FCE WRITINGS Informal letter/ email page 1 Formal letter/ email page 2 Letter of Application page 3 Narrative/ A story page 4 Essay/ Discussion page 5 Report (formal/ informal) pages 6-7 Article page 8 Review page 9
INFORMAL LETTER/ EMAIL Your address The date Greeting Hi... / Dear..., Introduction Ask your friend some introductory questions. How are you?/ How are you doing?/ How is it going?/ How are you keeping? I hope the summer job is going well. Have you decided where to go on holiday? It was great to hear that I m sorry it s taken me so long to write to you. Paragraph 1 Describe where you are (the place/the weather). Anyway, we re camping in the Isle of Skye. We re staying on a campsite It rained every single day. Paragraph 2 Say what you are doing. Luckily, we didn t come here for the nightlife! Actually, there isn t We go walking every day and yesterday Paragraph 3 Mention any other thing you find important, anecdotes Here s some news for you about You ll never guess what happened to me Ending Make up an excuse to stop writing. Well, I must finish it s my turn to cook tonight. Write back soon. I d better close now, I ve got to study for an exam. Can t wait to hear from you. Please write and tell me Signing off Say goodbye and sign your name. All the best, / Lots of love, / Best wishes Janet Useful vocabulary: Weather, accommodation (tent, youth hostel, campsite, farm, rented cottage, hotel), locations (in a forest, in the middle of nowhere, in the mountains, on the coast, near a town), activities (canoeing, diving, parachuting, rafting, sailing, trekking ). Linking: Involve the reader with questions (How are you? / Can you believe it?). Refer to the reader (Here s some news for you / So you can imagine what he s like! / You can tell me all your news!) Begin sentences with informal linkers (Anyway, we re / Luckily, we didn t / Actually, there isn t / But then, we re / Well, I must finish ) Style: Informal linkers, words and expressions. 1
FORMAL LETTER/ EMAIL Your address The date Company s name and address Greeting Dear Sir or Madam, / Dear Mr, / Dear Ms, Paragraph 1 Give your reason for writing I am writing to you with reference to / I am writing to complain about / I am interested in / I enclose a copy of / I am writing in response to the advertisement / I am writing to request further information about / However, I would like to suggest some improvements which I feel could be made Paragraph 2 Write about your problem/ what you need/ your suggestions/ your requests I would like / I would also like / I feel that / I would be grateful if you could tell me / My first complaint is / Not only but also / In addition, / The was also unacceptable./ The first thing I want to inform you of is / I would like to begin by informing you that / The first request I would like you to consider is / I would also like to request permission for Paragraph 3 Write some suggestions I would like to suggest / Secondly, / A further possibility is / Another possibility would be / I suggest that you replace the item/ I would be grateful if you could give me a refund. Formal ending Thank you in anticipation for your help. / I enclose a reference from / I hope you will consider my application./ If you require further information, please do not hesitate to ask./ Thank you for considering these requests. I look forward to hearing from you. Yours faithfully, (if you do not know the name of the person you are writing to) Yours sincerely, (if you know the name of the person you are writing to) Your signature Print your name clearly Use: Indirect questions, formal language and expressions. Don t use: contractions, colloquial vocabulary or colloquial expressions. 2
LETTER OF APPLICATION Follow the layout of a formal letter/email. The only difference is that this letter is to apply for a job. Greeting (like in formal letters/ emails) Explain where and when you saw the job advertised Reason for writing: I am writing with regard to/ in response to which I saw Provide details about yourself, including qualifications, experience, character and appearance, where relevant. Describing your character: I am generally considered to be Presenting qualifications: I passed with an A./ I also have a qualification in Describing experience: I have some experience of this work because / Although I have no direct experience Describing appearance (if needed) Offer or ask for further information and say when you are available for interview Requesting information: I wonder if you could tell me / Do you think you could let me know? Offering further information: If you require further information, please do not hesitate to contact me. Referring to interview: I am available for interview any time/ at your convenience. Ending the letter (like in formal letters/ emails) 3
NARRATIVE/ A STORY First think of a general outline for your story. Make sure your story has well organized paragraphs, a variety of past tenses, a wide range of vocabulary and appropriate linking words. 1. Introduction Write a few sentences to set the scene and introduce the characters. Describe the main action. 2. Main events Write what happened. 3. Ending Write a suitable ending to your story. Useful vocabulary: Weather (freezing, foggy, sunny ) Places (castle, woods, valley ) Verbs (escape, get back, get lost, recognise ) Adjectives (frightening, amazing, awful ) Linking words: It all began, shortly afterwards, a little later, eventually, when, during, before, first, as soon as, after, afterwards, then, suddenly, all of a sudden, just at that moment, out of the blue, later, just then, immediately, while, meanwhile, whereas, in the end, at last, finally, in the end, when it was all over, after everything that had happened, looking back now, it all had been Verb tenses: Past Simple, Past Continuous, Past Perfect 4
