Week 03 — Present perfect, leadership verbs, meeting notes¶

This week

Grammar: Present perfect vs past simple, and time expressions · Vocabulary: Tech-leadership verbs (champion, unblock, de-risk, socialize, codify) · Idioms & phrasal verbs: Risk and uncertainty: in the pipeline, up in the air, in the works, touch and go, a long shot · Speaking: Intonation for emphasis and questions · Writing: Meeting notes and action items · Soft skill: Receiving feedback without defensiveness

Day 1 — Grammar: Present perfect vs past simple, and time expressions¶

⏱ 30 min · Mon

Rule in 60 seconds¶

Past simple = an action or state that is finished and located at a finished time: "We deployed the fix yesterday." Time markers: yesterday, last week, in 2023, two days ago, when, at 3 a.m. Questions with when or what time always take past simple.
Present perfect (have/has + past participle) = a past event connected to now: (1) a result that matters now ("The pipeline has failed, so nothing is deploying"); (2) experience up to now ("I have led three migrations"); (3) a period that is not finished ("this week, so far, since 2021, for six years"). Common markers: already, yet, just, ever, never, recently, lately, so far.
Present perfect continuous stresses duration or an activity with visible results: "We have been migrating for months." Stative verbs (know, be, have, want) do not take the continuous: "I have known him since 2015."
Unfinished period, careful: this morning is present perfect only while it is still morning; after that use past simple.
The error fluent speakers make: using present perfect with a finished time ("I have seen him yesterday"), using present simple with since/for ("I work here since 2019"), and asking "When have you joined?" American English accepts past simple with already/yet/just in speech ("Did you eat yet?"), but present perfect is safer in writing and in British usage.

Exercise¶

Choose the correct form or fix the error.

We (deployed / have deployed) the fix at 3 a.m.
I (worked / have worked) on this platform since 2021.
When (did you join / have you joined) the team?
Fix: Last quarter we have reduced infrastructure costs by 12 percent.
Fix: We are waiting for the vendor since Monday.
This week we (resolved / have resolved) three incidents. (It is Thursday.)
We (resolved / have resolved) three incidents last week.
Fix: How long do you work on this system?
Fix: I know the product manager since 2015.
The team (has been migrating / was migrating) services for months, and it is nearly done.

Answers and explanations

deployed (specific finished time: 3 a.m.). 2. have worked (since + unfinished period). 3. did you join (when + past simple). 4. ...we reduced costs by 12 percent. (Last quarter is finished.) 5. ...we have been waiting for the vendor since Monday. 6. have resolved (this week is unfinished). 7. resolved (last week is finished). 8. How long have you worked / have you been working on this system? 9. I have known the product manager since 2015. (Know is stative: no continuous.) 10. has been migrating (duration to now, with the current relevance "nearly done").

Use it¶

Say three true sentences: one with since, one with yesterday or last week, one with so far this month. Notice which tense each requires.

Day 2 — Vocabulary: Tech-leadership verbs (champion, unblock, de-risk)¶

⏱ 30 min · Tue

Word	Part of speech	Meaning	Example
champion	verb / noun	verb: to actively support and advocate for an idea or initiative; noun: the person who does so	She championed the move to contract testing across four teams.
unblock	verb	to remove an obstacle that prevents someone or something from progressing (informal, common in engineering)	I spent the morning unblocking the mobile team by fixing the API mock.
de-risk	verb	to reduce the uncertainty or risk of a project, often through early experiments or staged delivery	We de-risked the rewrite by migrating one low-traffic service first.
socialize	verb	in business US usage: to circulate an idea informally to build support before a formal decision	Let's socialize the proposal with the platform leads before the review.
codify	verb	to put practices or rules into a clear, written, systematic form	The incident channel etiquette was never written down; we codified it in a runbook.

Collocations and word family¶

champion an initiative / a cause / a change; a champion (of quality), an internal champion, executive champion; do not confuse with sponsor (provides budget or cover).
unblock a team / a colleague / a release / a pipeline; opposite block; noun blocker; phrasal clear the way.
de-risk a project / a launch / an investment; often early, cheaply; also written derisk. Noun: derisking.
socialize an idea / a proposal / a plan; socialize with also means to mix with people, so context matters. Register: US corporate; some readers find it jargon.
codify a policy / standards / best practices / a process; noun codification.

Exercise¶

Fill the gaps with this week's words; use a form that fits.

