WRITING A LETTER OF COMPLAINT

 

Go to 'writing' to get a copy of this picture  and some model letters. 

WRITING AN ARTICLE

An opinion article, as the very name suggests, mainly reflects the author's opinion about a particular subject.

Steps to follow:

1) Analyse the task: who is going to read the article? It will be decisive in order to choose a style and the kind of information to be included.

2) Brainstrom and Organise your ideas. This crucial steps are disgracefully skipped by most students. If you don't know what to say and in which order, you are likely to fail in cohesion.

3) Write you article in paragraphs. Remember to make your writing more interesting by using a variety of adjectives. Don't forget your linkers and connectors! Introduce the topic, expand the different ideas and finish the piece with a final conclusion to give a sense of completion.


Go to 'Writing' for a more accurate explanation on how to write an article, well as to see some models.

And finally, remember you have homework! You have to write an article in about 150-170 words on the advantatges and disadvantatges of smartphones, page 120 of our student's book.

WRITING: A NIGHTMARE JOURNEY

Remember you have to write a story.
Go to 'Writing' to get the explanation below as a document. You can also get some samples of nightmare journeys to give you ideas.

When writing a short story, LANGUAGE is very important:

• Use past continuous for background information. For example – It was raining heavily as we left the house….
• Use past perfect before the main events of the story. but Anne had kindly lent me her umbrella.
• Use simple past for the main events. There wasn’t a single person on the street.
• Try to add some dialogue to make your story more vivid.

Include some of the following phrases to highlight the different parts of your plot and to help your reader follow the storyline:

Time phrases:  It all began… Shortly afterwards, Meanwhile, Some time later, Finally, In the end, Eventually,	Phrases for dramatic effect:  Suddenly, Without warning, Out of the blue, Just at that moment, Quite unexpectedly, As if from nowhere,
Concluding stories:  When it was all over, Looking back now, In the end,	Direct speech:  “…..”, said Fred “..…”, shouted Fred ”…..”, thought Fred

Now, it’s your turn… think of/invent a nightmare journey and include the following information:

- When was the journey?

- Where were you going? Who with? Why?

- What went wrong? What happened?

- What happened in the end?

WRITING: AN INFORMAL EMAIL

Remember you have homework, you have to write an informal email to thank your British friends with whom you stayed for a week last month and to tell them what you have been doing recently.

These are some tips to help you with your writing. If you want to get a document with some useful expressions, go to 'Writing' to see, download and/or print it.

1. Apologize for not writing before
2. Thank them for your stay and say how much you enjoyed it
3. Talk about the nice things that happened while you were with them.
4. Talk about what you have been doing recently.
5. Promise to send some photos
6. Thank them again and invite them to stay. 

WRITING: DESCRIBING A PERSON

Remember you have homework, you have to write an email describing a person.

These are some tips to help you with your writing. If you want to get the whole task as a document, go to 'Writing' to see, download and/or print it.

PLANNING

Paragraph 1    age, family, work/study

Paragraph 2    personality (good side)

Paragraph 3    hobbies and interests

Paragraph 4    any negative things?


Useful language:

• He's quite/ very + adjective (friendly, extrovert, etc.)

• She's a bit + negative adjective (untidy, talkative, etc.)

• He likes/loves/ doesn't mind + verb+ -ing (he loves reading, he doesn't mind doing housework...)

• He's good at + verb + -ing (he's good at making new friends...)

When you describe someone's personal qualities you should support your description with examples and/or justifications. e.g.  

          Wayne is very shy - he finds it difficult to make new friends.

You can also describe someone's personality through their mannerisms by:

·          a) referring to the way they speak e.g. 

          He speaks in a soft voice as if he were whispering.

·         b) describing the gestures they use e.g. 

          She constantly uses her hands when she speaks.

·         b) mentioning a particular habit they have. e.g.

  

                Jason always bites his nails when he is nervous.

 

When you mention someone's negative qualities you should use mild language (seems to, can be rather,  a bit etc).For example, instead of saying Paul is lazy, it is better to say 

Paul can be lazy at times

 

Paul is a bit lazy

Paul can be rather lazy