Sean Haughton

Ahead with

FCE for schools

SKILLS BUILDER
for Writing & Speaking
CONTENTS
The Essay  pg. 2

The Review  pg. 7

The Story  pg. 12

The Article  pg. 19

The Letter/Email  pg. 22

The Speaking Exam  pg. 26

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Written by: Sean Haughton

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 Writing | Part 1

The Writing Exam

The basics ...
Here is what the Writing Paper looks like:
Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes
2: Part 1 and Part 2
Number of Parts
(both carry equal marks)

Part Task Write

Question 1
- always essay.
1 140-190 words
- compulsory question.
- up to 120 words of input material.
Questions 2-5
- choose ONE question to answer.
- up to 70 words of input material.
Questions 2-4
- 3 of the following 4 question types:
• article
• story
2 • letter/email 140-190 words
• review
Question 5
- based on the set text, 1 of the following 4 question types:
• article
• review
• letter/email
• essay

1 Look at the table and answer these questions about the Writing Paper.

1. How many parts are there? 2

2. How long do you have to finish the paper in total? 1 hour 20 minutes
3. Which part is worth the most marks? neither – equal marks
4. How many answers do you have to write in total? 2
5. What is the maximum number of words you can write for each answer? 190
6. What is the minimum number of words you can write for each answer? 140
7. What writing type always appears in Part 1? Essay
8. How many questions must you do in Part 2? 1
9. What writing types can appear in questions 2-4? Article / Story / Email or Letter / Review
10. What writing types can appear in question 5? Article / Review / Email or Letter / Essay
11. If you haven’t studied the set text, how many different questions can you choose from in Part
2? 3
12. And if you have studied the set text, how many then? 4

1
 Writing | Part 1

The Essay
Step 1: Analysing the question and input material.

Save time. Before you enter the exam room, you should already be familiar with the format of the
paper. Therefore, you don’t need to read these lines because they tell you what you already know: (1)
the question is compulsory and (2) you should write 140-190 words.

1 
You MUST answer this question. Write your answer in
These lines always pro-
140-190 words in an appropriate style.
vide some background
This is your question In your English class you have been talking about food. information. They are
topic. Highlight it. Re- Now your English teacher has asked you to write an essay not very important, so
member: you don’t for homework. just read them quickly
have to agree with and highlight the gen-
Write your essay using all the notes and giving reasons for
the statement. You eral topic, ie food.
your point of view.
can take the other
point of view if you
want. All teens should learn how to cook. You are already famil-
Do you agree? iar with the format of the
paper, so you are aware
Notes
Question 1 is always an
This is important. Write about: essay. Therefore, you
You must include 1. whether or not teens should be able to cook know that you should
(write about) all the write in a FORMAL essay
2. whether or not cooking is enjoyable
notes. If you don’t, style.
you will lose marks. 3. (your own idea)
(Refer to the Notes
section later.) Although there is a lot
of input material, really,
all you need to focus on
There are always 2 things you Similarly, you must include another idea is the few key pieces of
must write about in the Notes of your own. If you don’t remember to highlighted information.
section. Highlight them and make do this, you will lose marks. Make sure you answer the
sure you cover both items in your question asked: (1) stay
answer or you will lose marks. on topic; (2) cover both
the given points; and (3)
include your own idea.

1 After you have read the task and tips above, answer these questions.

Ex. What style of writing should you use? Formal

1. What is the question topic? Food – all teens should learn how to cook
2. What are you told to write about? Whether teens should be able to cook / whether cooking is enjoyable
3. What else must you include? Your own idea
4. Do you have to agree with the statement? No

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2
 Writing | Part 1

Step 2: Planning your answer ...

Always spend a few minutes planning your answer. Marks are awarded for organisation, so make sure you
structure your paragraphs in a logical way.

1 Write the information (A-E) in the correct sections (1-5).

There are different ways to structure your answer, but for this example we have chosen an easy, logi-
cal one: use five paragraphs and cover the input material in the order it appears.
A Introduce the topic in my own words. 1 Paragraph 1 A
B Summarise what I’ve said and make my
opinion clear. 2 Paragraph 2 C
C Talk about whether or not teens should
3 Paragraph 3 E
be able to cook.
D Talk about my idea. 4 Paragraph 4 D
E Talk about whether or not cooking is en-
joyable. 5 Paragraph 5 B

Brainstorm ideas ...

Don’t spend very long on this, but take a minute or two to write down some ideas for the main-body para-
graphs – your opinions and reasons to support them.

2a You try: Write as many ideas of your own as you can, for each section below. For this exercise, you are
in favour of teens learning to cook.

Paragraph 2: Should teens be able to cook?

Yes – homemade usually healthier so important skill; also more delicious!;
also, very busy parents so need help in kitchen

Paragraph 3: Is cooking enjoyable?

Yes – you get to have the leftovers!; if people like your food, feel great;
experiment with foreign foods, interesting

Paragraph 4: My idea
Culture – learn more about foreign cultures when cooking their food;
more respect for them; more motivation to travel

3
 Writing | Part 1

2b Now compare your notes with the example notes. If your ideas are different, that’s fine. The example
is just there to help you.

