Coffee Break English, season one, episode eight.
Hello everyone and welcome back to Coffee Break English.
My name's Josie. And I'm Mark.
And we're very happy to be here again with you today.
Josie, what is our topic for today?
Today, we are talking to Ryan from Canada.
And he's telling us about ice hockey, which is a very popular Canadian sport.
Excellent. And do we have our language point that we're going to be looking at?
We do. Last episode, we looked at the present perfect tense.
And this episode, we're looking at the difference between the present perfect and the past simple tenses.
That sounds good. Shall we get started?
Let's go. Over to you, Ryan.
Hi, everyone. I'd like to tell you about my favourite sport, ice hockey.
Actually, here in Canada, we just call it hockey because ice hockey is much more popular than field hockey.
Like most Canadians, I started playing hockey when I was a child.
I played every Saturday morning with a local team for under 18 -year -olds.
Now that I'm an adult, I still play hockey with a team in Vancouver where I live.
It's just a hobby, but my team are pretty good.
We have even won some trophies.
We won a local tournament a few years ago, and in 2015, we beat one of the best teams in the city.
We were really proud.
We only play in Vancouver, and we have never participated in any national competitions.
Maybe one day. Playing hockey is a good way to get some exercise, and it's very exciting because you have to think fast and move quickly.
It's also a good way to meet people and get involved in the community.
I have made some really good friends by playing ice hockey, and I even met my wife at a tournament in 2008.
She also likes hockey, but she prefers to watch it.
We both support the same team.
The Vancouver Canucks.
And we watch every game they play on TV.
We have seen them play in the stadium here in Vancouver lots of times.
The last time we went to the stadium, we took our daughter, Daisy, who is 10 years old.
She absolutely loved watching the game, and she has recently started playing on a team at school.
I'm looking forward to watching her in her first game soon.
Now that Daisy is a hockey fan too, we are planning a trip to Finland to watch some games.
We haven't been to Europe, and we can't wait to experience our favourite sport in a different country.
Is ice hockey popular in your country?
Have you ever played it?
Thank you, Ryan. That was very interesting.
So, Mark, have you ever played ice hockey?
I have never played ice hockey.
And to be honest, I've never really skated.
Really? I love ice skating, but I've never played ice hockey either.
OK. Shall we go back through the text?
Yes, let's take a look at the language and grammar that we see in the text.
Would you like to read the first part?
OK. Ryan begins. Hi, everyone.
I'd like to tell you about my favourite sport, ice hockey.
Yes. So, Ryan's favourite sport.
Mark, how do you spell favourite?
OK, I spell favourite F A V O U R I T E.
Yes, and I think Ryan spells it the same way as we do.
But how would a person from the USA spell this word?
OK, there's no U in the word in the USA, so F A V O R I T E.
But the pronunciation is the same.
That's right. Yes, there are lots of words like this in English, which are different between American and British English, like colour, flavour, lots of words.
OK. So, Ryan continues.
Actually, here in Canada, we just call it hockey, because ice hockey is much more popular than field hockey.
Yes. So, field hockey, this is more popular in the UK, isn't it?
Hockey that you play on a big green space, a field, a big area of grass.
OK. Like most Canadians, I started playing hockey when I was a child.
Yes. So, we have a past tense here.
He started playing when he was a child, in the past, of course.
I played every Saturday morning with a local team for under 18 -year -olds.
Good. So, again, I played in the past simple tense every Saturday morning.
Good. Now that I'm an adult, I still play hockey with a team in Vancouver where I live.
Hmm. So, Mark, you said now that I'm an adult, but Ryan didn't say adult, did he?
He said adult. That's right.
So, in British English, we say adult, and in Canadian and American English, we say adult.
OK. It's just a hobby, but my team are pretty good.
We have even won some trophies.
Hmm. So, it's just a hobby.
It's something that Ryan does in his free time.
Hmm. But his team are pretty good.
They're quite good.
We have even won some trophies.
So, which verb tense is this, Mark?
That's another present perfect.
We have won. That's right.
We saw the present perfect in the last episode, and here it is again.
