Street Food Stories — Teaching Guide

Street Food Stories — Teaching Guide

How to use this guide

Answers are given in full so you never have to work them out mid-lesson. Timings are a guide — if the grammar discussion is going well, take the minutes from the writing block.

Before the lesson

• Divide the board into two columns: head the left Life experience (Present Perfect) and the right Specific time (Past Simple). Do this before learners arrive.
• Write the five comprehension questions on the board, or have the handout ready.
• Have the passage read once yourself so you know where the hard words are.
• Board space reserved for: the form table (top), ever/never usage (middle left), the Present Perfect vs Past Simple contrast (middle right), learner sentences (bottom).

Reading (10 min)

Read the passage aloud once while learners follow on the handout, at a natural pace — don't stop for every unknown word.

Then let them read it silently and underline every Present Perfect verb. Around ten is fine.

Three words are worth pre-teaching: street stall, market, community — they are on the handout, so point rather than explain.

Let these go — learners will work them out from context: tacos, recipe, night market.

Do not name the tense yet. Ask only: which verbs describe things that have happened in the writer's life, and which one is different? Note their answers, unedited — the cook sells is Present Simple, a daily fact.

Comprehension (5 min)

Learners answer in pairs. Then take one question per pair, from five different pairs.

1. How many countries has the writer eaten street food in?
   Answer: Three different countries — ["I have eaten street food in three different countries"], a life experience with no time given.
   Accept also: Three; in three countries.
2. Has the writer ever tasted anything like those tacos?
   Answer: No. The writer has never tasted anything like them — ["I have never tasted anything like the tacos in Mexico City"], Present Perfect with never.
   Accept also: No, never; nothing like them.
3. How long has the cook been making tacos?
   Answer: Over twenty years — ["The cook has made tacos for over twenty years"], with for, and he is still making them.
   Accept also: For over twenty years; more than twenty years.
4. Why hasn't Tom ever eaten street food?
   Answer: He's afraid of getting sick — ["I have always been afraid of getting sick"], a state that began in the past and is still true.
   Accept also: Because he is afraid of getting sick; he is afraid he will get sick.
5. What has Tom heard about the night market?
   Answer: That it's amazing and clean — ["the night market near the harbour is amazing and clean"], news from the past that matters now.
   Accept also: He has heard it is amazing and clean.

Speaking (15 min)

Pairs work through the four questions. Circulate with a pencil and note one good Present Perfect exchange per pair — you will read them out at the end. Do not interrupt to correct; note and move on.

1. What is the most unusual food you have ever eaten? Where was it? Would you eat it again?

• Listening for: a correct Have you ever…? exchange and a Past Simple detail.
• Follow-up: "Would you eat it again — yes or no, and why?"
• Include quiet learners: ask for one food name only; that is enough.

2. Have you ever tried a food you didn't like at first, and learned to enjoy? What changed?

• Listening for: the contrast structure — at first I didn't like it, but now I…
• Follow-up: "What made you change your mind?" — pushes for a reason.
• Include quiet learners: let them answer with a food name, then ask yes/no on trying it again.

3. Why do you think street food is so popular in some places and not others?

• Listening for: an opinion with a reason. Save it for faster pairs.
• Follow-up: "Is it about trust, hygiene, culture — or something else?" — offers a scaffold.
• Include quiet learners: ask them to pick one of the three options.

4. If you could open a street food stall, what would you sell?

• Listening for: willingness to imagine — the conditional would is above B1, so let it emerge.
• Follow-up: "What would make your stall special?" — keeps the conversation moving.
• Include quiet learners: offer three options (tacos, dumplings, grilled meat) and ask them to pick one.

Grammar (20 min)

Do not open with the rule. Elicit it.

Step 1 — find the experience verbs. Ask learners to find every verb that describes a life experience. Write them on the board as they call them out: have eaten, have tried, have never changed.

