There are difficulties in understanding the proper present tense to use because of the disappointment in applying French grammatical rules to English. Many new speakers become aware of the need to accept English as having a way of expressing the now and what is done on a regular basis. There is a clear need to know that difference so that the new speaker will be able to separate the progressive voice from he present simple one
Often the new speaker will translate from his language and just use the present tense in all situations. English people use the continuous or progressive voice in talking about what is done now or will be done in the immediate future as opposed to using the present tense all the time. There is a grey zone in interpreting what the "immediate future" means to the new learner and here is where the teacher has to be articulate giving separate examples in order to minimise any overlap in the understand and thence confusion
To facilitate understanding the teacher should outline that there are two basic present tenses one the simple and one continuous or progressive. There second tense can be modified with an infinitive afterwards so as to convey something that has been programmed for the future. The gerund and infinitive form of a verb suggests that some sort of plan was made earlier before the event occurs and there is no assurance that the event will actually occur. This has to be clear to the student.
The present simple is used to relate something that occurs habitually or something that is a rule. So a person who smokes two packages of cigarettes a day does so on a regular basis just as a person who wakes up at seven every morning. These are habitual things. A rule would be something like: 'People usually wear lighter clothes when the weather gets warmer.' The progressive voice is used when talking about what is happening at the moment the speaker is talking or is going to occur in the near future like: "I am going home after school." So there is a clear distinction between the two uses.
