Talking about your Achievements in English Basic English Phrases
hi everybody welcome back to our weekly
live stream my name is Alisha and today
we’re going to talk about how to talk
about your achievements from 2019 with
past tense and present perfect tense and
past perfect tense this is our last live
stream for the year so I thought this
would be a nice topic to practice with
everybody so as you joined please don’t
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hello everybody in the chat I see many
people on YouTube
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thanks very much for joining us and
happy holidays wherever you are in the
world as I said today we’re going to
talk about how to talk about your
achievements Oh achievements means the
things that you were able to do like
your successes for the year so I thought
this would be a great livestream topic
to end 2019 so today as always I’ve
broken it into three different parts
it’s a little hard to see but we’ll zoom
in so don’t worry about that
so we’re going to start in just a moment
if you have not already do be sure to
like and share the video where wherever
you’re watching on YouTube or Facebook
if you’re watching on Instagram I can’t
see your comments live so please keep
that in mind so I am going to share the
video and then I am going to begin
today’s lesson so today I’m going to
break the topics I’m going to break the
grammar points into three parts I’m
going to look at using simple past tense
simple past tense to describe your
achievements and then we’re going to
practice present perfect tense present
perfect tense including present perfect
continuous and then I’m going to talk
about past perfect so we’ll do some
grammar review of the maybe most
requested grammar points from 2019 for
the year so let’s begin with simple past
tense first simple past tense a reminder
when do we use simple past tense so we
use simple past tense for actions that
started and ended in the past so I’ve
done this many times in live streams and
in lessons but just to give a
you’ll just to give kind of an image to
help you see the differences between
these grammar points if we imagine on a
timeline where here this star is now
this direction is the future and back
here is the past we can imagine simple
past tense is used to talk about an
action an activity whatever that started
in the past so if this X is my start
point and this is my end point or
whatever so the action started and ended
in the past everything happened before
the conversation yeah so there’s no
relationship to the present this is a
difference with the other grammar points
in this lesson so started and ended in
the past okay so let’s take a look then
at just some sample sentences that use
simple past tense to express an
achievement so for example this sentence
I created I created a website a website
for my company so this is just a sample
like a work achievements that you can
think about so a couple points here
first obviously the simple past verb
here I created I created so create is
the regular the infinitive form of the
verb in past tense it becomes created
created so created simple past as I said
is a good vocabulary word to use here I
want to mention and this is good for you
those of you who are like studying
English for interviews or studying
English for work or maybe you practice
writing resumes and so on your resume is
your work history by the way so when
you’re talking about your achievements
with words like this try to choose
specific words like created for example
instead of made so words like do or
make our very general but it’s a good
idea to be specific and choose
vocabulary words that kind of have some
punch to them so instead of I made a
website like I created a website so that
kind of shows that from zero to the
product you were in charge of it so this
is our first example another example
let’s change industries we built a house
for our client it’s a different industry
here however I’m using a different I’m
using a different verb obviously and
this is not a regular verb so a reminder
about simple past tense not all verbs
end in IDI
so regular verbs conjugate with this IDI
ending to make simple past tense build
however is not a regular verb ya build
becomes built in simple past tense so we
built a house for our clients we built a
house for our clients or we built houses
for our clients as well so please keep
in mind they’re like regular verbs that
end in E D in simple past tense and then
there are irregular verbs like a build
this case okay so your task then hard to
see here but your task for everybody
watching live or not is to describe
something you achieved in 2019 describe
something you achieved in 2019 so while
you’re thinking and while you’re typing
I will write a couple more example
sentences so here’s one we’ll change the
subject again she designed a hotel last
year she designed a hotel last year so
in this sentence my simple past tense
verb is this design and design design is
the infinitive form of the verb in
simple past tense it just takes the IDI
ending
is a regular verb she designed a hotel
last year so as I was talking about
earlier using design here is a little
more specific actually a lot more
specific than saying like she made a
hotel last year like what does that mean
so design is clear like what was she in
charge of the design of the hotel she
designed a hotel last year okay
some examples are coming in great Andrew
Andrew who says I improved my English
with the help of your chat oh that’s
great happy to hear that awesome
a hundred says I learned many phrasal
verbs fantastic great great great on
Facebook I don’t see any yet lots of
people saying hello great okay
fair on YouTube says I found out about
English class 101 this year great ah Xiu
says I created a YouTube channel great
great great
Abdel says I moved to a new town three
months ago good see home says I
discovered your channel one year ago
