How To Talk About An Experience In English
how to talk about an experience in
English let’s jump right in to six three
this is the formula you need to talk
about any first experience we are
speaking in English there are many first
experiences first time buying a car you
first day at work
your first time eating a pizza your
first trip abroad or your first family
vacation these are all first experiences
now the first part of our equation is -
and this involves telling when the
experience happened so your first
sentence will be giving the time period
or year the experience happened and your
second sentence will compare the time of
the experience with another time or
event now let’s see how this is done
exactly so the first one we have is our
first time buying a car we can say I
bought my first car about 20 years ago
so what happens this answers the time
period because I said 20 years ago the
second sentence I had just entered my
third year of college when I decided to
buy it second sentence comparing the
time so I compared the time to my third
year of college the next one when we’re
going to our first day of work we can
say I started working at my current job
about 15 years ago once again giving the
time 15 years ago
second sentence my first day of work was
exactly a month after I graduated from
university so now I am comparing the
time by saying it was exactly a month
after I graduated I’m giving some
context or a connection with another
period of time all right the next one my
first time eating pizza the first time I
ever had pizza was in 1995 so again
giving the time first sentence it was
right after I
moved to New York City with my family
comparing the time after I moved to New
York now one thing you’ll see right here
I said right after right after is an
expression we use to mean
e mediately following some action ok
immediately following an action so for
example I can say right after I got home
I ate dinner or I can say right after I
got home I watched my favorite TV show
it means II immediately okay let’s keep
going
alright the next one is traveling abroad
in 1998 I travel to Spain with my high
school friends so I gave the time or the
year 1998 the trip was about six weeks
before our graduation ceremony
now for the second sentence I’ve
compared the trip was about six weeks
before our graduation a I’ve given the
comparison for the next one family
vacation my first family vacation was to
Disney World when I was 5 years old I’ve
given the time I was 5 years old at that
time it was right before I started
kindergarten now I’ve compared by saying
right before I started kindergarten now
remember in the previous example we had
right after now we’re saying right
before which just means immediately
before something happens okay
immediately before something okay all
right so let’s keep going now the second
part of our equation is the number six
and we’re gonna use that part to explain
three details about what happened so for
the first sentence we’re going to tell
the first part of the experience for the
second sentence we’re going to give a
detail about the first part for the
third sentence we’re going to tell the
second part of the experience for the
fourth sentence we’re going to give
a detail about the second part for the
fifth sentence tell the third part of
the experience and number six we’re
going to give a detail about the third
part now let’s see this in action so for
the first one we’re talking about my
first car the first time I bought a car
so this is what it looks like in
preparing to buy my car the first thing
I did was go online to a popular car
website so now I have told the first
part so I said the first thing I did
what did I do
I went online to a popular car website
let’s keep going my goal was to compare
the prices and features of various cars
so I’ve answered the second one giving a
detail about my on-line experience what
did I do
I compared the prices and features ok
let’s keep going
then I found a Honda Accord Coupe that I
liked this was the second thing that I
did it was black and only had 20,000
miles on it the fourth thing giving a
detail so once again the third thing
what did I do
I found a Honda Accord and I gave
details about it only had 20,000 miles
so the car I found only had 20,000 miles
let’s keep going the fifth sentence
finally I went to the dealership near my
house to see the car in person number
five and number six I was very pleased
with the car when I saw it so I bought
it my sixth sentence so what happens I
went to see the car in person and I was
pleased with the car that is the detail
let’s keep going next first day at work
the first thing that happened was when I
walked through the door the CEO of the
company greeted me with a smile first
sentence the CEO of the company greeted
me with a smile now let’s go to the
detail he is a very tall and handsome
man so now I’m giving details about my
CEO so this is the detail
number three then the next major thing
that happened was we had a staff meeting
and I was assigned my first project so
we had a staff meeting and I was
assigned my first project that’s number
three let’s get the detail now it was my
first day but they still gave me a big
project to work on this is the fourth
sentence now the next sentence finally
the last big thing I remember happening
was right before going home in the
evening my coworker invited me to go out
to dinner with her and our other
co-workers all right so we’ve told the
third part what happened my coworker
invited me to go out to dinner okay now
we have to give the detail so the last
sentence is so we went to a restaurant
that was right around the corner from
our office so I gave details about where
we went to dinner this is my sixth
sentence let’s keep going to the next
example my first time eating pizza when
we arrived in New York the first thing
we did was look for a place to eat so
for the first sentence was the first
thing we did we looked for a place to
eat now for the detail second sentence
it had been a long trip so we all were
very hungry so why are we looking
because we were very hungry that’s the
detail next then my dad spotted a small
pizza shop on the corner of the street
we were on so what happened next
my dad spotted a small pizza shop now
let me explain this term very quickly
the term spotted let’s go this way right
here spotted just means to see suddenly
to see suddenly let’s take care of that
why really quickly M L to see suddenly
he was looking for something and
suddenly he spotted or he saw the small
pizza shop so that covers our third
sentence now the detail from the outside
it looked like a hole in the wall but
the
inside turn out to be quite nice that’s
our fourth sentence and what happened I
described it as a hole in the wall
now this is an expression it’s very
popular in the English language this
expression actually means a small or
dingy place okay a small dingy place
something that is not inviting that
doesn’t look good from the outside okay
hole in the wall now let’s keep going
finally we sat down and each ordered a
slice of pizza from the menu so the next