Here, we use the present perfect because we don't say exactly when this happened in the past.
We have won some trophies in general in the past.
But, when Ryan says, I started playing hockey when I was a child, he uses the past simple because he tells us exactly when this happened, when he was a child.
OK. He also tells us exactly when he won a tournament.
We won a local tournament a few years ago, and in 2015, we beat one of the best teams in the city.
We were really proud.
Yes. So, you're absolutely right.
He says we won a local tournament a few years ago.
He uses the past simple there.
And what's a tournament, a local tournament?
A tournament is like a competition that's organised with lots of games featuring different players.
That's right. And in 2015, we beat.
We won against one of the best teams in the city.
And he says we were really proud about this.
We were really happy for ourselves.
OK. We only play in Vancouver, and we have never participated in any national competitions, maybe one day.
Yes. So, here, Ryan uses the present perfect again.
We have never participated in any national competitions.
Here, he uses the present perfect because he doesn't say when they didn't participate.
It's just in the past, in general.
And this word never, this emphasises that they haven't participated in even one national competition.
But maybe one day they will.
Perhaps they'll do that at some point in the future.
Exactly. Yes, he seems hopeful about this.
Playing hockey is a good way to get some exercise.
And it's very exciting because you have to think fast and move quickly.
It's also a good way to meet people and get involved in the community.
Yes. So, Ryan says hockey is very exciting because you have to think fast and move quickly.
So, fast and quickly, they are both adverbs because they describe verbs.
They describe the way that we do something.
We saw this in episode 4 of the podcast.
So, quickly is a regular adverb because we add l -y at the end of the adjective quick.
But fast is irregular because it's exactly the same as the adjective.
We can say a fast car or the car is driving fast.
That's right. We never say fastly.
Indeed. OK, let's take a short break and we'll be back in just a moment.
Each episode of the Coffee Break English podcast is free.
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We have a full course available on our website which will help you make faster progress and understand everything much better.
For every lesson we offer videos, bonus audio recordings, lesson notes with exercises and vocabulary lists in lots of languages.
All this is available on the Coffee Break Academy.
So, visit coffeebreakacademy .com Welcome back.
Today we are listening to Ryan talk about one of his favourite hobbies, ice hockey.
Yes, and we're also talking about the difference between the present perfect and the past simple tenses.
So, before we continue with the text, let's have a little practice, shall we?
OK. OK. When we have a conversation with someone and we want to know about what they have done in their life, maybe we want to find out a place that they have visited or a food that they have eaten.
We often begin the conversation in the present perfect.
So, for example, Mark, have you ever visited Canada?
Yes, I have visited Canada.
I went to Canada two years ago.
Exactly. So, when you answered the question, you answered in the present perfect.
Yes, I have visited Canada.
But when you wanted to give me some more information, you changed to the past simple.
Yes, I told you when I went to Canada, the year two years ago, I visited my family and I spent some time in Toronto.
That sounds really nice.
I have never been to Canada, but I would love to go there.
And you can go and see some ice hockey if you do.
Yes, maybe I will. Let's get back to Ryan's text.
He goes on, I have made some really good friends by playing ice hockey and I even met my wife at a tournament in 2008.
Yes. So here we have the present perfect and then the past simple.
I have made some really good friends, present perfect, and I even met my wife in 2008.
So, he tells us the year that he met his wife.
Be careful because met is an irregular verb, meet, met, met.
So, Ryan could have said, I met my wife at a tournament in 2008, but I have met many nice people playing ice hockey.
Exactly, yes. So, Ryan's wife also likes hockey, but she prefers to watch it.
We both support the same team, the Vancouver Canucks, and we watch every game they play on TV.
Yes, so they both support the same team.
They both follow the same team.
They want this team to win.
OK. We have seen them play in the stadium here in Vancouver lots of times.
Yes. So, Ryan says he has seen this team play lots of times.
He doesn't say when, but he says it was lots of times.
So, sometimes we use the present perfect to talk about how many times we have done something.
So, for example, I have seen Harry Potter movies 100 times.
