How to Write an Article for FCE Writing

Part 2
An article is a very common type of text nowadays. We can find all kinds of
articles in newspapers, magazines, blogs, etc. For this reason, in order to
know how to write an article for FCE, we must bear in mind who will be
reading our article. This, as we will see later on, we will find out from the
instructions the FCE Writing paper provides us with. But before we move on
to that, let’s take a look at the characteristics of an article for FCE Writing
Part 2:
 Purpose of an article: The aim of an article is usually to talk
about a topic that we like or that we are familiar with.
Besides, one of the features that articles have as opposed to
other FCE Writing tasks is that an article must entertain the
reader and, almost always, recommend the thing we are talking
about.
 Language: In general, an article is more informal than an essay,
although it will depend on where it is supposed to be published
(an international magazine, a teenage magazine, a college
magazine, an online blog, a newspaper, etc.). However, the
most common case is that we must write a text in an informal
or colloquial style. For this reason, our tone must be relaxed,
making use of contractions, phrasal verbs and other colloquial
expressions. Besides, it is recommended to use rhetorical
questions and exclamation marks to engage the reader. You
should also address the reader directly in the second person
(you, your) and can make jokes if you think they are
appropriate.
 Structure: Articles must always have a title. If possible, this
must be catchy and witty so as to engage the reader. Then, each
paragraph must address a single idea, to which you must add
the introduction and the conclusion, where you are usually
expected to make a recommendation. It is also a good idea to
end your article with a rhetorical question, especially if it is
going to be an online article where people could (in theory)
leave a comment.
 Giving your opinion: An article is almost exclusively about giving
your opinion, so feel free to do so through the whole piece of
writing. As you are normally asked to write about something
you like or enjoy, opinions are expected to be generally positive.
 Any article for FCE is usually a very personal piece of writing, so
you can speak in the first person as much as you like. 
 Common topics: You may be asked to write articles on a variety
of topics: the Internet, health and fitness, music, plays, hobbies,
etc.
 Number of words: you are expected to write your article in 140
– 190 words, no more or less than any other type of FCE Writing
task.
Useful Expressions to Write an Article for FCE

If you want to know how to write an article for FCE, it is very important to

have a repository of useful expressions ready to use. So here are some which
can come in handy:

 Rhetorical questions:
 Have you ever…?
 Do you ever wonder…?
 What do you think about…?
 Are you a… like me?
 Are you one of those people who…?
 What would you say if I told you that…?

 Introducing new ideas:

 Firstly,
 First,
 In the first place,
 To begin with,
 The coolest thing about 
 What attracts me most 
 One thing to consider is
 Another consideration is
 Secondly,
 As for
 As to
 Also, 
 As regards
 In addition,
 In addition to that,
 Moreover,

 Concluding the article:

 In conclusion,
 On the whole,
 To sum up,
 To conclude,
 All in all, 
 … you will not regret it!
 How to write a report for FCE Writing
Part 2
A report, or report, is a type of Writing in which a past event or experience is
analyzed and, usually, suggestions or recommendations are offered to
improve that event or experience. 
In addition, it is one of the Writings type tasks of B2 First (FCE), C1 Advanced
(CAE) and C2 Proficiency (CPE). Below we will see some of the main
characteristics of this type of Writing, since it is a text with very peculiar
characteristics that make it unique both visually and structurally:
 Purpose of a report: As we have seen in the previous section,
the purpose of a report is to report on something, especially an
event or experience that has taken place in the past. In addition,
a report (or report) analyzes a topic point by point and, in
general, highlights those relevant aspects, both positive and
negative, and offers recommendations to improve the negative
aspects. 
 Tone and linguistic register: A report should always be
formal. In general, it is a text that we are going to write for a
superior: a teacher, a boss, a director, etc. Therefore, the tone
and register must always be formal. Although at B2 level it is
not necessary to use very advanced formal English formulas, it
is advisable to carry out basic formal English measures such as
avoiding contractions, not using very generic words such as
“good” or “thing”, writing from a point of neutral view, etc. 
 Opinions: In general, opinions in the form of personal reflection
are not included in a report. That is, we will have to analyze
something from our point of view, but being as objective as
possible. For this reason, and also to make it more formal, we
tend to avoid expressing our personal opinion as we would in an
article or a review. Although this, as in almost all Writing, will
always depend on the context, the theme and the way of
approaching the report. 
 Recommendations: One of the basic parts of any report are the
recommendations or suggestions. As it is a text in which we
analyze different points of a past event or experience, we will
always have to offer some recommendation for
improvement. In fact, the statement always usually mentions
the need to offer some recommendation. 
  Common themes: Although it is difficult to find a typical theme
for the reports, it is true that themes such as excursions or
tourist visits, exchange programs, things that a visitor to your
city can do or find, etc. are often repeated.
 Number of words: As with all B2 Writings, the report should be
approximately 140-190 words. 

