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📚 A2 Past Simple vs Present Perfect

📚 Vocabulary Deep Dive

Emma’s Travel Journal

18 key termsStoryA2

🎯 Learning Priorities

Focus on these words based on their importance for understanding the text:

⭐ Essential for understanding Emma’s travel story; appears in both Past Simple and Present Perfect contexts throughout the text
visitverbneutral

to go to see a place or person for a period of time

📝 “She has visited fifteen countries in her life.”

Goes with: visit a place, visit friends, visit museums
Family: noun: visit/visitor | verb: visit | adjective: visiting
🇮🇹 Use ‘visit’ for places, not ‘assist’ (Italian false friend)
⭐ Core concept of the entire narrative; critical for discussing the main theme and Emma’s experiences
travelverbneutral

to go from one place to another, especially to distant places

📝 “Then she travelled to Greece in June.”

Goes with: travel abroad, travel alone, travel by plane
Family: noun: travel/traveller | verb: travel | adjective: travelling
🇮🇹 False friend: ‘viaggiare’ not ‘travagliare’
⭐ Key time marker that signals Past Simple usage; essential for understanding when specific events happened
last yeartime expressionneutral

the year before the present one

📝 “Last year, she visited three new places.”

Goes with: last year, last month, last week
Family: noun: year | adjective: yearly
🇮🇹 Used with Past Simple, not Present Perfect
⭐ Critical time expression for Present Perfect; helps students understand life experiences vs. finished past actions
in her lifetime expressionneutral

during all the time from birth until now

📝 “She has visited fifteen countries in her life.”

Goes with: in my life, in her life, best in my life
Family: noun: life | verb: live | adjective: living
🇮🇹 Used with Present Perfect for life experiences
⭐ Central to Emma’s personal development theme; appears multiple times showing results of her experiences
learnverbneutral

to get knowledge or skill in a subject or activity

📝 “Emma has learned so much from travelling.”

Goes with: learn something, learn from experience, learn quickly
Family: noun: learner/learning | verb: learn | adjective: learned
🇮🇹 Regular verb in English, unlike Italian ‘imparare’
⭐ Important for discussing travel experiences; helps differentiate from ‘travel’ and ‘journey’ in natural contexts
tripnounneutral

a journey to a place and back again, especially a short one

📝 “Every trip taught her something new and interesting.”

Goes with: business trip, day trip, first trip
Family: noun: trip | verb: trip | adjective: tripping
🇮🇹 Not ‘viaggio’ in all contexts – shorter than ‘journey’
⭐ Key adjective showing Emma’s character development; useful for describing personal growth
confidentadjectiveneutral

feeling sure about your own abilities and value

📝 “She has become more confident with languages.”

Goes with: more confident, feel confident, confident person
Family: noun: confidence | verb: confide | adjective: confident
🇮🇹 Note spelling: ‘confident’ not ‘confidente’ (false friend)
⭐ Important Present Perfect adverb; helps express completed actions with current relevance
alreadyadverbneutral

before now or before a particular time in the past

📝 “She has already booked her flight to Japan.”

Goes with: already done, already finished, has already
Family:
🇮🇹 Position: before past participle in Present Perfect
⭐ Enriches travel vocabulary; common word for discussing exciting experiences and future plans
adventurenounneutral

an exciting or unusual experience, especially a journey

📝 “Last month, Emma started planning her next adventure.”

Goes with: next adventure, exciting adventure, plan an adventure
Family: noun: adventure/adventurer | verb: adventure | adjective: adventurous
🇮🇹 Similar to Italian ‘avventura’
⭐ Useful time expression for Present Perfect; signals ongoing situations up to the present
so fartime expressionneutral

until now; up to this point

📝 “She has lived an exciting life so far.”

Goes with: so far, up to now, until now
Family:
🇮🇹 Always used with Present Perfect, signals unfinished time
⭐ Interesting vocabulary for discussing writing and recording experiences; not essential for basic comprehension
journalnounneutral

a written record of what you do each day; a diary

📝 “Emma opened her travel journal and smiled.”

