FCE WRITINGS - fce9am.pbworks.com

1 FCE WRITINGS In the fce writing paper students are required to produce two pieces of writing . The first piece is compulsory and will be an essay of 140 190 words. For the second, they can choose from an article, email/letter, essay, review or story of 140 190 words. ESSAY/ DISCUSSION .. 1 INFORMAL LETTER/ EMAIL .. 3 FORMAL LETTER/ EMAIL .. 5 LETTER OF APPLICATION .. 7 AN ARTICLE .. 8 A REPORT .. 9 FILM REVIEW .. 11 REVIEW OF A RESTAURANT .. 12 A STORY .. 13 1 B2 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. In the FCE you are asked to write an essay based on a title and notes. There are no right or wrong answers to the question. The important thing is to make sure you include all three points in your essay and explain your point of view.

2 Example: In your English class, you have recently had a discussion about relationships. Now your teacher has asked you to write an essay. Write an essay using all the notes and give reasons for your point of view. Is it better to live alone or with someone else? Notes Write about: 1. independence 2. money 3. _____ (your own idea) Write your essay in 140-190 words in an appropriate style. Plan how many paragraphs you will need and decide which ideas you will include in each one. a) 1 Introduction 2 Advantages / Pros 3 Disadvantages / Cons 4 Conclusion b) 1 Introduction 2 Advantages/pros and disadvantages/cons 3 Conclusion c) 1 Introduction 2 Idea 1 3 Idea 2 4 Your own idea 5 Conclusion 2 Don t start by saying I agree Don t start an essay with in this/my essay phrase. Don t repeat information. State the topic in your first sentence.

3 Use rhetorical questions to engage the reader with the topic. Use linking expressions to introduce new points in a new paragraph. Remember to include ideas 1 and 2 plus your own idea. Cite examples. Don t forget to express your opinion in the conclusion. Linking words: Nowadays, more and more ../ many people .. Others argue that .. It is widely believed that .. It is generally agreed that .. 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 .. A positive / beneficial / negative effect 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, On top of that Others argue There is no doubt that .. / It is clear We should consider.

4 / We should bear in mind that .. / We should take into account that .. There is a strong argument First of all, / Firstly / Secondly / and the third and final reason is that .. The first thing to be considered is .. Last but not least, .. In other words, ../ That is to To put it more To clarify the point, .. To sum up / In conclusion To sum up, despite the arguments put forward in favour of .. As a result, .. / Therefore, ..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 .. / As far as I can / I firmly believe that .. / My personal view is that .. 3 B2 INFORMAL LETTER/ EMAIL Greeting Dear (first name), Dear (first name), or Hi (first name) (for informal e-mails) Beginnings Thank you/Many thanks for your (recent/last) letter/postcard.

5 It was good/nice/great to hear from you recently. I m sorry I haven t written/been in touch for such a long time. It s ages since I ve heard from you. I hope you re/you and your family are well. Asking Hi! / How are the things? / How are you? / How s it going? Referring to their news Great news about .. Glad to hear that .. Sorry to hear about .. Giving news Listen, did I tell you about ..? You ll never believe what .. Oh, and another thing .. This is just to let you know that .. I thought you might be interested to hear about/know that .. By the way, have you heard about/did you know that .. Apologies I m writing to apologise for missing your party but I m afraid I was with flu. I m really sorry that I forgot to send you a birthday card but I was busy with my new job. If you let me know where you bought it/how much it cost I ll gladly pay for it/replace it. Please let me know how much the bill is and I ll gladly pay it.

6 Invitations I m/We re having a party on Friday 19th and I/we hope you ll be able to come. Would you like to come/go to see Room With a View with me at the weekend? I was wondering if you d like to go to the theatre/come on holiday with us? Could you let me/us know if you can come/you d like to join us? Thank you very much for your invitation. I d love to come. Thank you for asking/inviting me to .. but I m afraid I won t be able to .. Requests I m writing to ask for your help/you (if you could do me) a favour. I wonder if/I was wondering if you could help me/do me a favour. I hope you don t mind me asking but could you (possibly) ..? I d be very/really/terribly grateful if you could .. Thank you / Congratulations / Good Luck I m writing to thank you for your hospitality/the wonderful present. It was so kind of you to invite me to stay with you. I really appreciated all your help/advice.

7 Congratulations on passing your exams/your excellent exam results! I wish you good luck/Good luck in/with your exams/your driving test/your interview. Don t worry, I m sure you ll do well/pass. 4 Making suggestions and recommend Why don t you ..? Maybe you could ..? How about ..? You can t leave New York without doing sth I m sure you will enjoy doing sth If you like, we can .. Do visit (somewhere). Don t forget to (do sth) (Imperative -> Strong Recommendation) I was told that .. People say that .. (If you heard sth is good) If I were you, I would .. Make sure you .. You could/ should try -ing Endings I think that brings you up to date on what I ve been up to. Do write soon and let me know what you ve been doing. Once again, thanks so much for .. Please say hi to .. from me. Give my love to .. Write back soon and let me know how it goes (I m) Looking forward to hearing from you I ll finish now as I m running out of space.

8 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 .. Bye for now I d better get going Can t wait to see you again (Give my) love/regards to Give my love/regards to .. Say hello to .. Hope to hear from you soon. See you soon! Write soon. Once again, thank you for all your help. Signing off Love, Lots of love, All the best, Best wishes, Bye for now, 5 B2 FORMAL LETTER/ EMAIL Greeting Dear Sir or Madam, (In case you don t know the name Yours Faithfully) Dear Mr X, ( Yours Sincerely) Paragraph 1 Give your reason for writing (Who I am (not the name!), What I want, When and Where it happened) I am writing with regard/reference to (the article which appeared when/where) to express my concern about/disappointment with/dissatisfaction with/disapproval of/apologies for (motivation) I am writing in reply I have been asked to write to you In response to your letter of 15 January, I am writing I am writing to request further information about.

9 / I enclose a copy of .. 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 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.

10 If you require further information, please do not hesitate to ask. Thank you for considering these requests. I trust/very much hope you will (consider/print this letter in the next issue of your newspaper) I am sure you will I would appreciate it/be grateful if you would .. I look forward to receiving/seeing I look forward to receiving your response to .. I look forward to hearing your views on .. 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) 6 Your signature Print your name clearly Use: Indirect questions, formal language and expressions. Don t use: contractions, colloquial vocabulary or colloquial expressions. Linking Words: Formal Less formal Addition furthermore, in addition to, in the same way as, moreover, similarly also, and, as well as, besides, just as Opposition although, however, nevertheless, nonetheless, whereas but, or, so, on the other hand Reference in all cases, in general, in many cases, in most cases, in some cases, regarding, with reference to since, so Cause and effect (result) accordingly, consequently, on the whole, therefore, thus, unfortunately anyway, at any rate, because, because of Listing firstly, finally, in the first place, secondly, lastly, next after, and, and then, before, first, last, second, soon, then 7 B2 LETTER OF APPLICATION Follow the layout of a formal letter/email.