listen! go with the present continuous. Priya does yoga every morning. At the moment, I'm recording my podcast. On edio.ai, the gap-fill from the A1 lesson Who makes the sounds in movies? gives a signal word in nearly every sentence.
What does "What do you do?" mean?
What do you do? asks about someone's job or studies, so the answer is in the present simple: I'm a student. I study English. He's a cook. He makes pizza every day. It doesn't ask about this moment. For that, the question is What are you doing?, with a present continuous answer: I'm reading a book.
Should you use the present simple or the present continuous with "right now"?
With right now, use the present continuous: Right now she's walking on sand, not Right now she walks on sand. The reverse slip happens too: a job done every day takes the present simple, so it's She makes sounds for movies every day. The chat in the A1 lesson Who makes the sounds in movies? on edio.ai sets He plays soccer in the park right now as a wrong reply.
Is it "What does she doing?" or "What is she doing?"
Say What is she doing?, because an -ing verb works with am, is or are, never with does. Does needs the plain verb instead: What does she do? Mixing the two gives two common mistakes, What does she doing? and What is she do? The same rule fixes I am work in a studio: it's I work in a studio, or I'm working for right now.
How do I teach the present simple and present continuous to beginners?
Describe one person in both tenses, so the contrast is about time rather than new words: She makes sounds for movies. Right now she's walking in gravel. Then add the signal words and the two questions, What does she do? and What's she doing? In Who makes the sounds in movies?, an A1 lesson on edio.ai, a studio sign and a phone call come before the scheme, and four drills follow it.
What's a good game for practicing the present continuous?
Mime and guess is a simple one: a player acts out an action without words, and the others ask Are you swimming? or What are you doing? until someone gets it. In a sound version, the player makes a noise with things on a desk, like a Foley artist, and the class asks Are you knocking on the door? This lesson's open boxes include both games.
How do you practice the present simple and present continuous one-to-one?
Talk about people you both know, with a job question and a now question for each: What does your sister do? What's she doing right now? Is your best friend working right now? The chat in this lesson needs no partner: a friend asks questions for his podcast, and the student picks replies like No, he isn't. He's playing soccer in the park. The open boxes then make a real conversation.
What's good homework for practicing the present simple and present continuous?
A short post about someone you know needs both tenses: what the person does as a rule and what he or she is doing now. On Saturdays, she works at Two Cups Café. Today is Saturday, so right now she's making coffee at the café. For Who makes the sounds in movies? on edio.ai, students write that post and record a podcast about a person's job, after two self-checking drills.
Are there interactive exercises for the present simple and present continuous?
Yes: gap-fills and chats with instant feedback help learners choose the tense. Four parts of Who makes the sounds in movies?, an A1 lesson on edio.ai, play on this page with no account: a studio-tour sign about Foley artists, a phone call from the studio, a gap-fill that asks every day or right now, and a chat with questions for a podcast about jobs. The fill-in table and the other drills are locked.
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