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FCE Tips: How To Write An Article

The document provides tips for writing an article for the FCE exam, including: 1) The language should be informal to neutral depending on the intended audience, without overly formal phrases. 2) The article should be interesting and catch the reader's attention while expressing the author's opinion, not just copying the prompt. 3) The structure includes an attention-grabbing title and introduction, main points in one or two paragraphs, and a conclusion summarizing the points and author's feelings. 4) Useful expressions are given to involve readers and develop points through rhetorical questions and transitions between ideas.

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Meri (Maia) Giorgadze
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172 views4 pages

FCE Tips: How To Write An Article

The document provides tips for writing an article for the FCE exam, including: 1) The language should be informal to neutral depending on the intended audience, without overly formal phrases. 2) The article should be interesting and catch the reader's attention while expressing the author's opinion, not just copying the prompt. 3) The structure includes an attention-grabbing title and introduction, main points in one or two paragraphs, and a conclusion summarizing the points and author's feelings. 4) Useful expressions are given to involve readers and develop points through rhetorical questions and transitions between ideas.

Uploaded by

Meri (Maia) Giorgadze
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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FCE Tips: How to Write an Article

Type of article
– Informal to neutral
* It depends on what magazine it is for (ex: young people magazine : more
informal, business/travel magazine : more neutral)
* Do not use formal expressions (ex: Besides, moreover, likewise.. /I would like
to give an opposite idea…)

Basic advice
– It should be interesting and catch the reader’s attention.
– Do not just copy sentence from the task.
– Use informal language to involve the reader (ex: Once Carnival starts, the
whole town goes crazy!)
– Don’t forget to express your opinion (ex: I love the giant street dolls.)

Structure
1. Heading: think of an interesting title.
2. Introductory paragraph linked to the title: to make the reader interested in the
topic, try to use a question.
3. One or two more paragraphs: develop your main points.
4. A final paragraph: summarise the main points and give your concluding
opinion or express your feelings.

Useful language:
Involving the reader
1. Are you thinking of (getting married in the near future)?
2. I’m sure you’ll agree (it was a great idea.)

Developing your points


1 . Let’s start with (why it is so important to take plenty of exercise).
2. Another advantage (of using a computer is that..)
3. On top of that,…

Giving your own opinion


1. I think that/In my opinion (traditional celebrations are very important).
2. It seems to me that (people are much more aware of the importance of a good
diet nowadays.)

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:
 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.

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!

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