very nice example sentences on Facebook
now I planted roses last year I bought a
house last year okay
Oh Brisas I cried in singularity means
alone so talking let’s talk about maybe
your achievements let’s try to focus on
the positive aspects of the last year
for today to end the year on a positive
note okay I’ll share one more example
this one again different topic he won an
award he won an award for his research
okay he won an award for his research so
again I’m using an irregular verb an
irregular verb here my verb is win in
past tense it’s 1:1 some not won like
Korean money but one won like the number
one so he won an award for the
preposition that we use here is for he
won an award for his research for known
phrase so if you win an award or some
kind of
like prestigious I don’t know
recognition you could say I won past
tense I won an award for something for
some reason I often see many learners
using present tense here like I win
something like that I won an award for
this thing so okay great some examples
are coming in I’ll read a couple and
then we’ll move along ah oh my gosh did
I just see that on Facebook it said I
became a US citizen last month where was
that that was awesome
where was it ah maybe it’ll appear here
in a second oh I hope I’ve missed it I
think dang it alright uh uh
if that was true if someone actually did
say they became a US citizen last month
awesome congratulations that’s huge
that’s very exciting um on YouTube cat
says is this live at Christmas time I
can’t believe it yes it is live it is
live cat calm says I completed my
software course last week great
fantastic congratulations okay
others he won a race again and received
a gold medal says Lucas fantastic okay
Nestor says I acquired a set of English
skills looking back on 2019 fantastic
many of you are writing about improving
your English or I improved my English in
2019 that is fantastic that’s really
really great to hear I’m happy for you
guys
someone says I graduated a course in
clinical something the comments are
going very fast
okay monday says I earned my pH MD last
year Wow congratulations that’s amazing
awesome there are lots of cool
achievements from all around the world
that’s awesome okay so with that so
simple past tense practice let’s take
one quick break and then we’ll move to a
different grammar point this one so
we’re going to practice present perfect
everyone’s favorite present perfect and
present perfect continuous so quick
break I guess we don’t need the web the
second camera today I can talk at it but
we’ll see so if you missed it earlier
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let’s continue to part two for today’s
lesson if you have not already please do
make sure to like and share this video
so that other learners can find today’s
lesson our last lesson of 2019
today’s topic is how to talk about your
achievements the things that you achieve
the things you did your successes for
the year then let’s carry on to part two
part 2 for today it’s about everyone’s
favorite grammar point present perfect
tense present perfect tense and I’m
going to cover continuous as well so
first let’s take a look at when we use
this so a review moment a moment of
review we use the present perfect to
describe actions that started in the
past and continued to the present this
can also refer to the effect of an
action that continues to the present so
I showed you I showed you this lovely
diagram for simple past tense for an
action that started and ended in the
past so every
is finished there’s no relationship to
the present let’s compare this then to
present perfect so similarly I’m not
going to write all the things if this
star again is now imagine that when we
are using present perfect tense we’re
describing this action that started in
the past and then it continues to the
current moment it continues to the
conversation so this action is still
true or the effects of some action
affect the present affected effects
sorry so let’s let’s keep this point in
mind this is a key difference with a
simple past tense okay so let’s take a
look at a couple of examples sentences I
will use simple I will use a continuous
form a little bit here so let me see
what should I introduce to you first
okay let’s go with this one so I’ll use
this I’ve been working so here’s the
grammar point I’ve been working on a new
series for a year and it’s nearly done
okay so what is happening in this
sentence first I’m using present perfect
continuous here right here I’ve been
working I’ve been working I’ve been
working on a new series so new series
actually this is true I’ve been working
on a new series a new video series this
is true for me for a year and it’s
nearly done so this means for a year
I’ve been working on this thing so that
means one year ago about I started this
activity and it continues to this
present point in time so I’ve been
remember this I’ve is the reduced form
of I have I’ve been working I’ve been
working so some of you might say like
what’s the difference why can’t you say
like I’ve worked
on a new series for a year the reason I
chose to use the continuous form in this
sentence is because I want to emphasize
that this is not done yet
like I’m still actively slowly working
on this this particular project so when
I want to emphasize the continuing
nature when I want to emphasize that
something is not finished yet it’s still
in progress I would choose to use this
continuous form I’ve been working on a
new series for a year all right let’s
look then at one more I have a couple of
expressions that I want to introduce to
everybody actually so this next example
sentence will do that okay this next one
is as of this month as of this month
I’ve managed our team for five years
okay
as of this month I’ve managed our team
for five years so first here is my
present perfect grammar
I’ve managed I’ve managed so you’ll
notice in this example sentence I’m not