thing we did was we sat down and we
ordered a slice of pizza now let’s give
the detail
I ordered the veggie supreme pizza and
it was amazing so what’s the detail
I ordered the veggie supreme pizza and
it was amazing all right let’s keep
going next road trip or trip my first
trip abroad the first few days of our
trip were spent doing tours around the
city this is the first sentence what did
we do we did tours around the city now
we need details the tours took us around
the 15 major tourist spots in Spain so
the detail is we saw the 15 major
tourist spots in Spain okay the third
sentence then during the second part of
our trip our tour guide took us to the
best restaurant in the city so what
happened here we went to the best
restaurant in the city this is the third
sentence and the second thing that
happened now we need the detail the food
was even better than we had anticipated
so I’m talking about the food so I can
say the food was even better than we had
anticipated
now this term right here anticipated
just means expected okay to expect
something so we expected it to be good
food but it was even more than we
expected okay so our fourth sentence is
taken care of next finally on the last
night of our trip we went to get dance
lessons so fifth sentence is taken care
of
and the third action is we had dance
lessons now a detail we learned some of
the most popular Spanish dances so at
our dance lessons we learned some of the
most popular Spanish dances and that
covers our sixth sentence and let’s look
at family vacation our first family
vacation all right the first thing we
did when we got there was go on the
rides so the first sentence we’ve taken
care of what did we do we went on the
rides now we need a detail the second
sentence my parents rode all of the
rides with us so what’s the detail
my parents rode all of the rides with us
all right so number two is taken care of
and number three then we decided to go
to the water rides so we went to the
water rise that’s the second thing that
happened we all spent hours going on the
slides and playing in the water so we’ve
taken care of since it’s number three
and now we have the detail by saying
that we went on the slides and played in
the water let’s keep going to sentence
number five finally we explored the
animal park so we have a sentence number
five what do we do we explored the
animal park now we need a detail it was
filled with exotic animals that we could
see up close now it had exotic animals
now the term exotic actually just means
to come from a foreign land
okay come from a foreign land or country
from a foreign land or country okay all
right so let’s keep going now the next
and last part of our equation is the
number three we’re going to talk about
how you felt when it happened so for the
first sentence we need to state our
specific feeling then we need to tell
three reasons for that feeling and the
third sentence is restate our feeling
using another word so let’s get started
again talking about our first car as
soon as I bought the car I felt excited
so what did I do
my feeling
expressed my feeling I felt excited now
I must give three reasons the next
instance says I was only twenty years
old I used my own money and I had found
a reliable car so I have given my three
reasons I was twenty years old I used my
own money and I also had found a
reliable car so the three reasons
checked and last I need to restate my
feeling so the last ndon says I was on
cloud nine for the rest of the day so my
feeling was I was on cloud nine now this
expression cloud nine is add-on so again
this expression on cloud nine actually
just means to be extremely happy okay to
be extremely happy in English we say on
cloud nine so I am on cloud nine or he
or she worth on cloud nine okay let’s
keep going now we have first day at work
now for this one we can say after all of
this happened I felt very comfortable
with my job so I stated my feeling again
I felt very comfortable with my job now
we need the three reasons I had met the
CEO been given a major project and spent
quality time with my coworkers so the
three reasons they are met the CEO given
a major project and spent quality time
with my coworkers okay and the last
sentence restate my feeling I was very
happy after my first day of work so I
was very happy we restated again all
right next one my first time having
pizza first engine says after finishing
my pizza I felt completely satisfied so
the feeling is completely satisfied now
we need the three reasons the pizza had
all the ingredients I loved
it was big and the flavor was perfect so
my three reasons are all the ingredients
I loved it was big and the flavor was
perfect so we’ve told the three reasons
and finally restate my feeling I was a
happy camper that day so a happy camper
so I’ve done a third sentence now a
happy camper
this expression actually just means
someone who is very happy very simple
right someone who is very happy in
English we can say a happy camper she is
a happy camper they are happy campers
okay let’s keep going the next one
my first trip abroad the first sentence
says my friends and I had a ball on our
first trip abroad okay so my feeling we
had a ball now this expression actually
means to have lots of fun okay to have
lots of fun had a ball I had a ball we
had a ball you had a ball now I’m gonna
write I write here because the purple
covered it up a little bit so you don’t
get confused okay let’s keep going
we had toured famous Spanish landmarks
eight amazing Spanish cuisine and even
learned new Spanish dances now pause
real quick cuisine just means special
food or it can just mean food but it’s a
nicer way of saying a good type of food
or a good dish okay cuisine alright so
the second thing is three reasons and
what are our three reasons we toured
famous landmarks eight amazing Spanish
cuisine and learned new Spanish dances
okay so this one is done and last
restate your feelings say it was an
unforgettable trip so it was an
unforgettable trip okay
that means something I will always
remember okay something I will always
remember it means that it is very
special to me I feel that it is special
so this one is taken care of and let’s
look at first family vacation so the
first sentence again state our feeling
even though I was five years old I still
remember how happy I was during our
first vacation so I was very happy I’ve
stated my feeling now the three reasons
we had spent the whole day riding rides
playing in the water and looking at
animals so my three reasons are we spent
the whole day riding rides playing in
the water and also looking at animals
these things made me happy now the final
thing restating my feeling I felt like I
was on top of the world that day so
right here we have on top of the world
now this expression is very similar to
being on cloud nine so it just means to
feel very good to have no worries and no
concerns I feel like I’m on top of the
world okay let’s keep going
two six three this is the equation you
need to talk about any first experience
in English if you would like to keep
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