ESSAY/ DISCUSSION Essays normally take the form of a statement on which you are invited to give your opinion. They are formal and normally written for your teacher. a) 1 Introduction 2 Advantages / Pros 3 Disadvantages / Cons 4 Conclusion b) 1 Introduction 2 Advantages/pros and disadvantages/cons 3 Conclusion Linking words: On the positive side, On the negative side, One big (dis)advantage of is The main (dis)advantage is Another (dis)advantage is A further benefit/drawback would be In spite of/despite Despite the fact that On the one hand, / On the other hand, Although, However, Whereas, While Furthermore, In addition, Apart from that, Besides, Moreover Others argue that There is no doubt that We should consider As far as I can see First of all / Firstly / Secondly / and the third and final reason is that The first thing to be considered is In other words To put it more simply That is to say As a result To sum up / In conclusion To sum up, despite the arguments put forward in favour of On this basis, I can conclude that Given this, it can be concluded that It seems to me / I believe / To my mind / I strongly believe / I think / It s my opinion that 5
AN INFORMAL REPORT Heading To: From: Date: Subject: 1. General Description X is. The aim of this report is to 2. List of good points There are several good things about 3. List of bad points On the other hand, I find these things disappointing. 4 Conclusion Finish the report by making suggestions. (should, need to) I would like to suggest / I therefore (not) suggest Example: Living in Barcelona Useful vocabulary: Positive adjectives cheap, clean, easy, free, frequent, good, punctual Negative adjectives damaged, dangerous, dirty, expensive, inefficient, polluted Nouns accident, bicycle track, bus fares, bus service, bypass, car park, lorries, old buildings, pedestrian area, public transport, shopping centre, traffic jam, traffic lights, train service, zebra crossing Linking words - On the one hand, / On the other hand, Although, However, Whereas, While Furthermore, In addition, Apart from that, Besides, Moreover How can I justify my opinions? Personally, I (don t) think we should choose because I would definitely (not) include because It would be better to include as I (don t) feel that it s important to include as To sum up / In conclusion 6
A FORMAL REPORT Heading To: From: Date: Subject: 1. General Description X is. The aim of this report is to examine/analyse / My findings are analysed/ presented/ outlined below 2. Findings It was noted that 20% of those questioned believed that 3. Conclusion To sum up, it seems evident that 4. Recommendation A letter should be sent to/ A meeting should be held with (x)/ You may wish to consider / I would like to recommend 7
ARTICLE You are often asked to write articles for newspapers or magazines. Make sure you know who you are writing for because that tells you how formal your article should be. An article for other students should be lively, interesting and not too formal. You can use questions to interest your readers. 1. Introduction. What the article is about. Ask questions to involve the reader. 2. Body. 3. Conclusion, including your personal opinion and leaving the reader something to think about at the end. Use rhetorical questions: Have you ever? Are you one of those people who? What do you think about? Linking words: First of all, In the first place, To begin with, One thing to consider is There is no doubt that It is important to highlight that On the one hand, / On the other hand, Although, However, Whereas, While Furthermore, In addition, Apart from that, Besides, Moreover Astonishingly / Interestingly / Curiously / Worryingly / Sadly / It is sad that / It is strange that / It is of some concern that / It is regrettable that / It s worth noting that To sum up / In conclusion It seems to me / I believe / To my mind / I strongly believe / I think 8
FILM/ TV SERIES/ ES/ PLAY/ BOOK/ HOTEL/ RESTAURANT REVIEW Paragraph 1: Introduction FILMS,TV SERIES or PLAYS title year directed / written by set in main characters music/soundtrack RESTAURANTS or HOTELS location service owned/ run by prices book in advance Paragraph 2: The plot or description of the place In Present Simple Paragraph 3: Conclusion, giving your opinion on it. Recommendations, strengths, weaknesses Linking words: It is a based on It is adapted from The story centres around As the story develops/ unfolds By coincidence when, during, before, first, as soon as, after, afterwards, then, suddenly, later, just then, immediately, while, whereas, in the end, at last, finally. It seems to me / I believe / To my mind / I strongly believe / I think I was disappointed by I was pleasantly surprised by If you get a chance to Vocabulary: cast perform / performance special effects scene star sequel remake stuntman comedy, thriller, western, romance, drama, science fiction, action, horror, fantasy, animation role / to play a role episode / chapter writer/ playwright/ author entertaining thought-provoking don t miss it! 9