Step 2 — name the tense. Label the column Present Perfect. Ask what two words make it up: have or has + the past participle. Underline have/has each time.

Step 3 — board the form table.

Step 4 — ever and never. Ask: how do we ask whether someone has had an experience at any time? Elicit ever. Write: Have you ever tried street food? Ask: how do we say we have not had that experience at any time? Elicit never. Write: I have never eaten insects. Underline ever in questions and never in statements. Add: never means not ever, so it needs no other negative.

Step 5 — the contrast. This is the heart of the lesson. Ask: I have eaten street food — when did it happen? Learners will say they don't know, and that is the point. Then write: I ate street food yesterday. Ask: can we say I have eaten street food yesterday? — no, because yesterday is a specific finished time, so we use Past Simple. Board the contrast:

Step 6 — Exercise 1, in books, then checked. Every answer and its reason is in the Answer key below; say the reason aloud as you check it, because the reason is the lesson.

Step 7 — Exercise 2, in pairs, then aloud. Learners write a full answer for each question. Take answers from several pairs; the Answer key gives one for every question. Read a few aloud and correct the form gently where needed.

Writing (10 min)

Success criteria — read these out before they start:

• exactly five questions, each starting with Have you ever…? or Has … ever…? (for he/she/it)
• each question has a true short answer (Yes, I have. / No, I haven't.) and, where true, a Past Simple detail
• the questions are about food and experiences, not about schoolwork

Model answer to read aloud:

Mark the five questions for correct form. Do not correct anything else on the page.

Answer key

Numbered to match the handout. The reason in brackets is the part worth saying aloud.

Exercise 1

1. Have … ever tried — ever asks about a life experience at any time, and no time is given.
2. have never eaten — a life experience with no specific time; never already carries the negative, so no haven't.
3. tried — last weekend is a specific finished time, so Past Simple (try → tried).
4. Has … ever made — ever asks about a life experience; he takes has, not have.
5. have never eaten — being vegetarian is a life state, not a finished moment; no time is given.
6. had — last summer is a specific finished time, so Past Simple (have → had).

Exercise 2 (rows in handout order)

1. Have you ever eaten street food? — Yes, I have. I've eaten tacos in Mexico. / No, I've never eaten street food.
2. Have you ever tried a food you didn't like? — Yes, I have. I tried durian once and I hated it. / No, I've never tried a food I didn't like.
3. Have you ever cooked a meal from another country? — Yes, I have. I've cooked pasta from scratch. / No, I haven't, but I want to try.
4. Have you ever been to a food market? — Yes, I have. I've been to the local market many times. / No, I've never been to one. [been is the past participle of be.]
5. Have you ever eaten something very spicy? — Yes, I have. I ate a very spicy curry last year. / No, I've never eaten anything very spicy.

Writing and Homework are open tasks — mark them against the model answer in the Writing section above.

Anticipated problems

You say: "The verb after have or has is the third form — the past participle. Ate is the simple past of eat; the participle is eaten. So: Have you ever eaten street food?"

You say: "Same rule — after have, use the third form. Eat → ate → eaten. I have never eaten insects."

You say: "Look at yesterday — that is a specific finished time, so we use Past Simple. I ate street food yesterday. Present Perfect is for when the time is not important or not given."

You say: "That is grammatical, but for a life experience with ever we use Have you ever tried…? For this lesson, stick with that."

You say: "One negative is enough. Never already means not ever, so we don't need haven't as well. I have never eaten meat. Or: I haven't ever eaten meat."

You say: "She is third person singular, so it takes has, not have. She has eaten street food. Remember: I/you/we/they have, he/she/it has."

Wrap-up and homework

Close in two minutes: ask one learner to state the difference between Present Perfect and Past Simple in one sentence, and another to give one Have you ever…? question.

Set the homework: ask three people what is the most unusual food they have ever eaten. Write their answers in full Present Perfect sentences. Bring them to the next lesson — you will use them as a warm-up.