WRITING

ESSAY LETTER COMPETITION ENTRY PROPOSAL REPORT REVIEW Redaccin, ensayo Carta Inscripcin, acceso a un concurso Propuesta Artculo,reportaje Crtica, resea

El estudiante sabe de antemano qu tipos de escritos van a pedir, y sea cual sea el tema a desarrollar, siempre existe la misma estructura para cada uno de ellos. No obstante, tambin existen determinadas estructuras gramaticales y tipo de vocabulario que, de ser puestas en el ejercicio, sumarn muchos puntos positivos a vuestro resultado final.

A continuacin os mostramos aquellas partculas, formas gramaticales, verbos, etc., que debis introducir en vuestros escritos:

WOULD. Esta partcula gramatical debera aparecer obligatoriamente en todas vuestras redacciones unas cuantas de veces. Es muy fcil aprender su uso y hace de vuestra redaccin un trabajo ms elaborado. Siempre podis usarla sea cual sea el tema y estilo del escrito, y os sugerimos que lo hagis en forma de recomendacin: I would like to recommend you a restaurant where you will eat the best meat in the city. La recomendacin puede ser para un amigo en un carta/email, para una empresa que te pide opinin sobre un punto en particular, una universidad que quiere introducir el servicio de prstamos de DVDs en su biblioteca (ej.), etc.

SEGUNDO Y TERCER CONDICIONAL. Es muy recomendable que al menos uses un condicional (a poder ser el tercero) en tu redaccin, ya que es el nico examen en el que posiblemente puedas demostrar que lo manejas. Adems, es mucho mejor que lo uses en el writing que en el speaking (aunque tambin es aconsejable), por el simple hecho de que aqu sabes que no te vas a confundir porque tienes tiempo y calma para asegurarte de que los has escrito bien, lo contrario a lo que ocurre en el speaking, que no tienes tiempo para reparar en si lo has dicho bien o mal y los nervios pueden jugarte una mala pasada. Puedes usarlos de mil maneras diferentes.

PASSIVE. La pasiva es una forma verbal que te sumar puntos si la usas en tu redaccin. No obstante, somos conscientes de que no siempre es sencillo usarla en 1

cualquier tipo de tema, incluso intentar hacerlo podra quedar muy forzado. Sin embargo, si ves la oportunidad de introducirla o si el giro de tema que tienes que hacer es casi imperceptible, te recomendamos que la emplees.

CONNECTORS. stos son imprescindibles en todas las redacciones. En primer lugar porque dan cuerpo a la escritura y en segundo lugar porque demuestra que los conoces y los sabes manejar de forma correcta. Cada vez que empieces un nuevo prrafo o quieras mostrar la cara positiva y negativa de un misma aspecto, no olvides recurrir a un conector. Bien es cierto que existen muchsimos conectores, pero ello no debe suponer un problema sino todo lo contrario: una ventaja. Aprndete aquellos que ms fcil te resulten y comienza a usarlos con mucha frecuencia. Los ms conocidos y que ms juego ofrecen en un escrito pueden ser: however, even, even though, on the one hand, on the other hand, on the contrary, as well as, apart from, because of, despite/in spite of, due to, during, in addition, etc.

NOT ONLY... BUT (ALSO). Esta estructura es algo compleja y demuestra ya un cierto nivel de ingls. Por ello, si la utilizas en tu writing, impresionars al examinador. Recuerda que para escribir correctamente esta estructura debes utilizar la inversin, quedando as: Not only is he a good professional, but also a wonderful role model to be followed by everyone. Siempre puedes introducir esta frase en la redaccin, sea cual sea el tema y el estilo de escritura.