Structure of Report B2 First

As I have already anticipated before, one of the things that makes
the report unique is its structure. And it is that this includes a series of
elements that do not appear in any other type of Writing. In addition, it is
important to note two things, in general, before looking at the structure of a
report for the FCE: 
 A report will have the main title and a heading for each section
or paragraph. Each of these headings simply describes the topic
of the paragraph or section it introduces.
 The first and last paragraphs can always
be Introduction and Recommendations/Conclusion, although
this is obviously not required.

Below you can see a typical structure of an FCE report: 

 Title: This is an objective and descriptive title of the content of

the report. 
 Introduction: Here the purpose of the report is briefly explained
(what it is about) and what points are going to be analyzed. 
 Point 1: First aspect to analyze. 
 Point 2: Second aspect to analyze. 
 Point 3: Third aspect to analyze. We will not always have 3
points, as it depends on the content and instructions of the
task. 
 Recommendations or conclusion: This last point can be raised
in two ways: 
 1) As recommendations: offering ideas to improve the
deficiencies expressed in points 1-3. In this case, each
point has only talked about the good or bad things
about the topic we are analyzing, without offering any
recommendations or suggestions. 
 2) As a conclusion: offering a summary of everything
expressed in points 1-3. That is, if in points 1-3 we
have not made recommendations for improvement, it
 is necessary that the last section be about
recommendations. On the other hand, if each point
already offers a recommendation, it is not necessary
to repeat it at the end, so we can make a summary as
a conclusion. 

Useful expressions for a report

Although there is no list of expressions or vocabulary to write reports for
level B2, I can recommend certain basic things that should appear. Let's see: 
 Expressions for the introduction: 
 The aim of this report is to present… / to analyze… 
 The purpose of this report is to outline… / to talk
about…
 In this report, we will go over… / we will see how… 

 Expressions to enumerate points:

 Firstly, / Secondly, 
 In the first place, 
 As regards…, / Regarding…, 
 Finally

 Expressions for contrast:

 However, 
 On the other hand 
 In contrast, 

 Expressions for purpose, reason and consequence:

 Therefore, 
 For this/that reason, 
 As a result, 
 As a consequence, 
 In order to…,

How to write an informal email for B2

First (FCE) Writing Part 2
  Purpose of an informal email:  The purpose of an informal
email will depend on each task. Some tasks will involve giving
important information, while in others we will have to give
advice. The most common thing is that a friend or relative asks
us something, either about our city or about something else
related to us.
 Linguistic register:  Since we will be writing to a close friend or
relative, our language must be relaxed and friendly, which we
could call informal register. In this way, we must make use of
contracted forms, common phrasal verbs, colloquial expressions
and even a flexible way of punctuation (For example: using em
dashes «–»)
 Structure:  One of the cool things about emails is that they
always follow the same structure. In general, we always need
an opening formula and a closing formula; an introductory and
a closing paragraph; and a main body, which will consist of the
number of main ideas that we have to expose.
 Common Topics:  Many informal emails to friends or family ask
you for advice on some topic. For example, they may ask you for
advice on visiting your city, keeping fit, which cities to visit in
your country, organizing a party for a friend, etc. Many times,
these themes appear combined.
 Number of words:  like the rest of the FCE Writings, an informal
email must be written in about 140 – 190 words.

If we look at the informal email example, we can see the following

characteristics:
 The presentation of the email is very clear: This is achieved by
using formulas and opening and closing paragraphs, a signature,
and leaving a clear space between the different paragraphs.
 Each paragraph has a clear objective, which in this case is
marked in red.
 Opening and closing paragraphs are used to say
"hello" and "goodbye" in a polite manner.
 The introductory paragraph is normally used to react
to news (It’s great to hear from you… / I'm so excited
about...) and to introduce the subject of the email.
  The main body is responsible for responding to each
of the sub-tasks (ideas), which in this case are: what
to visit, what to wear and invite our friend.
 The closing paragraph is used to begin to say goodbye
and to ask for a response to our mail.
 Registration is informal:
 Contractions:  It's great, I'm, you'll have, etc.
 Phrasal verbs:  put you up, check out.
 Colloquial expressions:  How are you doing? you
should totally, you can't miss, drop me a line, etc.
 Write as we think:  Oh, By the way, Anyway, 
 Flexible punctuation:  …viewpoint – you'll have the
best…