Ah, that's funny because I saw a Harry Potter movie last weekend.
Ah, which one was it?
It was the first one.
Oh, a classic one. Absolutely.
OK, let's continue.
The last time we went to the stadium, we took our daughter Daisy, who is 10 years old.
Good. So, the last time we went past simple, because he's talking about the last time, he says when it was, we took our daughter Daisy.
She absolutely loved watching the game, and she has recently started playing on a team at school.
So, Daisy has recently started playing on a team.
We often use the present perfect with the word recently as well, because it doesn't tell us exactly when something happened, but it tells us that it was recently, in the recent past.
OK, I'm looking forward to watching her in her first game soon.
Yes, so, Ryan is looking forward to watching Daisy.
What does looking forward to mean, Mark?
It is when you feel happy and excited about something that's going to happen.
That's right, exactly.
So, Mark, what are you looking forward to at the moment?
I'm going to visit my mum at the weekend, so I'm looking forward to seeing her.
Oh, that's nice. OK, now that Daisy is a hockey fan too, we are planning a trip to Finland to watch some games.
Good, so Daisy is a hockey fan.
She loves hockey. She's a fan.
Ryan says we haven't been to Europe, and we can't wait to experience our favourite sport in a different country.
Yes, so Ryan says we haven't been to Europe.
Now, been, this is the past participle of the verb go, but there's another past participle, isn't there?
That's right, he could have said we haven't gone to Europe, but that's slightly different.
Yes, exactly. If you use been, that means that you go somewhere and then you return.
But if you use gone, that means you go somewhere and then you are speaking from that place.
So, Ryan finishes by saying, is ice hockey popular in your country?
Have you ever played it?
Yes, so have you ever?
This is a classic present perfect question.
We use this word ever to mean in your entire life.
So, have you ever played ice hockey?
Have you ever been skiing, for example?
OK, shall we listen to the full text again?
Good idea. Let's listen and we'll listen for the present perfect and the past simple.
Hi everyone, I'd like to tell you about my favourite sport, ice hockey.
Actually, here in Canada we just call it hockey, because ice hockey is much more popular than field hockey.
Like most Canadians, I started playing hockey when I was a child.
I played every Saturday morning with a local team for under 18 year olds.
Now that I'm an adult, I still play hockey with a team in Vancouver, where I live.
It's just a hobby, but my team are pretty good.
We have even won some trophies.
We won a local tournament a few years ago and in 2015, we beat one of the best teams in the city.
We were really proud.
We only play in Vancouver and we have never participated in any national competitions.
Maybe one day! Playing hockey is a good way to get some exercise and it's very exciting, because you have to think fast and move quickly.
It's also a good way to meet people and get involved in the community.
I have made some really good friends by playing ice hockey and I even met my wife at a tournament in 2008.
She also likes hockey, but she prefers to watch it.
We both support the same team, the Vancouver Canucks, and we watch every game they play on TV.
We have seen them play in the stadium here in Vancouver lots of times.
The last time we went to the stadium, we took our daughter, Daisy, who is 10 years old.
She absolutely loved watching the game and she has recently started playing on a team at school.
I'm looking forward to watching her in her first game soon.
Now that Daisy is a hockey fan too, we are planning a trip to Finland to watch some games.
We haven't been to Europe and we can't wait to experience our favourite sport in a different country.
Is ice hockey popular in your country?
Have you ever played it?
OK, so thank you Ryan for this interesting text about ice hockey.
Let us know in the comments on this episode if you have ever played ice hockey.
You can also check out the full version of this lesson and the whole course on the Coffee Break Academy where you can access vocabulary lists, video versions, and lesson notes to help you improve your English further.
That's right Mark and if you'd like to practice your English you can also do so on social media.
Just search for Coffee Break English on Facebook and on Instagram where we post regular language challenges and cultural information.
And this week we'll be asking you about your life experiences.
I look forward to that.
Thank you Josie. Thank you Mark.
And we'll be back soon with another episode.
Next time we are going to be talking about something very typical in the UK.
Sounds good. See you soon.
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