PHRASAL VERBS. Tanto en el FCE como el CAE debes introducir varios phrasal verbs en tu redaccin. Para ello te recomendamos que te prepares una lista con los 20 phrasal verbs ms comunes y que t consideres que ms verstiles pueden ser (es decir, que puedas usarlos en contextos muy diferentes) y estdiatelos. Una vez que ests en el examen, anota en el papel aquellos que creas que puedes introducir y no te olvides de usarlos. Si ves complicado el usarlos en el tipo de escrito y tema que te ha tocado desarrollar, intenta darle la vuelta a alguno de los prrafos para que algn phrasal verb quede bien al usarlo. No deberas entregar una redaccin sin ningn phrasal verb, te restar puntos.

AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, TALKING FROM EXPERIENCE. Estas dos expresiones son muy buenas para expresar tu opinin: implican un buen nivel de ingls y permiten introducir tu opinin sobre cualquier tema. La primera de ellas ( as far as I'm concerned) significa "por lo que a mi respecta", mientras que la segunda (talking from experience) significa "desde mi experiencia". No te sientas tentado/a de escribir "talking from my own experience", ya no que es como se dice en ingls (generalmente no suena natural para el nativo).

LET ME CONCLUDE BY SAYING. Para cerrar una redaccin de forma espectacular, slo tienes que usar esta sencilla frase de aprender. Con ella empleas la forma 2

gramatical "let me+verb", empleas la preposicin "by" y demuestras que sabes que detrs de ella hay que usar "ing". Puedes usarla siempre, ya sea el escrito formal o semi-formal. Si la redaccin es informal puedes sustituir "conclude" por "finish". Este es un ejemplo de cmo quedara el final de una redaccin usando esta frase: Let me conclude by saying that if you introduce computers in the classes, you will improve the quality of the whole school.

Nuestro ltimo consejo es que siempre que ensayis una redaccin, tengis al lado una lista con elementos que debis incluir siempre en ella. Cada vez que incluyis uno, marcadlo como "introducido", y cuantos ms logris usar, mayor ser vuestra calificacin final. Intentad siempre meter el mximo nmero de elementos.

Una vez que estis el examen oficial, os aconsejamos que anotis en el margen del folio aquellas frases, palabras, phrasal verbs, conectores, etc., que queris usar y revisad vuestra lista una vez que la redaccin est casi acabada. De esta forma usaris todos aquellos elementos que os harn conseguir una magnfica nota en el writing.

EXPRESIONES
FORMAL LETTERS
Letters objecting to someone's plans
I am writing to express my concern / disappointment / alarm at hearing ... I was extremely alarmed / sorry / distressed to hear about your plans to ... As I think you know, May I point out that I feel I really must object to ... I am extremely concerned at the thought that ... It must be very clear that ... If these proposals go ahead, ... will happen. Another threat to ... , if these proposals go ahead, would come from ... I dread to imagine what damage this will cause. May I respectfully suggest that you ... I was wondering if you had considered this alternative? Would it not be possible to ... ?

Letters of complaint
I am writing to complain about ... I am writing to tell you how disappointed/annoyed I feel about ... I was amazed / distressed / horrified to find that ... As you must realise, ... I am sure you know that ... I am sure you can imagine ... I am sure you will appreciate that ... It goes without saying that ... At the very least, I look forward to receiving ... Unless you ... , I am afraid that I will have to take this matter further.

Letters of recommendation
I am writing to you on behalf of ... I have known X for ... years. She / He has shown herself/himself to be extremely ... X would seem to fit the requirements of this job perfectly. 4

I have no hesitation in recommending X as a ...

Letters to the editor

I am writing about the article on ... , which appeared (in last night's paper). I am writing with reference to the article you published (in last month's issue). I have just read your article on ... and I feel I must ... You raised some issues which I feel strongly about. At the start of your article, you appear to claim that ... I am afraid I totally disagree. I am completely in agreement. I am sure readers will agree with me when I say that ...

ARTICLES
Sequencing
At first / To start with / In the beginning, ... Then/Next / After that, ... The next thing that happened was ... The next thing I knew was ... Seconds / Minutes later, Late on / Some time later, It wasn't until much later that ... After some time / After what seemed like years, ... Finally / In the end, ... At last, ...

