Formal letter writing task

Task: Letter of Application

Question
You have seen the following job advertisement in your local youth centre.

ACTIVITY CO-ORDINATOR WANTED! (Weekends only) Would you like to work with young children aged 5-11? Do you have lots of energy? Are you an excellent swimmer? If the answer to these questions is 'yes' then we want to hear from you. Our Children's Club is looking for someone to be in charge of a group of 10 children to teach them swimming and to do a range of other activities. Please send a letter to Mrs Sykes saying why you are suitable for the job.

Write your letter of application to Mrs Sykes. (around 140-190 words)

You recently helped organise a college ski trip and you have received this email from a parent of one of the students who went.

I understand you were one of the organisers of our son's ski trip. I have to say my husband and I were extremely dissatisfied with the arrangements. My son has informed us that the ski slopes were poor, the lessons were fewer than promised and the accommodation was inadequate.

Can you please give us a satisfactory explanation?

Nora White

Write your email in 140-190 words in an appropriate style

Listening part 3 and Use of English part 2

Use of English parts 3 and 4 activities

Quizlet list for vocabulary so far

https://quizlet.com/165758531/week-1-2-vocabulary-and-expressions-flash-cards/

How to write an article

Paper 2 Part 2 - Article

AN ARTICLE is usually written for an English-language magazine or newsletter, and the reader is assumed to have similar interests to the writer. The main purpose is to inform, interest and engage the reader, so there should be some opinion or comment.

Hints

• Add a short title to catch the reader's attention. Make sure it is relevant. You can use the one in the question or invent one of your own.
• Introduce the topic. Although you don't know the readers personally, you can address them directly and ask them a rhetorical question. It helps to involve them.
• Divide your report into sections according to the input. One or two paragraphs will do.
• Develop the ideas in the task input. Remember .

• Use a personal or more neutral style, but not formal (you might use contractions).
• It is important that you show a range of structures.
• Give examples where appropriate to bring your article to life
• Use humour where appropriate.
• Give a conclusion and summary in the last paragraph.

Useful language for an article

Involving the reader

• Just imagine...
• Have you ever...?
• How would you feel if ...?
• Are you one of those people who ...?
• If the answer is ..., you should....
• What would live be like if...
• ...

Making the article lively and interesting

• I was absolutely terrified when I realised...
• More importantly, it was something I...
• Not surprisingly, it's a good way of raising money.
• The tent was worryingly small for three people!
• It was the most amazing experience I have ever had.
• ...

Developing your points

• Let's start with ...
• Another advantage of ...
• On top of that, ...
• ...

Giving your own opinion

• I think that / In my opinion ...
• It seems to me that ...
• If you ask me, ...
• To my mind...
• ...

---

Model questions and answers

Article- Model question 1

TASK

You see this announcement on an English-language website.

Articles wanted

A charity event to remember
What is the most unusual way you've raised money for charity? How did you do it? What did you have to do? Was the event a success? Would you do it again?
Write us an article answering these questions.
We will publish the best articles on our website.

Write your article in 140-190 words in an appropriate style.

Article - Model answer 1

A charity event to remember

So why did I decide to do a 90-km walk in six days along the Great Wall of China? Well, the reason was that our local children's hospital needed to raise money or it would be close. However, I didn't realise how big a challenge it would be.

Before I went, I thought that I would be walking along a flat surface but when I saw the Great Wall, my heart sank. Part of the time we would be trekking up hundreds of high steps and, worryingly, some of the paths had steep falls on either side and there was nowhere to go because we were surrounded by mountains and forests. However, after a while, I started to love the experience. I was in one of the most amazing places on earth and the views were incredible.

In the end, the adventure was a great success. The hospital was delighted because a group of us managed to raise several thousand pounds.

Would I be keen to help the hospital again next year? Yes, but I think I'll try and find an easier challenge next time!

Essay writing tips

•All three subjects that are mentioned in the thesis statement are covered (in the order given).

