Presenting a, an and the to students

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Hi,

I have been using texts--" I live in a city, The city is called Delhi etc.-- to present the articles, A, An and The to students.
My students are still struggling with the use of the articles. ( Hindi, their mother tongue, does not have articles) .

Is there some other way I should be presenting the structure?
Can someone help please .

Thanks,

Arun

 

[Tdol]

Speakers can continue struggling for many years- my partner (Japanese speaker, did post-grad in the UK) still finds them difficult in writing, especially when 'the' is optional.

If you don't have articles in your first language and come across this, maybe the first/second mention use does sound like yadda yadda to them- it changes but for what reason? How about examples where 'the' is used to denote something specific and identifiable in the classroom or in their lives? That way they can see a use more clearly. Even simple things ike 'it's the green bag on the floor' might help them get the basic pattern for specific things.