using the continuous form I’m not saying
I’ve been managing our team for five
years so the reason that someone would
probably choose this instead of the
continuous form is because it’s like
you’re just stating a fact I just want
to state a fact about like the situation
in my workplace so starting five years
ago and going to now like until now this
has been the situation so I started
being the manager five years ago I
continue to be the manager it’s just a
simple fact so I’m not like actively
doing a project maybe it’s my position
and that’s all I want to mention so I’ve
managed our team I have managed our team
for five years the other thing that I
want to point out here is this
expression
as of this month as of this month in
particular I want to focus on this as of
point in time so this means it’s like
saying from this point in time so as of
like today or as of last month
whatever that means from that specific
point in time this thing is true so this
means as of this month
for example December now I’ve managed
our team for five years so that means
this sentence was not true three months
ago it means from this point in time but
we don’t may be generally oh we wouldn’t
say may be some people might say like
from this month but this one tends to
sound a little bit clearer as of point
in time this thing is true so starting
at this point in time this thing is true
so as that’s what adds of means here
okay
some examples are coming in I think some
people yes are using the continuous I’ve
been studying English for a year
good there’s one someone says is this
American English yes this is American
English okay
monday says i’ve been working as an
expert neurosurgeon for 26 years well
really that’s cool
super cool ah as of next year uh-oh bori
on facebook as of next year I will have
senior English I will have watched your
English videos for 100 years well I know
it’s just a joke comment as of next year
so if you want to use this point I just
talked about to talk about a future
situation so as of next year you need to
use a future tense expression to do that
today I’m focusing on past and perfect
tense expressions past perfect but you
can use a future tense so as of next
year I will have lived in this city for
10 years something like that I will have
something so you need to consider a
future and past when you use this -
alright on to another example sentence
one more
next one similarly I want to introduce a
key phrase so far this year so far this
year our team has opened six restaurants
okay so we imagine we are working in the
restaurant industry purposes of the
sentence okay so first our present
perfect is right here so our team our
team has opened our team has opened so
we’re using house here because it’s like
it our team so we’re not thinking of
this as we we’re thinking of team in the
same way as we think of like the subject
it so a team is it here so our team has
opened six restaurants my other key
point is this so far this year in
particular this so far this year so if
we imagine maybe we say this sentence in
October so far this year so that means
from the beginning of the year until
this point in the year this is our
achievements this is what we have
achieved so using this so far this year
sounds like there’s still time for more
things to happen so this kind of has a
little bit of like optimism so there’s a
bit of like a positive feel here yeah so
it’s like so far this year we’ve done
this but there’s a chance we can
continue or there’s a chance we can do
more as well so so far plus a point in
time so far this year like so far this
month or so far today so it sounds like
this is what I have done up until now
and there’s a possibility that more can
happen okay I think I have one more ooh
ooh maybe I don’t have time for one more
I will yeah okay I will not include my
last example sentence
so okay I am looking for your example
sentences I don’t see it I don’t really
see any others one marion says as of
this year we’ve reached 1 million
YouTube followers really is that true
congratulations as of this year we have
3 million YouTube followers we’re
approaching 3.5 maybe soon whew thanks
to everybody who watches us Lucas says
so far this decade my basketball team
has won three finals wow that’s cool
very nice it’s very nice Conn melete
says so far this year I’ve learned new
programming languages okay nice you
might include the number there to be
specific like so far this year I’ve
learned two new programming languages
like being specific is great and for um
when you can use these grammar points
yes today we’re talking about it because
it’s the end of the year but this stuff
is really good to use in interviews and
like on your resume and like when you’re
talking to people for work for work
purposes alright quick break and then
we’ll go to the last point for today’s
lesson okay so if you have not checked
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look see what you think okay let’s go to
the final point for today’s lesson the
final point for today’s lesson is
past perfect and past perfect continuous
another tricky grammar point also if you
have not already please do make sure to
give this video a thumbs up and share it
as well so that other people can find
our lesson today alright teacher do you
have the flu that the teacher Alisha has
a little bit of a cold she is mostly
recovered though she just sounds a
little stuffy so stuffy means I’m
congested the word is congested the
casual word is stuffy I’m kind of stuffy
that means my nose is kind of tight yes
alright anyway moving on to the last
point past perfect so past perfect and
past perfect continuous again when
should we use these grammar points what
is this even for so past perfect we use
to talk about a past action obviously if
past is in the name a past action
continuing so a past continuing action
sorry you can’t see a past continuing
action but this past continuing action
has a relationship to another action in
