Week 33 – Life experiences 1

Week 33 – Life experiences 1 (Present Perfect extension, A2)

Theme: Talking more about life experiences (how many times, recent experiences) and giving simple details.

Main grammar & functions:

• Present Perfect with ever / never (review) and how many times:
  • Have you ever…?, I’ve been there three times.
• Present Perfect with recent adverbs (light): just, already, yet:
  • I’ve just arrived., I’ve already seen it., I haven’t finished yet.
• Linking Present Perfect (experience) to Past Simple for simple details.

CEFR link:

A2 → A2+: Can talk about a range of life experiences and give some simple details, using Present Perfect with common adverbs (CEFR: “Can describe experiences and events in simple terms, using a limited range of grammatical structures.”)

1. Lesson objectives (for students)

By the end of the week, students can:

1. Ask and answer Have you ever…? questions about travel, food, and activities.
2. Say how many times they have done something:
   • I’ve been to Lviv twice., She’s seen that film three times.
3. Use just / already / yet in simple Present Perfect sentences.
4. Give Past Simple details after a Present Perfect experience sentence.

2. Grammar focus (with Ukrainian‑speaker notes)

a) Review – Present Perfect for experience

Form:

• have / has + past participle (V3):
  • I / you / we / they have been / have seen.
  • He / she has been / has seen.

Use for experience (no specific time):

• I’ve been to Poland.
• She has never flown in a plane.
• Have you ever eaten sushi?

Re‑activate this quickly from Week 24 before adding new elements.

b) How many times? – frequency of experiences

Question pattern:

• How many times have you…?
  • How many times have you been abroad?
  • How many times have you seen this film?

Answers:

• I’ve been there once / twice / three times / many times.
• She’s visited London twice.
• We’ve eaten sushi many times.

Ukrainian issues:

• Word order:
  • How many times you have been…? → How many times have you been…?

Rule for students:

Have + subject + V3 in questions.

c) just / already / yet (recent experiences)

Introduce lightly with common patterns.

Form & position:

• just and already – go between have/has and the past participle:
  • I’ve just arrived.
  • She’s already finished her homework.

• yet – used in negative sentences and questions, at the end:
  • I haven’t finished yet.
  • Have you finished yet?

Meaning:

• just – a very short time ago.
• already – earlier than expected.
• yet – until now (in negatives/questions).

Ukrainian issues:

• Position errors: I have arrived just vs I’ve just arrived.
• Mixing with Past Simple – acceptable sometimes, but keep clear models:
  • Present Perfect + just/already/yet in this unit.

d) Linking Present Perfect (experience) with Past Simple (details)

Pattern in conversation:

• Q: Have you ever been to Italy? (Present Perfect)
• A: Yes, I have. I went there last year. (Past Simple for when and what)

Encourage students to:

1. Answer with Present Perfect first (Yes, I have / No, I haven’t).
2. Then add 1–2 Past Simple sentences for details.

3. Vocabulary sets

Experience topics:

• travel: be abroad, visit another country/city, travel by plane/train, stay in a hotel, sleep in a tent
• activities: try Japanese/Chinese/Italian food, ride a horse, climb a mountain, go camping, go to a concert, meet a famous person
• culture/media: see a film in English, read a book in English, speak to a foreigner, use English at work

Frequency & time words:

• once, twice, three times, many times, never
• recently, lately (optional recognition), just, already, yet

4. Lesson skeleton (60–90 minutes)

1) Warm‑up – Have you ever…? bingo (10–15 min)

• Prepare or quickly create a 3×3 bingo grid with experiences (been abroad, eaten sushi, flown in a plane, etc.).
• Students circulate and ask:
  • "Have you ever been abroad?"
  • If yes: they write a name in that square.
  • First to get 3 in a row shouts "Bingo!"
• This re‑activates Have you ever…? and irregular participles.

2) Presentation – How many times have you…? (15–20 min)

1. On the board, write some questions and example answers:

• • How many times have you been to Lviv? – I’ve been there three times.
  • How many times has she seen that film? – She’s seen it twice.

2. Underline word order in questions: How many times + have/has + subject + V3?
3. Controlled practice:
   • Students complete questions from prompts and then ask/answer in pairs:
     • (you / be / abroad) → "How many times have you been abroad?"
     • (you / eat / sushi) → "How many times have you eaten sushi?"

3) Presentation – just / already / yet (15–20 min)

1. Present mini‑dialogues:

• • A: Where is Oksana?

B: She has just left.

• • A: Do you want coffee?

B: No, thanks. I’ve already had coffee.

• • A: Have you finished your homework yet?

B: No, I haven’t finished it yet.

2. Highlight position:
   • have/has + just/already + V3
   • have/has + not + V3 + yet

3. Controlled written practice:
   • Students complete sentences choosing just / already / yet and correct position.

4) Mixed practice – Experiences + details (15–20 min)

Students practise moving from Present Perfect to Past Simple.

1. In pairs, students ask and answer Have you ever…? and How many times have you…? questions from a worksheet.
2. For each Yes, the listener asks one detail question in Past Simple:
   • When did you go?
   • Where did you go?
   • What did you do there?
3. Example full exchange:
   • A: Have you ever been to the sea?
   • B: Yes, I have. I’ve been there three times. I went there last summer. I stayed in a hotel and swam every day.

5) Freer practice – My experience poster (15–20 min)

Students summarise a few of their experiences in a mini‑poster or paragraph.

1. Students choose 3–5 experiences from prompts (travel, food, activities, English use).
2. For each experience they write:
   • 1 Present Perfect sentence (experience):
     • "I’ve been to Poland three times."
   • 1–2 Past Simple sentences (details):
     • "I went there last year. I visited Krakow and Warsaw."
3. They decorate or structure their notes like a "My Life Experiences" poster.
4. In small groups, students present one or two experiences each.

5. Homework / revision ideas

Choose 1–2:

1. Experience paragraph
   • Students write a short text (8–10 sentences) about 3–4 important experiences in their life, using:
     • Present Perfect (I’ve been…, I’ve never…)
     • Past Simple for time & details (I went…, I saw…).

2. Questionnaire creation
   • Students prepare 5 Have you ever…? and How many times have you…? questions to use in the next lesson for a class survey.

3. Irregular verb practice
   • Students extend their irregular verbs list, focusing on common participles used with Present Perfect (been, gone, seen, eaten, flown, etc.) and write 1 example sentence for each.