Tutor Guides

The Present Perfect is one of the trickiest tenses to teach — particularly for learners whose native language has no direct equivalent (Spanish, French, Italian). The gap between I went and I have gone feels abstract. Gamified exercises close that gap by creating stakes and immediate feedback.

Why it is hard

Learners confuse Present Perfect with Simple Past because both describe past events. The key distinction — Present Perfect links the past to a present result or experience — is conceptual, not just grammatical. Drilling conjugation alone will not fix this; learners need to feel the difference in context.

Exercise types that work

How to structure the path in Teacher & Me

1. 1

   Recognition module

   Multiple-choice only. Keep it easy — the goal is spotting the tense in context, not producing it. 8–10 exercises.

2. 2

   Time markers module

   Fill-in-the-blank with just / already / yet / since / for visible in the sentence. 10 exercises with immediate XP feedback.

3. 3

   Error detection module

   True / False with a mix of correct and incorrect sentences. Increase the proportion of subtle errors (wrong auxiliary, missing past participle) as the module progresses.

4. 4

   Mixed challenge module

   All three types, randomised. Students must maintain a 5-exercise streak to unlock the final badge. This is where long-term retention forms.

Tips from the field

• ✓ Use real-life contexts your student cares about (travel, food, films) — abstract grammar sentences disengage.
• ✓ Assign the path as homework the day after introducing Present Perfect in a live session, so the concepts are still warm.
• ✓ Review the per-exercise analytics before the next session. Exercises with below-50% accuracy reveal exactly which distinctions need more live practice.
• ✓ For B1+ learners, add a for vs. since mini-module once the core tense is stable.

A path is a series of lessons and exercises you assign to your students. You don't need any files or code to build one — everything happens right in your dashboard, and a first path takes only a few minutes.

Build your first path in five steps

1. 1

   Click "New Path"

   From your dashboard, click the New Path button to start a blank path.

2. 2

   Name it and describe it

   Give the path a clear title (e.g. "Present Perfect — B1") and a short description of what students will learn. Add a few optional tags like "English B1" or "Grammar" to keep things organised, then click Create Path.

3. 3

   Add your first lesson

   You'll land straight in the path editor. Click Add lesson and give it a title — a lesson groups together the exercises for one topic or objective.

4. 4

   Add exercises

   Inside the lesson, click Add Exercise, pick an exercise type, then write the question, the correct answer, and an optional explanation shown after the student answers. Set how much XP it's worth. Repeat to add as many exercises as you like.

5. 5

   Invite your students

   When the path is ready, invite students by email or share the invite link. They'll see the path in their app and can start straight away.

The seven exercise types

When you add an exercise, you can choose from seven types — mix them to keep practice varied:

• ✓Multiple choice — pick the correct option.
• ✓Fill in the blank — type the missing word or phrase.
• ✓True / false — decide whether a sentence is correct.
• ✓Match the pairs — connect items on the left with their match on the right.
• ✓Reconstruct the sentence — put shuffled words in the right order.
• ✓Complete the sentence — choose or type the words that finish it.
• ✓Pronunciation — the student records themselves saying a sentence aloud.