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Podcast 1  - Welcome to the podcast and present perfect v past simple

8/25/2016

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In today’s podcast, I talked about what to expect in future English Chat podcasts. I also chatted a little about myself and explained when to use the past simple and the present perfect.
So, let’s have a look at the grammar.

The Past Simple


“I first started teaching in 2002.”
‘My first job was in Sydney. I taught English there for six months.’
“Then, in 2003 I moved to Japan. I lived there for three years.”
In these sentences, I used the past simple to talk about completed actions that took place in the past.

The Present Perfect


“I’ve lived in eleven countries.”
“I’ve done a lot of travelling.”

Here, I used the present perfect because I am describing experiences that I have had . I don’t mention a specific time in the past. All the listener knows is that they happened at some time in my life.
One of the easiest ways to remember when to use the past simple or present perfect is to think about whether the time period you are talking about is finished (yesterday, last year, in 2002) or unfinished (this year, today, since 2002, in my life). With finished time we use the past simple and for unfinished time we use the present perfect.

Compare these sentence pairs:

I saw the new Star Wars movie yesterday. (Finished Time / Past Simple)
I have seen the new Star Wars movie (at some time in my life). (Unfinished Time / Present perfect)

I visited Spain last year. (Finished Time / Past Simple)
I have visited Spain three times (in my life). (Unfinished Time / Present perfect)

For more information about the present perfect click here.
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    About the podcast

    I've created these mini podcasts to help students improve their grammar, learn some new words and practise their listening.

    The podcast is available for downloading on iTunes.

    On the earlier podcasts, I chat a bit, talk about different areas of grammar and vocabulary, and sometimes do interviews. The level of the English in the podcasts is around Intermediate (B1).

    On the newer podcasts, I read my graded readers aloud. This is a great way to practise listening skills and improve pronunciation.
     
    ​ If you have any grammar or vocabulary questions, please send me a message on Soundcloud or Instagram. You can also email me at snowowlenglish@gmail.com . I'll do my best to answer your questions during the podcast on a special slot called Question Time.

    Enjoy the podcast and good luck with your studies!  :- )

    Also, please leave a review. I'd love to hear what you think.

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