the past so there are usually two things
to past actions or past activities we
need to consider when we’re talking when
we’re using past perfect and past
perfect continuous we often use this
grammar point when we’re talking about
an interrupted action or like when we
want to talk about something that
happened in the past at the same time as
something else so I’ll share some
examples of this also a hint
for your writing that for whatever
reason many native speakers don’t get if
you are writing something like if you’re
writing a even a diary entry or a
journal entry when you practice if you
need to talk about - past tense
situations in the same sentence use past
perfect tense
sorry use past perfect tense to talk
about the earlier thing so whatever is
the furthest thing in the past use past
perfect
tense for that then use simple past
tense for the thing that was most recent
to the present so I have it written here
I’ll say it again if you need to talk
about - past tense situations in one
sentence use past perfect to refer to
the earlier one and simple past tense
for the other so this is something that
I think a lot of native speakers that
don’t always do so let’s take a look at
some examples of how to do this all
right
a long one uh okay here we go I’d been
studying computer science
I’ve been studying computer science for
three years
what was the ending of my examples for
three years when I got my first job good
uh when I got my first job at an IT
company okay so this is a great sentence
for you like that you can use on a like
a letter of introduction or you could
say this sentence in an interview so
let’s break this down first your past
perfect past perfect in this case
continuous I’d been studying I’d been
studying computer science so this right
here is a key I’d I’d I had been
studying computer science for three
years when right here this one is
important because this is marking the
other past activity marked here with
simple past tense when I got my first
job at an IT company so this sentence
it’s kind of hard for me to fit another
timeline and so I’ll put it here
so here what we’re seeing in this
sentence again same timeline is before
we’re seeing this action studying
computer science I’ve made this too
short studying computer science started
three years ago continued for three
years yeah so at this point
the speaker began studying computer
science it continued for three years and
then right here the speaker got his or
her first job at an IT company but this
all happened before the present
conversation so we’re showing this
relationship by using past perfect for
this action continuous to show that it
was continuing and then simple past
tense to mark the point of the second
action the second past action so this is
the how we use past perfect and simple
past tense together I’d been studying
computer science for three years when I
got my first job at an IT company so
this when marks the point at which a new
action kind of enters what does IT mean
information technology information
technology it’s quite long so we usually
say ID okay do I have time for one more
example sentence no no oh no oh no no no
really I will say one can I just say one
okay my other one my other one was we’d
completed all the design updates by the
time the app launched we’d completed all
the design updates by the time the apps
launch I will write it but I won’t
explain it we I’m in trouble
we’ve completed all the design updates
by the time by the time the app launched
okay I will write it there what I really
wanted to talk about with this sentence
was the expression by the time by the
time so if you’ve studied a little
grammar you know we use by to mark
deadlines so that means up until this
point so we were able to do this by this
point so this is like marking a deadline
that’s the difference between by the
and when maybe I can talk about that in
a live stream in the future see ya I’m
out of time and I’ll be in trouble if I
keep talking I could go forever so I’ll
stop there so this is a little more
advanced grammar point where you need to
consider the relationship between two
past actions but this can really help to
make your your past experiences your
expressions of your past experiences a
richer and a little bit deeper too so I
have to finish okay some examples are
coming in I had been playing basketball
for three months when I moved to this
city so make sure your second verb is
past tense past tense there all right so
I have to end there Wow just like that
2019 is finished
that was a super-fun year thank you very
much to everybody for joining us this
week and thank you very much for
watching us live and for joining us live
for sending your example sentences and
your questions and your funny comments
we really appreciate it
we really appreciate you joining us
every week we will of course be back
next year I think it next the next week
the one right after New Year’s like on
January 1st I don’t think we’re gonna be
able to I think we might have a holiday
I might have holidays so for sure unless
something mysterious happens the next
one will be January 8th I believe of
course if you want to be absolutely sure
you can set a notification on YouTube or
a notification on Facebook to make sure
that you don’t miss our live lessons so
the next life topic will be oh yeah how
to make your English study plan for 2020
so I know maybe many of you need a
little boost at the beginning of the
year for your language goals so I’ll
talk about how to make your 2020 English
study plan so again thank you all very
very much for watching us live and
participating with us live throughout
the year we really really appreciate it
if you like please make sure to have a
look at the stuff this our big
for the end of the year I hope you find
something that is helpful for you I hope
you have a very happy holiday and a
wonderful new year and enjoy your time
off we will see you again in 2020 bye
bye