Cambridge English: First
Check out students' answers to Flo-Joe's FCE Writing tasks with a teacher's feedback
Writing Class: Informal Letter
Task Type: Informal Letter
Question
You have received the following letter from your English-speaking friend:
| ...We're doing a project this month at school on eating habits and customs around the world. Will you be able to help me by telling me what the traditional meals are in your country, what people typically eat and at what time of day? Thanks very much! Love Alison |
Write a letter to your friend giving her the information she needs (around 140-190 words).
Makeover: Magda
Read Magda's answer to this question below. Try correcting the piece of writing yourself first: use the marking codes to think about what might be wrong (or what's good) about the piece of work. Then when you're ready, click the green buttons in the text for our feedback.
| Dear Alison I was very happy to hear from you. I will be glad to help you with your project, and I hope that I can give you some details you could use. GdMostly WW We usually don't WO O Between 7 and 8 pm most Polish families have their supper P Good luck with your project! Gd Love, Magda |
Feedback
Content
You have provided a full and very thoughtful response to the task and given a good picture of the eating habits of Polish people (menu, times, etc). The reader would be fully informed.
Communicative Achievement
You have written the email in an informal register with a friendly tone at the beginning and end - just right for an informal email/letter. The reader would be fully engaged throughout.
Organisation
In the main, the email is clearly organised with a logical use of paragraphs, although I think the sentence 'Sometimes we have some sweets for dessert' would have been better included in the previous paragraph as it continues the subject of food. You have used cohesive devices well, particulalry the use of relative pronouns to refer back to previously mentioned points.
Language
You have used English clearly to express your opinions. Some well-constructed sentences, appropriate use of the present simple tense for describing (eating) habits and good choices of vocabulary. Note the following:
- You might want to revise word order when using adverbs of time like 'sometimes', 'usually', often' etc.
- Check your work for missing articles 'a/the'.
Well done!
Marking Code
/\ Word(s) missing
- Omit word
C Capitalization
Gd Good
O Organisation
P Punctuation
PE Poorly expressed
R Register/Formality
SS Sentence Structure
S Spelling
T Tip
WF Wrong form
WO Word order
WT Wrong tense
WW Wrong word