•Written in first person.

•No contractions

•Includes a linking  sentence at the end of the introduction (in the form of a question) to connect it to the rest of the essay. The rest of the essay is a response to this question.

•Includes a TOPIC SENTENCE at the beginning of each paragraph.

•Uses a range of formal connectives (to connect paragraphs AND ideas within paragraphs).

•The conclusion is the answer to the question asked in the last line of the introduction (with the detail of the answer given throughout the essay).

The introduction needs to include the following three components:

1.General statement

2.Thesis statement

3.Linking question

Sample essay

Obesity is a serious global problem in today's society, especially among young people. I think high rates of alcohol consumption, addiction to fast food and a lack of adequate teaching in schools is to blame for this situation. So what can be done about it?

Alcohol consumption in the West has been increasing alarmingly. This is an important reason why people have been getting fatter, and a simple solution for this problem is to cut down on the amount of alcohol consumed.

However, addiction to fast food is also a serious problem. It is so popular that it has become an addiction, and is a major cause of young people getting fatter. This kind of food is very fattening and parents need to limit how much fast food their chiildren eat.

Furthermore, the schools have not done their job well. Kids don't understand the connection between excessiveb drinking, fast food and being obese. Schools need to introduce special lessons on good diet and healthy living.

In conclusion, I think parents and schools need to do a better job of explaining the relationship between drinking alcohol, eating too much fast food and becoming obese. If adequate education is made available, this problem can be solved in the future.

(207 words)

Reading activities for Tuesday group

Reading part 5 - http://www.flo-joe.com/fce/students/tests/3part2.htm
Reading part 6 - http://www.flo-joe.com/fce/students/tests/part3.htm
Reading part 7 - http://www.flo-joe.com/fce/students/tests/1part3.htm

Week 2 - Use of English parts 2 and 3 tips

Part 2

Open cloze – step-by-step:

1. Read the whole text so you understand it fully.

2. Only one word can go in the gap.

3. The types of words used are the following:

-Pronouns (e.g. his, she, himself, their…)

-Articles (the/a/an)

-Phrasal verbs (e.g. COME across)

-Phrasal verb particles (e.g. come ACROSS)

-Prepositions

-Relative pronouns (e.g. where/which etc.)

-Determiners (e.g. this/those etc.)

-Auxiliary verbs (e.g. have/do/be)

-Modal verbs (e.g. might/may etc.)

Part 3

Key word transformation – step-by-step:

•Read the first sentence carefully.

•Think about how the key word given is commonly used.

•Complete the gap with a possible answer.

•Count the number of words you have used in the gap. You must use not less than TWO and not more than FIVE, including the word in bold. (Note: a contracted form such as ´don´t´ counts as two words.

•Read the second sentence to check it means the same as the first.

•Ask yourself whether the words in the gap fit the sentence grammatically.

Week 2 - Use of English part 2

Hollywood

How was (0)   that Hollywood came to be the place everyone associates with the American film industry?

In 1887, Harvey Wilcox, a property developer, bought a house and all the surrounding land on a hillside in southern California. his wife overheard a woman talking on  a train about her summer house, (13)    she called 'Hollywood'. Mrs Wilcox liked the name (14)   much that she decided to give her new home (15)     same name. Mr Wilcox then built other houses on his land and used the name for the whole community.

In normal circumstances most people (16)   never have heard of Hollywood. but between 1908 and 1913 (17)    else happened. Many small independent film companies began to move to southern California(18)     two main reasons. Firstly, they were having problems  (19)   the larger, more powerful studies in New York. Secondly, they were attracted by the sunny climate, which let them film throughout the year  (20)    the need for expensive lighting.

Only one studio actually set (21)   in Hollywood itself, because the local people took legal measures (22)    prevent any more from arriving. the other studios that came to the area were all built outside Hollywood. Nevertheless, by 1915 'Hollywood '(23)    become familiar as a term for the movie business (24)  a whole.