The prototype was meant to ___ the project by testing the riskiest assumption first.
I'd like to ___ the design with the security team before I book the formal review.
Our principal engineer has ___ observability for two years; that's why every team now uses tracing.
The unwritten deployment rules should be ___ in the wiki.
My manager's job this week is to ___ three teams stuck on the same approval.
Chen is the internal ___ for adopting the new data platform.
Review words: a good status update should ___ the risk with a number. (Week 1)
Review words: you need to ___ your claim with evidence. (Week 1)

Answers and explanations

de-risk. 2. socialize. 3. championed. 4. codified. 5. unblock. 6. champion (noun). 7. quantify. 8. substantiate.

Use it¶

Write three sentences about your team: someone you unblocked, an initiative you championed or could champion, and a way to de-risk your next project.

Day 3 — Speaking: Intonation for emphasis and questions¶

⏱ 30 min · Wed

Prompt (60-90 seconds)¶

"Describe a recent surprise on a project. Ask two rhetorical or direct questions in your answer and make one point strongly."

Structure¶

Setup -> Surprise (emphasized) -> Question to the audience -> What you did.

Pronunciation micro-drill¶

Falling tune (pitch drops on the last stressed syllable): statements, commands, and wh-questions. "We shipped it YESTerday. ↘ What WENT wrong? ↘"
Rising tune: yes/no questions and checking. "Did the tests PASS? ↗" "So we're DEploying on Friday? ↗"
Fall-rise (↘↗): "yes, but..." or partial agreement or hesitancy. "The design is FINE, ↘↗ (but I have concerns)." It signals something is coming.
Emphasis = the nuclear stress. The most important word carries the biggest pitch movement and is louder and longer. Move the stress to change the meaning:
- "I didn't say the migration failed." (someone else said it)
- "I didn't SAY the migration failed." (I implied it)
- "I didn't say the MIGRATION failed." (something else did)
Lists: rising on each item, falling on the last: "latency ↗, throughput ↗, and COST ↘."
Drill: read each sentence three times moving the nuclear stress to different words, and say what each version implies.

Self-check¶

My yes/no questions rose and my wh-questions fell.
I put the biggest pitch movement on the key word, not the last word automatically.
My list intonation signalled continuation (rise) and completion (fall).
I did not use a flat tone throughout.
I recorded a version with exaggerated intonation and compared it with my natural one.

Day 4 — Idioms & phrasal verbs: Risk and uncertainty: in the pipeline, up in the air¶

⏱ 30 min · Thu

Expression	Meaning	Example
in the pipeline	planned or in development, not yet delivered; neutral, business	We have two new integrations in the pipeline for next quarter.
up in the air	undecided, uncertain; informal	The launch date is still up in the air until legal signs off.
in the works	being prepared or developed; informal, US	A rate-limiting feature is in the works.
touch and go	uncertain, with a real chance of failure; informal, more UK but understood in the US	It was touch and go whether we'd finish before the freeze.
a long shot	an attempt unlikely to succeed; informal	Getting the vendor to fix this by Friday is a long shot.

Exercise¶

"The budget decision is still ___ the air."
"Two hires are in the ___ for Q4." (pipeline / cracks / snag)
Which idiom means "unlikely to succeed but worth trying"?
Rewrite: "Whether we can restore service in time is genuinely uncertain, with real risk of failure."
Rewrite plainly: "It's in the works."
True/false: in the pipeline is inappropriate in formal business writing.
Choose the best: "The result is ___ until we see the load test." (a long shot / up in the air / in the pipeline)
Which two expressions describe things being prepared?

Answers and explanations

up in the air. 2. pipeline. 3. a long shot. 4. "It was touch and go whether we could restore service in time." 5. "It's being developed / prepared." 6. False: in the pipeline is neutral; in the works and up in the air are informal. 7. up in the air (undecided pending information). 8. in the pipeline, in the works.

When NOT to use them

In risk registers and contracts, use precise language: "probability: 30 percent; decision date: 15 Oct". Do not use touch and go in customer-facing incident updates: it sounds alarming and vague. Avoid pipeline when you also mean a CI/CD pipeline in the same paragraph: ambiguity.

Day 5 — Writing: Meeting notes and action items¶

⏱ 30 min · Fri

Good notes: decisions, actions (owner + deadline), open questions, and a two-line summary. Notes are not a transcript.

Bad draft¶

Meeting notes: We talked about the release. John said there might be a problem with the database and someone should look at it. Sarah thinks we should maybe wait. Then we discussed the vendor and how the contract is going. Also there was a discussion about the new dashboard and how it should work. People were generally in agreement. We'll meet again soon.

Task¶

Rewrite as structured notes in under 120 words. Invent plausible details: two decisions, three action items (owner + date), one open question.

Model answer and what changed

Release sync, 2 Oct. Attendees: John, Sarah, Priya, Rahul. Summary: Release 4.2 is on hold pending a database check; vendor contract review continues.

