Reference

Think about what to put in the reference. what should you not include?

I would not include the first two points, because their information is irrelevant to the reference; the ideas contain personal information which doesn't suit the writing. I doubted wether the third point should be also included or not, but, in my opinion, it can be useful to reinforce some ideas about our "friend's" way of being or so.
I would neither use the informal and colourful language, because in this case, it's not adequate.


Plan the reference by stating the number of paragraphs you will need, what information you will include in each paragraph and how you will end it. Jot down the different ideas for each paragraph and how you will develop them.

I think a good number of paragraphs would be 4.
In the first one, you should tell why you are writing and start introducing your chosen apliant, maybe talking about his/her character.
In the second, you should tel why you like your friend, and talk about your friend's interests and skills, and tell why you think he or she is suitable for the job, as a way of remarking them.
In the third paragraph you should develop your friend's previous experiences: where did he/she work, for how long ....
The last paragraph should be used to sumarize, and to give the last support to your friend.

Letter

Read the extracts A-E from five letters. Number them 1-5 according to how formal they are. (1=very formal, 5=very informal)

A-5
B-1
C-4
D-3
E-2

1. What is the purpose of the letter each extract is from?

A- To ask for a place to sleep in a city or village.
B- To confirm a payment to a client through his/her credit card account.
C-To organise a special lunch (barbecue) for all the teachers and students of a course before summer holidays start.
D-To thank a group of musicians and dancers for their show, maybe in a bar or pub.
E- To apologise for the delivery of a packet in bad conditions.

2. What can you deduce about the writers and recipients of each letter?
(Writer-W; Recipient-R)

A----W: Maybe a friend of the recipient.
R: Maybe friends of the writer.
B----W: A travel agent or a hotel worker.
R: A client.
C----W: Headmaster or headmistress.
R: Teachers and students.
D----W: The owner of a pub.
R: The group he/she hired.
E----W: An employee
R: A client.

3. What features of informal language does each extract include?

A: Vocabulary, contractions.
B: None.
C: Contractions, vocabulary.
D: None.
E: None.

Rewrite thesew formal expressions from the extracts in more informal English.

1. We can now confirm that--- We can tell you that

2. your forthcoming vacation--- Your next holiday

3. will be debited from your credit card---Will be charged from your credit card

4. the week following your departure---The next week after you leave

5. Please accept my apologies for this--- I am very sorry for this

6. We do make every effort---We do as much as possible

List some indoor and outdoor activities in your town that you could suggest in your reply to the letter.

-Indoor activities: Going to the cinema, to the theatre, to some bars or pubs, museums...

-Outdoor activities: Going for a walk, spend the day in a park, visiting the city...

Discuss the beginning and end of your letter. Which of these ideas would you include at the beginning (B) and which at the end (E)?

- say you're looking forward to seeing your penfriend---E
- comment on the fact that your friend is planning to learn your language---B
- give some general information about your town---B
- suggest meeting during the friend's stay---E
- ask about the language course your friend is attending---B

Writing a report

Here is some advice about writing a report. Do you think the advice should be 'do' or 'don't'?
Well, I would say that points 1,2,4,6,7,8,10 and 11 should be 'done', whereas the other ones (3,5 and 9) shouldn't be taken into consideration.

Now look at the three plans. Which plan do you think is best? Why?

I think the best structure is B. I think so because you start saying why you are writing the report , which is important; then, in the following paragraphs, you develope the results of the survey and give possible points for making it be a success (recommendations); and finally you summarise with a conclusion paragraph. I don't think plan A would be a good one because that's not the aim of a report. I doubt about plan C, because, although I like points 1,3 and 4, I'm not sure if the second one should be in a report; I mean, I don't exactly know if talking about the main topic of the event which is going to be carried out has to be done (Information about enviromental issues, in this case).

Planning a proposal

What is the purpose of writing a proposal?
How should you end a proposal? Why?

I think the main target of writing a proposal is to give advice or make recommendations so that some kind of project, program, show, etc, which is going to be carried out, can be more succesfull or catch more the attention of people.
A good proposal should end with the hope that the suggestions made will help to develope the work set out. I mean, for example:
"I hope these suggestions would inspire a good program, which entertain the audience and became popular on TV. It could be the beginning of a real success."
This should be done because, in this way, you give the impression that you really want to collaborate and wish the project to be a reality, and also you're sure that your ideas would improve it.


Which of the following statements are usually true of a proposal?

In my opinion, the only one that usually doesn't appear in a proposal is the direct speech. The others can. Some of them are very important, like the suggestions and recommendations and the purpose of triying to persuade the reader of the value of them.


Which organisation would be best for the proposal?

I think the best one is A. The proposal must have an introduction explaining the current developement of the lessons and why the survey have been carried out. The second paragraph should talk about the results of the survey and point out the main issues detected. In the third, one recomendations must be made in order to try to solve the main problems, and, in the end, the proposal must finish with a conclusion, summarising all the contents.

Planing a review

What kinds of things are reviewed in newspapers andmagazines?
-Usually films, books, concerts, exhibitions...

How much are you influence by a review? Would a good review encourage you to go and see a film? Would a bad review stop you buying a book?
- Well, sometimes a review may influence my choose, but in general, if I want to read a book or watch a certain film that I know I like, I would do it.

Read the review of Edward Simpson's below. Which element is missing?
-I think that, in the review of Edward Simpson, it's missing the background information.


Questions about the review:
I would say that this review is formal, for its register and vocabulary, and its well organised structure. The reviewer uses direct speech because he (or she) wants to explain better the ideas developed with painter's grandpa's word's (Edward's grandpa's words). I think the age of the painter is the more catchful point to get the readers' attention, although the reviewer also uses a description about the situation of Edward and his family with art. The reviewer includes a description of the painting and general comments in the second paragraph, whereas he gives his (or her) own opinion in the third one.

Planning a competiton entry

Well, first of all, I think in the first paragraph you should introduce your nominated person for the competiton, I mean, tell who is he/she and make a brief description of that person.

Then, you should develope two or three paragraphs (it depends on the things you want to point), saying (to the judges) why they must choose your option. In my opinion, that should be made reinforcing those ideas whith the points you must talk about, with examples, anecdotes about the person and so on. I think this is better than making an only paragraph triying to convince the judges an the other talking about the other points.

The writing should finish with a final sentence, in which you must conclude with a general positive feeling about your chosen person, and trying to make the judges to chose finally your option.

Planning an article

Well, the first thing you must do when you have to write an article is to read carefully all the points they want you to write about. Then, you must make up your mind about a global structure of it and start thinking about the ideas you can develope and the register you're going to use. You must adapt it to the readers it's going to have.

It's important to start with a brief paragraph which should introduce the topic in a curious way in order to catch the readers atention. That would make them to be insterested in the whole text and continue their reading.

After that, it's time to develope the different ideas, but in a clear way, and matching them whith linking words or similar, not writing a paragraph for each one. This will make the reading more fluent and comfortable. In this case it's esay to do that cause one question almost leads you to the next, so you don't need to think too much to write a compact article.

You must think also about the information you're going to include to explain better all the quetions. This is an important point also cause you must develope the most representative ideas; if not, the reading will be too heavy.

I think these are some of the main aspects that should be taken into account if you want to get a good, readable and successful article.