Simultaneous events
Meanwhile / In the meantime, While all this was going on, In the middle of all this, ... During all this time, ...

Sudden or unexpected events

Suddenly / All of a sudden, ... All at once, ... Out of the blue, ... 5

Without any warning, ... Just when I was least expecting it, ... The next thing I knew was ...

Rapid events
As quick as a flash, ... In the wink of an eye, ... In a matter of seconds/minutes, ... In no time at all, ...

Looking back
In retrospect, ... When I think back to what happened then, ...

REPORTS
Introductory comments
I recently visited (the new Leisure Centre) and have prepared the following report for your consideration. Further to my visit to ... , I have prepared the following report. The following report relates to my recent visit to ...

General comments
On the whole, I found that ... Although ... , I should point out that ... It is a fact that ...

Concluding comments
All things considered, I believe that ... Taking all these points into consideration, I would recommend ... I recommend that we look into the possibility of ...

Comparing places or facilities

One of the main differences between X and Y is that X is completely/entirely/totally different from Y in that Unlike X, Y is ... While /Whereas / Although X is ... , Y is ... X is a little / slightly / somewhat / a great deal (bigger / more elegant) than Y. X is not quite /nearly as (comfortable/expensive/ convenient) as Y because ... 6

X is virtually / exactly the same as Y when it comes to ...

PROPOSALS
As requested, I am submitting the following proposal on ... I recommend that we ... I propose that we ... We should also ... I believe that ... We could ... It is a fact that , which means that ... If we were to , it would ... I suggest we .We would then be able to ... I feel strongly that we should ... I trust you will give my proposal your full consideration.

REVIEWS
X has much to recommend it. X is, at heart, a(n) love/spy/adventure story. It is based on a book by ... It is set in the countryside / the future. The film has a quality cast. The film was directed by ... The film score is enchanting / evocative/scary. The film captures the spirit of ... The hero/heroine / villain is ... I felt/thought it was I was impressed by What struck me most was ... What I liked most / didn't like was ... The plot was gripping. The characters were very convincing / very well drawn. On reflection, I think it was ... 7

It struck me as being ... What I didn't understand was how ... In spite of these few criticisms, I think ... I would have no hesitation in recommending

USEFUL WORDS AND PHRASES

These words and phrases can be used in the following text types, depending on what are asked to write about: letters essays articles proposals reports reviews

Expressing and supporting opinions

These words and expressions are especially useful in letters, essays and articles.
I believe / do not believe that ... (because) ... Personally I feel that ... Let me explain why. In my opinion, ... Just consider ... As I see it, The reason is ... It seems to me that This is because ... I would argue that for the following reasons. I feel very strongly that ... I am convinced that ... I am of the opinion that ... I am very much in favour of / against ... I am completely opposed to ... The reasons why I believe that ... are as follows.

Opening phrases

These words and expressions are especially useful in letters, essays and articles.
People (sometimes) claim that but I feel that ... It is often said/argued that ... However, it seems to me that ... It is a fact that ... 8

Over the past few months/years, it seems that Recently, we have all become concerned that Nowadays, we are all realising that ... In the past, people used to , but now ... These days, it seems that .

Making statements

These words and expressions are especially useful in letters, essays and articles.
It is clear that ... On the whole, it appears/seems that ... We must take into account the fact that .... It goes without saying that ... It is important to remember that ...

Explaining/Expanding ideas and giving examples

These words and expressions are especially useful in letters, essays and articles.
... This means that ... ... This is largely due to ... For example/For instance, ... In other words, ... Take, for example, the situation in ...

Listing arguments

These words and expressions are especially useful in letters, essays and articles.
Firstly / In the first place / To begin with, Secondly / A second area to consider is Another point to remember is ... Finally, ... In conclusion, .. Last but not least, ...