Goes with: keep a journal, travel journal, write in a journal
Family: noun: journal/journalist | verb: journal | adjective: journalistic
🇮🇹 Can mean ‘diario’ or ‘giornale’ depending on context
⭐ Useful personality adjective; adds detail to Emma’s character but not critical for main story understanding
shyadjectiveneutral

nervous and uncomfortable about meeting and talking to people

📝 “Before her trips, she was very shy.”

Goes with: very shy, shy person, feel shy
Family: noun: shyness | verb: shy | adjective: shy
🇮🇹 Similar to Italian ‘timido’
⭐ Enrichment vocabulary for discussing past experiences; helps with more sophisticated expression
memorynounneutral

something that you remember from the past

📝 “Travel has given her wonderful memories and great experiences.”

Goes with: wonderful memories, happy memory, childhood memories
Family: noun: memory | verb: memorize | adjective: memorable
🇮🇹 Countable when referring to specific memories
⭐ Extension for Present Perfect practice; useful but basic comprehension possible without it
neveradverbneutral

not at any time; not ever

📝 “She has never been to Asia before.”

Goes with: has never, never been, never seen
Family:
🇮🇹 Goes before main verb but after auxiliary in Present Perfect
⭐ Higher-level noun for discussing travel; students can understand story with simpler alternatives
experiencenounneutral

something that happens to you that affects how you feel

📝 “Travel has given her wonderful memories and great experiences.”

Goes with: great experience, new experience, life experience
Family: noun: experience | verb: experience | adjective: experienced
🇮🇹 Can be countable or uncountable

📖 Complete Vocabulary Reference

All vocabulary items organized by theme:

Travel Actions

Core verbs describing Emma’s travel experiences and movements

travelverbneutral

to go from one place to another, especially to distant places

📝 “Then she travelled to Greece in June.”

Goes with: travel abroad, travel alone, travel by plane
Family: noun: travel/traveller | verb: travel | adjective: travelling
🇮🇹 False friend: ‘viaggiare’ not ‘travagliare’
visitverbneutral

to go to see a place or person for a period of time

📝 “She has visited fifteen countries in her life.”

Goes with: visit a place, visit friends, visit museums
Family: noun: visit/visitor | verb: visit | adjective: visiting
🇮🇹 Use ‘visit’ for places, not ‘assist’ (Italian false friend)
stayverbneutral

to remain in a place as a guest or for a short time

📝 “She stayed in Lisbon for one week.”

Goes with: stay in a hotel, stay for a week, stay with friends
Family: noun: stay | verb: stay | adjective: staying
🇮🇹 Different from ‘stare’ – means temporary accommodation
flyverbneutral

to travel through the air in a plane

📝 “In September, she flew to Portugal.”

Goes with: fly to, fly abroad, fly home
Family: noun: flight | verb: fly | adjective: flying
🇮🇹 Irregular past: flew, not ‘flyed’
bookverbneutral

to arrange to have or use something at a particular time in the future

📝 “She has already booked her flight to Japan.”

Goes with: book a flight, book a hotel, book in advance
Family: noun: booking | verb: book | adjective: booked
🇮🇹 As verb means ‘prenotare’, not just the noun ‘libro’

Travel Experiences

Vocabulary describing what travelers do and experience during trips

adventurenounneutral

an exciting or unusual experience, especially a journey

📝 “Last month, Emma started planning her next adventure.”

Goes with: next adventure, exciting adventure, plan an adventure
Family: noun: adventure/adventurer | verb: adventure | adjective: adventurous
🇮🇹 Similar to Italian ‘avventura’
tripnounneutral

a journey to a place and back again, especially a short one

📝 “Every trip taught her something new and interesting.”

Goes with: business trip, day trip, first trip
Family: noun: trip | verb: trip | adjective: tripping
🇮🇹 Not ‘viaggio’ in all contexts – shorter than ‘journey’
journalnounneutral

a written record of what you do each day; a diary

📝 “Emma opened her travel journal and smiled.”

Goes with: keep a journal, travel journal, write in a journal
Family: noun: journal/journalist | verb: journal | adjective: journalistic
🇮🇹 Can mean ‘diario’ or ‘giornale’ depending on context
memorynounneutral

something that you remember from the past

📝 “Travel has given her wonderful memories and great experiences.”

