1. Tellingpersonal True andFalse stories
Ss guessandargumentthe T & F stories
TellingaTrue story
Addfalse details
Classmatesguessandargumentthem
Tellingpersonal experiences
firstday at/of school
fights
school trip
memorable school party
memorable school activities
Sharing personal experiences in EFL classes
Summary: Going beyond students chatting about themselves.
By: Alex Case | Audience: Teachers | Category: Teaching English | Topic: General
First Published: 30th Sep. 2013 | Last Edited: 25th Jan. 2019
https://www.usingenglish.com/articles/sharing-personal-experiences-in-efl-classes.html
Phrases for talking about general experiences
(Generally/ In general/ On the whole), I have found that…
I (only) have (very) limited experience of this, but…/ I don’t have much experience of this
(at all), but…
I …. a couple of times/ a few times/ quite a lot/ a lot/ all the time and…
I have only experienced this once or twice/ a couple of times/ a few times, but…
I haven’t had any bad/ good experiences with this. On the contrary,…
In general/ Generally, I find/ I have found…
2. In my (limited/ very limited/ substantial/personal) experience,…
Like/ Unlike most people, I have found that…
My general experience of this is…
This has only happened to me twice/ a couple of times, but…
Phrases for talking about single experiences in the past
Phrases with time expressions etc
(I don’t remember this, but my parents told me that) when I was a baby/ toddler…
(I usually… but) one day…
(Just) a couple of days/ weeks/ months/ years ago…
(Just) a few days/ weeks/ months/ years ago…
(Just) the other day,…
As I was …ing,…/ I was… ing when (out of the blue/ out of nowhere)…
I don’t remember exactly when, but…
I must have been about… years old when…
I once…
I was affected by this when…
I will never forget the time when….
I’d just started…, when…
It was/ seemed to be just an ordinary day, but…
Something (similar) happened to me when…
When this happened to me…/ During one of the times this happened to me…
While I was…, (suddenly)…
Other phrases for talking about single experiences in the past
3. A memorable/ shocking/ typical/bad/ terrible/ frightening/sobering/ disappointing/
great/ life-changing/ good experience (that/ which) I had is…
An experience (I had) which I will always remember/ really influenced me/ is relevant to this
(debate)/ is related to this (discussion)/ changed my life/ affectedmy attitudes/ this
reminds me of/ comes to mind/ springs to mind/ I had related to this/ stands out is…
An experience which I wish I’d never had is…
An unforgettable/ amazing experience (that/which) I had is…
I had a memorable/ shocking/ typical/ bad/terrible/frightening/ sobering/ disappointing/
great/ life-changing/ good experience of this.
I hope you never experience what I did, which was…
I might have told you this story before, but…
I was a passerby when…/ I was walking past when…
I witnessed…
Something like that happened to me.
This has only happened to me once, but…
This is not like me, but…
Phrases for talking about one or more selected from repeated experiences
I’ve only had good/ bad experiences. For example,…
My first/ last experience of this was…
The first/ last time I experienced this/ this happened to me was…
Phrases for talking about past repeated experiences which stopped
When I was (much) younger,…
Phrases to end talking about experiences
… (or) that’s my experience, anyway.
… though your/ other people’s experiences may be different.
4. I hope that I never experience that again/ you don’t have to go through the same thing/
the other guy was okay/ he has forgiven me/ I have learnt my lesson/ he gets what he
deserves/ it will never happen again.
I still can’t believe it.
It was a once in a lifetime experience/ thing.
It’s difficult to believe it really happened.
Questions about experiences
Do you have experience of…?
Has… (ever) happened to you?
Have you ever…?
Have you experienced…?
I’m guessing you’ve (never)…
When you were…, did you…?
Phrases to talking about other people’s experiences
… claims…
A friend of a friend…
According to a friend of mine/ what someone told me/…
Apparently,…
Famously,…
I don’t have any personal experience of this, but…
I heard that…
I know a good story about…
I wasn’t there at the time, but…
Someone told me that…
5. This didn’t actually happen to me, but…
This hasn’t happened to me personally, but…
Phrases with more than one function above
I have personal experience of this. (In fact)…
I’d like to share my experience of…
I’ve got a good story about…
My (own) experience of this is…
When I was in kindergarten/ primary school/ secondary school/ college/ my first job…
Misc
I haven’t experienced this personally/ recently/ in the last few years/ since…, but…
I don’t have recent experience of this, but…
Since I first experienced this,…