Decisions 1. Hold release 4.2 until the migration script is verified (Sarah, Priya). 2. Build the dashboard in phases, starting with tracking status.

Actions - John: run migration script on staging by Mon 6 Oct. - Sarah: confirm rollback plan by Tue 7 Oct. - Rahul: send vendor contract questions to Legal by Fri 3 Oct.

Open question: Can the vendor deliver the connector by 20 Oct? (Owner: Priya; answer due 8 Oct.) Next meeting: Thu 9 Oct.

Summary first (2 lines).
Vague "someone should look" became an owner and a date.
Removed opinions attributed loosely; recorded decisions instead.
Open questions have owners.
Fixed next-meeting date replaces "soon".

Day 6 — Speaking record: Intonation for emphasis and questions (2-minute recording)¶

⏱ 30 min · Sat

Task¶

Record 2 minutes. Prompt: "Explain why a decision your team made was right, and address one likely objection with a question and a response." Use varied intonation: falling for statements, rising for checking, emphasis on key words.

Structure¶

Decision (20 s) -> Reasons (50 s) -> Objection as a question (20 s) -> Response (30 s).

Scoring rubric (1-4)¶

Criterion	1	2	3	4
Clarity	hard to follow	main idea recoverable	clear	effortless
Structure	no order	partial	clear start and end	signposted
Fluency	frequent long pauses	noticeable hesitations	occasional	smooth
Grammar accuracy	blocks meaning	frequent errors	occasional	rare
Vocabulary range	basic	some variety	good	precise, varied
Pronunciation	unintelligible in places	needs effort	mostly clear	clear stress, rhythm, intonation

Shadowing task¶

Shadow one minute of an expressive speaker: a TED talk (ted.com) or a BBC Learning English episode (bbc.co.uk/learningenglish). Mark pitch peaks on the transcript and copy them.

Log your score: date, total /24, weakest criterion, whether your intonation felt flat (yes/no).

Day 7 — Soft skills + weekly review: Receiving feedback without defensiveness¶

⏱ 30 min · Sun

Scenario¶

After your architecture presentation, the VP of Product, Elena, says: "Honestly, I found the deck too technical. I didn't get what decision you wanted from me." You feel it was unfair: you had a whole slide on the decision.

Task¶

Write a 150-word response (or script) that: acknowledges, asks for one concrete example, states what you will change, and does not defend or over-apologize.

Model response and techniques

"Thank you, Elena. That's useful to hear. I want to make sure I understand: was it the level of detail, or that the decision wasn't clear early enough? Could you point to one place where I lost you?

(After her answer.) That makes sense. I put the decision on slide nine, and it should have been the first thing you saw. In the next version I'll open with a one-line recommendation and the decision I need, then keep the technical detail in an appendix. May I send you a revised version by Wednesday and get your reaction?"

Techniques: thank without agreeing to everything; clarify before reacting; separate impact from intent; specific commitment and date; no justification ("but I had a slide...").

Weekly recap (20 items)¶

Tense: "We ___ (deploy) it yesterday." 2. Tense: "I ___ (work) here since 2019." 3. Correct: "When have you joined?" 4. Which markers go with present perfect? 5. Which go with past simple? 6. Correct: "Last week we have fixed 3 bugs." 7. Why "I have known him since 2015" and not "have been knowing"? 8. Define champion (verb). 9. What does unblock mean? 10. Define de-risk. 11. What does socialize an idea mean in business? 12. Define codify. 13. Meaning of in the pipeline. 14. Meaning of up in the air. 15. Register of touch and go? 16. Falling or rising: yes/no question? 17. What is nuclear stress? 18. What does a fall-rise signal? 19. What are the four parts of good meeting notes? 20. First response to critical feedback: defend or clarify?

Answers

deployed. 2. have worked / have been working. 3. "When did you join?" 4. since, for, so far, already, yet, ever, this week. 5. yesterday, last week, ago, in + past year, when. 6. "Last week we fixed 3 bugs." 7. Know is stative. 8. Actively advocate for an initiative. 9. Remove an obstacle. 10. Reduce the risk or uncertainty. 11. Circulate it informally to build support. 12. Put practices into clear written form. 13. Planned, in development. 14. Undecided. 15. Informal, uncertain outcome. 16. Rising. 17. The main stressed syllable with the pitch movement. 18. Reservation ("yes, but..."). 19. Summary, decisions, actions (owner+date), open questions. 20. Clarify.

Self-score¶

I chose the right tense in at least 8 of 10 Day 1 items.
I can use champion, unblock, de-risk naturally.
My intonation varied on my recording.
My meeting notes had owners and dates.
I responded to feedback with a question this week.

Error log: write your top 3 recurring mistakes (tense choice with time markers is a typical one).