Writing Assessment Student’s Guide

FUNDAMENTALS WRITING ASSESSMENT 2 My Au Pair

Students…
experience!
• Write simple sentences about their family and where they live.
• Copy short sentences on everyday subjects (e.g. directions how to get
somewhere).
• Write simple sentences about things that they and other people have.

2. Think about:
1. Do you know about the Au Pair
program?

2. What do you think about being

a baby-sitter in a different
country?
3. Do you think you can apply to
this program in the future?

Baby-sitter: A person who takes

care of children
Apply: Present oneself for a job spot.

2. Words matter!

To do well in this lesson, it is necessary to learn a number of words. Please complete

the following exercise. At the end, you will have increased your vocabulary.

2.1. Underline the expression that best matches the idea of the boldfaced word or
phrase. Have a dictionary at hand!

a. Sofia lives with an American host family.

-Family members that don’t live with you -Family that receives a foreigner

b. This is a good opportunity to live abroad.

- To live in a different country - To live in a different city

c. I want to meet many new peeps in this country.

-Places - People

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Writing Assessment Student’s Guide

d. I have to create my profile on the Au pair webpage.

-To put your personal information -To create a bank account

2.2. Match the word on the left with the meaning on the right. Write in
the parenthesis the corresponding letter.

Word Meaning
1 Accommodation ( ) a Baby-sitter
2 Take care of ( ) b Make something better.
3 Improve ( ) c Be responsible of something or someone.
4 Nanny ( ) d A place to live, work or stay.

3. Read a bit!

Read the following text about “My Au pair experience” Veronika, from Russia, goes
to France. She is a baby-sitter with in Lyon.

My name is Veronika and I’m from Russia. I’m

22 years old and I’m a baby-sitter. I’m living
in Lyon with my host family. I live in a big
house near the bus station “Lyon Part-Dieu”.
It is two blocks from my university.

I take care of two kids, Annette and

Jerome. They are 4 and 7 years old. Today,
we want to go to the beach because it’s
summer and the weather is nice and hot.
They are really cute and good kids. They
love me and they call me “nanny”. Their
parents are also special. Their dad’s name is
Adrien, he is 38 and he’s an architect. His
wife, Amelie, is so young, she is 30 and she
is an important lawyer. They like to play
with us every day after work.

In this moment, I’m helping my friend Camille, from France, to create her profile on the Au
pair webpage because she wants to travel to Italy and improve her Italian; also, she wants
to travel abroad, visit many new places and meet new peeps. She is going to apply this
month.

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Writing Assessment Student’s Guide

4. Grammar and composition

In this session, you will find grammar elements and composition strategies that will
help you with your writing production. Read the explanation; this is important for
the next step!

DESCRIBING A PERSON
If you are describing a person, take into account these elements:

1. Mention the person’s name. (He is Adrien)

2. Provide personal details: age, occupation. (He is 38 and he’s an architect)
3. Describe things they regularly do. (He works every day)
4. Describe things they like to do in their free time. (He likes to play with us after work)
5. Additional details: (He lives near the bus station and he has a wife and two kids)

4.1. Choose one person of your family and describe him/her. Give as many details as you
can.

Person: _______________________________________________________________________________________

Personal details: _____________________________________________________________________________

Regular activities: ____________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hobbies:
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Additional details:
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________

ASKING FOR DIRECTIONS?

Asking for directions is the first thing we do when we want to find a place.
Here are some tips you can use when you need to get to a new place:

✓ You should know the basic vocabulary to ask and get directions. (Blocks, traffic
lights, bank, diagonal, etc…)
✓ Know the transportation system. (Get a bus, subway, cable car…)
✓ Learn the common prepositions and adverbs of place (Between, next to, behind, in
front of…)
✓ Use imperative sentences when giving instructions. (Go down the street!)
✓ Use landmarks (A place that is representative and recognized). (It’s in front of Simon
Bolivar’s park) I&D Team 2019
Writing Assessment Student’s Guide

Taken from: https://englishstudyhere.com/tag/adverbs-of-place/

4.2. Imagine you are the host of an Au pair resident who is new in the city. Give
directions to get to your house from the airport. Use adverbs of place, vocabulary
related to locations, landmarks and imperatives if necessary.

________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________

SIMPLE SENTENCES
Simple sentences contain a subject and a verb describing an idea. There are different ways
a simple sentence can be written.

1. Simple sentence that contains only a word. (Go! / Run! / Stop! / Who?)
2. Simple sentences with compound subjects. (Annette and Jerome go to the beach).
3. Simple sentences with compound verbs. (Camille wants to travel and improve
her Italian).

4.3. Taking into account simple sentences explain what you think about being an
Au pair.

________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________.

So now you are ready for your final composition. Let’s write something!

I&D Team 2019