Introducing My Work and Learning Goals: Past Simple, Present Perfect, and /p/–/b/ Contrast

Hello again. Last lesson, you listened to a freelance work story and practised the difference between past simple and present perfect. Today, you will use that difference in your own speech: a two-minute introduction to your work and learning goals. You will speak from brief notes, not a script, and make /p/ and /b/ clear in words such as plan and build.

Objective: Record an unscripted introduction that uses both tenses accurately and has an intelligible /p/–/b/ contrast.
Estimated time: About 60 minutes, including your daily 10-minute SRS review.
Success criteria: Your recording lasts roughly two minutes, includes a clear past example and progress up to now, explains a learning goal, and makes your target /p/ and /b/ words distinguishable.

1. Review, then choose your time perspective — 17 minutes

Spend 10 minutes retrieving cards already due in your SRS. Say each answer before checking it. Pay particular attention to the difference between I sent it last Friday and I have improved since then.

For today’s introduction, you do not need a long grammar explanation. You need one reliable decision: Are you locating an event in a finished past time, or describing experience and progress that matter now? Read the British Council explanation with that speaking decision in mind.

The chart gives you a quick visual reminder of the same contrast.

Treat the chart’s “we don’t say when” rule as a useful shortcut, not an absolute rule. You can say “I have worked on this skill since 2023”: since 2023 gives a starting point for a period that continues to now. But “I worked on it last Friday” describes a finished day.

Here are five possible introduction sentences. The details are examples, not a script to copy:

1. “I planned a small project last year.” — a finished-time event.
2. “I built a portfolio in March.” — a dated achievement.
3. “I have completed two sample projects.” — experience up to now; no date is given.
4. “I have improved my writing this year.” — progress in a period that is still open.
5. “I have studied professional English for several months.” — learning that began earlier and continues.

2. Prepare a brief introduction, not a speech to read — 9 minutes

A professional introduction should help a listener understand what you do, what you have done, and what you hope to develop. The British Council’s interview advice makes a useful point here: examples tell a listener more than a list of qualities does. This is not an interview simulation; use the advice to keep your introduction relevant and concise.

Now spend six minutes making a cue card with keywords only. Use these four prompts; do not write complete sentences:

• Now: your current work, study, or area of interest.
• One finished event: something you did at a particular past time.
• Progress up to now: something you have learned, made, practised, or improved.
• Next goal: what you want to communicate or do better, and why.

Choose a real example you are comfortable sharing. Paid work is not required: a personal project or learning experience can show development clearly. If an example is private, replace its identifying details with general words such as a client or a project.

3. Make /p/ and /b/ audible — 7 minutes

Both sounds begin with your lips closed. At the start of a stressed word, /p/ usually releases with a noticeable puff of air; /b/ has much less of that puff. Try pay / bay and pack / back. A small piece of paper held near your mouth can help you notice the stronger puff on pay and pack. Aim for a natural contrast, not an exaggerated one.

Record this short practice line twice:

“I planned a project and built a basic portfolio.”

The line is pronunciation practice, not a claim you must make about yourself. Play it back once without looking at the text. Can you hear the first sound in planned and project as different from the first sound in built and basic? If the words blur together, slow down, record again, and then return to a normal pace. Select two /p/ words and two /b/ words that fit your introduction; plan, project, build, and business are options.

4. Record your unscripted introduction — 12 minutes

Set a timer for two minutes and record Take 1 while looking only at your keywords. Speak to an imagined new professional contact who has asked what you do and what you are learning. Start with the present, give one concrete past example, explain your progress up to now, and finish with a goal. Use at least two past-simple verbs, two present-perfect verbs, and your four chosen /p/ and /b/ words.

Do not stop to repair every sentence. If you lose a word, pause, say the idea another way, and continue. That is part of unscripted speaking.

Listen once, noting only three things: a tense you want to check, a word that was unclear, and a place where your meaning needed a better connection. Then record Take 2, still using keywords rather than a written script. Aim for about 1 minute 45 seconds to 2 minutes 15 seconds. Keep Take 1 so you can hear whether the changes helped.

5. Check the recording and keep useful corrections — 8 minutes

Transcribe four to six sentences from Take 2, including your past event and your progress up to now. Underline time phrases such as last year, this month, since then, or for six months. Check that each verb matches the time meaning:

• Finished time: “Last year, I started a project,” not “Last year, I have started a project.”
• Progress up to now: “Since then, I have improved my writing,” not “Since then, I improved my writing” if you mean the improvement continues.
• Present-perfect form: “I have written several samples,” not “I have wrote several samples.”

Score Take 2 from 0 to 2 in each area:

Before asking for feedback, check that you have an audio recording or transcript, your four-to-six-sentence extract, your rubric scores, and one or two sentences you tried to correct yourself. You can paste the transcript and corrections back for language feedback; remove any private details first. Add a repeated error to your personal error checklist, but do not treat every pause as a mistake.

6. Keep today’s gains available — about 7 minutes

An effective introduction does more than list experience. It places a specific event in the past, connects learning or achievements to now, and makes the next goal clear. Your recording also gives you a way to hear whether plan and build remain distinct when you speak freely, not just in a pronunciation drill.

Next, you will read a dialogue about a freelancer’s development and retell it from memory, paying close attention to how questions are formed.

Add to SRS: Spend about three minutes saving today’s cards. On study days, use a 10-minute review block; review each new card after 1, 3, 7, 14, and 30 days, with day 7 available for accumulated review. For the two dictation cards, first record yourself reading the answer sentences below, then play those recordings later without looking. Replace the final template with a correction from your own speech, or omit it until you have one. Save this as a .csv file for Anki with fields front, back, tag.

front,back,tag
"Complete: Last year, I ___ a small project.","Last year, I planned a small project.","work-learning-collocation"
"Complete: In March, I ___ a portfolio.","In March, I built a portfolio.","work-learning-collocation"
"Complete: This year, I have ___ my business writing.","This year, I have improved my business writing.","work-learning-collocation"
"Complete: I have ___ two sample projects so far.","I have completed two sample projects so far.","work-learning-collocation"
"Last Friday, I ___ (send) an update.","Last Friday, I sent an update.","work-learning-grammar"
"Since then, I ___ (practise) describing my work.","Since then, I have practised describing my work.","work-learning-grammar"
"I ___ (write) several samples so far.","I have written several samples so far.","work-learning-grammar"
"Correct: I have started the project last year.","I started the project last year. Last year is a finished time.","work-learning-grammar"
"Dictation: play your recording of the sentence about last year.","Last year, I planned a small project.","work-learning-dictation"
"Dictation: play your recording of the sentence beginning Since then.","Since then, I have practised describing my work.","work-learning-dictation"
"Say and record: pay / bay. Which begins with the stronger puff of air?","Pay begins with /p/ and usually has the stronger puff of air.","work-learning-pronunciation"
"Say and record: pack / back. Which begins with /b/?","Back begins with /b/.","work-learning-pronunciation"
"My sentence: [replace with an error from my recording]","My correction: [replace with my corrected sentence and a short reason]","my-error"