Evaluating ideas, Dismissing contrary arguments

These words and expressions are especially useful in letters, essays and articles.
I think it is true that ... I totally disagree/agree with the point that It is questionable whether I am sure/I doubt whether 9

It is true that ... On the other hand, ... While nobody can deny that ... , I would like to point out that I agree that However, ... Although it is true that , we must remember that ... It could be argued that However, I would like to point out that ... Despite all the arguments, I still feel that ... Notwithstanding the claim that ... , I would argue that It may be true that ... , but all too often ... In no way can I agree that ... Surely it is completely unacceptable that ...

Persuading

These words and expressions are especially useful in letters and proposals.
I would urge you to consider I am sure you will agree that Surely you must agree that I would urge you very strongly to ... When you hear the arguments, I am sure you will agree that ...

Evaluating

These expressions are especially useful in reports, proposals and reviews.

I was extremely impressed by I was rather disappointed by While X has much to commend it, I feel that some aspects could be improved. The problem could easily be solved if ... I would like to praise the ... Another area for complaint is My overall impression was that I am sure that visitors / readers/holidaymakers will thoroughly enjoy ... While some people will love ... , others may feel less happy. A major problem is that ... I was less happy with ...

Making recommendations

These words and expressions are especially useful in proposals and reports.
I recommend that we ...

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I propose that we ... We should also ... I believe that we should ... We could ... If we were to , we could ... I suggest we We would then be able to ...

Summarising

These words and expressions are especially useful in letters, essays,articles,

reports, proposals and reviews. All in all, I think that ... To sum up, I believe that ... In conclusion, the facts suggest that ...

Describing

These words and expressions are especially useful in articles, reviews, and letters.
Character/Personality He tends to be ... She can be ... He is inclined to be ... She appears/seems to be ... Hobbies and interests He is crazy about ... -ing. She loves ... -ing. His greatest love is ... What she loves most in life is ... He spends all his time ... -ing.

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CARTAS
FORMAL LETTERS

SALUDO:
Escribe siempre Dear, (no Hello, como en las informales) y recuerda que no se ponen los dos puntos, sino una coma despus. Dear Sirs,: si escribes a una compaa o una organizacin. Dear Sir / Madam,: si sabes el puesto, pero no el nombre. Dear (name),: si ya sabes el nombre de la persona. Mr: para hombres Mrs: para mujeres casadas Miss: para mujeres solteras. Ms: para mujeres que no sabes o no quieres especificar su estado civil.

CUERPO:
Antes que nada, un consejo importante: evita las contracciones. Muestra un estilo demasiado coloquial. Intenta dividir el contenido de la carta en diferentes prrafos. Por ejemplo, puedes empezar el primero, explicando el motivo por el cual escribes esa carta: I am writing to enquire about holiday accomodation in New York city, o I am writing to request information concerning courses at your college for students coming from abroad. El segundo prrafo puede ser el centro del asunto: I would be very grateful if you could send me details of cheap hotels or campsites near the city center, o I would like to know what courses are available. El tercero puede ser una conclusin o despedida. Como t desees, pero no mezcles los contenidos, no divagues, sino vete al grano y a lo que te interesa.

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Al concluir la carta y mostrar tu inters en recibir una respuesta o una llamada, puedes decir la frase: I look forward to hearing from you. (deseo tener noticias suyas). Fjate que en esta frase hay un gerundio despus de to.

DESPEDIDA:
Yours faithfully, si elegiste el saludo Dear Sir, es decir que no sabes el nombre de la persona. Yours sincerely, si el saludo era Mr Smith, es decir, sabas el nombre.

Ambas despedidas iran sin ninguna puntuacin. En ingls americano a veces aparece Yours truly o Sincerely yours. Firma o signature: Recuerda que la firma tiene que ir debajo de la despedida y adems tienes que escribir tu nombre y apellidos debajo de la firma y con letras maysculas.

INFORMAL LETTERS

SALUDO:
El saludo ms comn es Dear, seguido de una coma

Dear Mimi,

DESPEDIDA:
Love, Lots of love, Best wishes, Missing you lots, Yours forever,

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