Goes with: wonderful memories, happy memory, childhood memories
Family: noun: memory | verb: memorize | adjective: memorable
🇮🇹 Countable when referring to specific memories
experiencenounneutral

something that happens to you that affects how you feel

📝 “Travel has given her wonderful memories and great experiences.”

Goes with: great experience, new experience, life experience
Family: noun: experience | verb: experience | adjective: experienced
🇮🇹 Can be countable or uncountable

Personal Growth Vocabulary

Words describing Emma’s personal development through travel

confidentadjectiveneutral

feeling sure about your own abilities and value

📝 “She has become more confident with languages.”

Goes with: more confident, feel confident, confident person
Family: noun: confidence | verb: confide | adjective: confident
🇮🇹 Note spelling: ‘confident’ not ‘confidente’ (false friend)
shyadjectiveneutral

nervous and uncomfortable about meeting and talking to people

📝 “Before her trips, she was very shy.”

Goes with: very shy, shy person, feel shy
Family: noun: shyness | verb: shy | adjective: shy
🇮🇹 Similar to Italian ‘timido’
learnverbneutral

to get knowledge or skill in a subject or activity

📝 “Emma has learned so much from travelling.”

Goes with: learn something, learn from experience, learn quickly
Family: noun: learner/learning | verb: learn | adjective: learned
🇮🇹 Regular verb in English, unlike Italian ‘imparare’
changeverbneutral

to become different, or to make something become different

📝 “But travel changed her completely.”

Goes with: change completely, change someone, change your mind
Family: noun: change | verb: change | adjective: changeable
🇮🇹 Can be verb or noun with same spelling

Time Expressions

Phrases that help distinguish between Past Simple and Present Perfect contexts

last yeartime expressionneutral

the year before the present one

📝 “Last year, she visited three new places.”

Goes with: last year, last month, last week
Family: noun: year | adjective: yearly
🇮🇹 Used with Past Simple, not Present Perfect
in her lifetime expressionneutral

during all the time from birth until now

📝 “She has visited fifteen countries in her life.”

Goes with: in my life, in her life, best in my life
Family: noun: life | verb: live | adjective: living
🇮🇹 Used with Present Perfect for life experiences
so fartime expressionneutral

until now; up to this point

📝 “She has lived an exciting life so far.”

Goes with: so far, up to now, until now
Family:
🇮🇹 Always used with Present Perfect, signals unfinished time
alreadyadverbneutral

before now or before a particular time in the past

📝 “She has already booked her flight to Japan.”

Goes with: already done, already finished, has already
Family:
🇮🇹 Position: before past participle in Present Perfect
neveradverbneutral

not at any time; not ever

📝 “She has never been to Asia before.”

Goes with: has never, never been, never seen
Family:
🇮🇹 Goes before main verb but after auxiliary in Present Perfect

🎮 Practice Activities

Tense Choice With Time Markers

Choose the correct verb form based on the time expression

⏰ Time marker: last summer

Emma _____ (visit) Japan last summer.

⏰ Time marker: in her life

She _____ (travel) to fifteen countries in her life.

⏰ Time marker: already

She _____ (book) her flight.

⏰ Time marker: so far

So far, she _____ (stay) in many different hotels.

⏰ Time marker: in September (past)

She _____ (fly) to Portugal in September.

Preposition Completion

Complete with the correct preposition (or write ‘X’ if no preposition needed)

She travelled _____ Greece.

She visited _____ fifteen countries.

She stayed _____ Lisbon for one week.

She flew _____ Portugal.

She has learned _____ travelling.

Word Family Gap Fill

Complete using the correct form of the word in brackets

Emma loves _____ (travel). She is a very experienced _____ (travel).

Base word: travel

💡 Tip: Some gaps may accept more than one correct form

The trip was very _____ (adventure). She had a great _____ (adventure).

Base word: adventure

💡 Tip: Some gaps may accept more than one correct form

She was _____ (confidence) about her trip. Travel gave her more _____ (confidence).

Base word: confident/confidence

💡 Tip: Some gaps may accept more than one correct form

She has wonderful _____ (memory) of her trips. Each place was _____ (memory).

Base word: memory/memorable

💡 Tip: Some gaps may accept more than one correct form