Describing experiences and events 1

This lesson focuses on useful expressions and phrases to describe past experiences and events clearly and naturally in English. You'll learn idiomatic ways to: summarize what happened, highlight your role, say how you felt, and link events in sequence — all useful for business conversations and short reports.

• Use concise expressions to state what you did or attended.
• Emphasize outcomes and your role with verbs and phrasal verbs.
• Link events with simple chronological connectors for clarity.

When describing experiences, focus on three things: what happened, your role, and the outcome.

• Start with a brief context: where/when it happened (Past Simple or Present Perfect).
• State your role with clear verbs or phrasal verbs: I led, I took on, I attended.
• Use connectors to show sequence: First, then, after that, finally.

In business contexts, highlight actions and results (e.g., 'I led the demo and secured the client's approval').

Learners often make predictable errors when reporting experiences. Watch for these:

• Using awkward or literal translations instead of idiomatic phrases (e.g., 'I had the possibility' vs 'I had the chance').
• Mixing tenses in a single short account (avoid switching unnecessarily between past simple and present perfect).
• Unclear sequencing: forgetting connectors that show order makes the story harder to follow.
• Overusing passive voice when active verbs more clearly show your role (e.g., 'I led' vs 'It was led by me').

Keep sentences short and logically ordered; choose idiomatic verbs for clarity.