Useful expressions to write an informal email for

FCE Writing
 Greetings / Opening formula:
  Dear Sarah,
 Hi Sarah,
 Hi Sara,

 Introductory paragraph:
 How's it going?
 How are you doing? 
 How are things?
 How are things going?
 It's great to hear from you!
 Long time, I don't see!
 Sorry I haven't written for ages, but
 I'm really sorry it's taken me so long to get back to
you. 

 Reacting to good news:

 I'm glad to hear that
 I'm so happy that
 great news about you
 I'm very happy to hear about
 It's so great that 

 Reacting to bad news:

 I'm so sorry to hear about
 Sorry to read about
 I can't tell you how sad I am that
 I'm extremely sorry to hear about
 It's just awful to hear that

 Expressions to open paragraphs:

 Oh by the way 
 Hey, did you hear about…?
 one more thing, 
 as for
 By the way, tell me about

 Closing paragraph:
 Well, I gotta go now. 
 Anyway, I should get going. 
 I've got to leave you now. 
 I'd better get going. 
  Well, it's time to go
 Make sure you write soon
 Don't forget to drop me a line soon. 
 Look after yourself.
 Take care of yourself.

 Farewell / Closing formula:

 All my love, 
 Sees it,
 lots of love,
 All the best,
 take care,
 best wishes, 
 Best, 
 Regards,
 Kind regards,  
How to write an Essay for B2 First (FCE)
Writing
An essay, in Spanish «essay», is an opinion piece with which we analyze a
topic, a situation or a problem from different points of view, arguing each of
them and expressing our opinion about it. For this reason, an essay has the
following characteristics:
 Purpose:  With an essay what we do is assess a topic, situation
or problem that is, in some way, of interest or controversial. It is
normally presented as an activity to be carried out after a
debate that has taken place in class. In the exam, obviously, you
will have to imagine the debate.
 Tone and register:  Being a writing about a serious or
controversial topic, the essay is a formal writing, so we must
use an objective tone. In addition, the linguistic register must be
formal, avoiding common words (e.g., things, stuff, get, etc.)
and contractions (e.g.:  can't, don't, won’t, etc.).
 Structure:  Like all writing, an essay must have a defined
structure. To begin with, we can choose to give it a title or
not. Personally, it seems more appropriate to me to write an
essay with a title. Then, the body should be divided into
introduction, idea 1, idea 2, idea 3 and conclusion. That is, in
general, an essay must have 5 paragraphs, although it is not
mandatory.
 Opinion:  There are countless ways to express your opinion in
an essay, so you should choose the one that best suits your
style. However, it is normal to remain impartial throughout the
writing and express your opinion only in the last paragraph, as
a conclusion. The most important thing is that you justify
everything you say in the writing.
 Coherence:  Coherence is essential in all writing, but especially
in the essay. As it is a justifying and argumentative text,
unconnected sentences and paragraphs cannot be written, so
your ideas must follow a logical and well-connected order
using appropriate connectors.
As you can see at first glance, the essay has an introductory title and 5
paragraphs (introduction + idea 1 + idea 2 + idea 3 + conclusion). If we stop
to read the essay carefully, we will see the following:
 The essay has visually well-defined paragraphs, which is very
important.
 The title summarizes the theme of the essay. Another option is
to use the question in the instructions (What can people do to
help protect the environment?). However, it often seems too
long to me, so I prefer to summarize it in a shorter title.
 Each paragraph has a very clear purpose:
 Introduction:  introduces the topic in a general way
and gives rise to continue with the second paragraph.
 Paragraph 2:  deals with idea 1 of the task.
 Paragraph 3:  deals with idea 2 of the task.
 Paragraph 4:  deals with idea 3 of the task (your own
idea).
 Conclusion:  expresses our opinion as a conclusion
and summary.
 Use connectors to define the progression of the text: firstly,
second, finally, etc.
 It does not use many contractions or wildcard words.
 Among the useful expressions that we can highlight, are the
following:
 One of the things that
 In the last few decades,
 For this reason,
 First, / Second, / Third, 
 Finally,
 by doing so, 
 For example, 
 In conclusion,