2c Did you notice some of the ideas in the example were crossed out? That’s because you only need one
or two good points for each paragraph. Look at your ideas and cross out ones you don’t need.

Once you have completed Exercise 2c, that should leave you with an essay plan. Then, it’s time to use
the plan to write your essay. However, before you do that, let’s read the example answer and tips below.

In the first paragraph, introduce the topic. Try to use your own words and not repeat the words from
the question. One technique is (1) make a general statement and then (2) ask a question.

Many people say the art of cooking is being

General statements are Asking a question is a
lost. However, even if true, does that really
things most people believe. good way to introduce
matter – should young people learn to cook?
Start with a phrase like one the topic and get the dis-
of these: Personally, I think it is very important for cussion started.
teenagers to learn to cook. For a start, home-
- Most people believe ...
made food is generally healthier than bought
- The majority of people food, so this skill will help them remain Follow your plan. In the
believe ... healthy throughout life. Moreover, parents second paragraph, say
- Nowadays, it is commonly are busier than ever today; therefore, they why you think teens
believed that ... need their children’s support in the kitchen. should be able to cook.
Besides, the fact remains that cooking is a Remember to support
very enjoyable and rewarding pastime. For your opinion with one or
Notice all the linking words
instance, when you cook a nice meal and oth- two good points.
and phrases (highlighted)
ers enjoy it, this is incredibly satisfying. Addi-
used in the essay. These
tionally, learning to cook foods from different
help to link your ideas to- Remember: this is a
parts of the world is fascinating.
gether in a logical flow so FORMAL style of writing.
that your essay reads well. And that brings me to my final point; that
cooking helps us appreciate other cultures. Don’t use contractions.
Make sure you are familiar For example: cooking is
with and know when to use a Food is a huge part of culture and the more
we learn about foreign foods, the more we not cooking’s.
good selection of them.
appreciate the richness of cultures other
than our own.
Conclude by giving your
In short, I firmly believe that all teens should
opinion and a brief sum-
be able to cook because not only is cooking
mary of the reasons why
a practical skill, but it is also very satisfying
you believe that (these
and a cultural experience.
are the points you have
already made in the main
body – paragraphs 2-4).

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 Writing | Part 1

Paraphrasing
Remember, try to paraphrase the question in your own words.

3a Rewrite these statements using the words in brackets as in the example.

Ex. It is important for everyone to learn to cook. (there is, need, able to)
There is still a need for everyone to be able to cook.
1. Art should be a compulsory school subject. (students, have to, learn, at school)
Students should have to learn art at school.
2. We need more practical subjects for students. (students, should be, offered, chance, do, at school)
Students should be offered the chance to do more practical subjects at school.
3. The school day should be shorter. (we, shorten)
We should shorten the school day.
4. Schools should ban mobile phones from the classroom. (students, not allowed, in the)
Students should not be allowed to use mobile phones in the classroom.
5. Students should not have to wear uniforms in school. (uniforms, not be, compulsory, at)
Uniforms should not be compulsory at school.

Making topic questions

Remember, you can use questions to introduce your topic.

3b Rewrite your statements from Exercise 3a as questions below.

Ex. Is there still a need for everyone to be able to cook?

1. Should students have to learn art at school?
2. Should students be offered the chance to do more practical subjects at school?
3. Should we shorten the school day?
4. Should students be allowed to use mobile phones in the classroom?
5. Should uniforms be compulsory at school?

5
 Writing | Part 1

Linking phrases
You should become familiar with a range of different linking phrases for different functions.

4 Match the functions (A-H) to the groups of phrases (1-8) in the table.

A 7 Giving opinions E 2 Giving supporting information

B 6 Giving reasons F 3 Contrasting
C 1 Sequencing G 5 Giving results
D 4 Giving examples H 8 Summing up
1 2 3 4
Firstly, ... Additionally, ... On one hand, ... For instance, ...
Secondly, ... Furthermore, ... On the other hand, ... For example, ...
Thirdly, ... What is more, ... However, ... ... ; namely, ...
Lastly, ... In addition, ... Nonetheless, ... ... , such as ...
First of all, ... Not only ... , but also ... Nevertheless, ... ... , like ...
Second of all, ... Despite this, ...
Last of all, ... In spite of this, ...
Last but not least, ... ... , whereas ...
... , while ...
... , but ...
5 6 7 8
Therefore, ... ... due to (the fact that) In my view, ... In short, ...
As a result, ... ... As far as I am In conclusion, ...
As a consequence, ... ... since/as/because ... concerned, ... In summary, ...
Consequently, ... ... on account of ... From my perspective, ... To summarise, ...
... because of ... To conclude, ...

Step 3: Putting it all together ...

Now it’s time to write your answer, using your notes. Remember:
ll Stick to your simple paragraph plan and follow your notes.

ll Introduce the topic in your own words.

ll Use linking words and phrases to improve the flow of your ideas.

ll Only use formal language.

ll Give your opinion and a brief summary of the reasons at the end.

TIP BOX!

Don’t waste time counting your words in the exam. You should, instead, try to get an idea of what
around 190 words looks like in your writing when you write practice answers. You won’t be heavily
penalised for writing a few words over the limit.

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 Writing | Part 2

The review
Step 1: Analysing the question and input material.
Again, save yourself time. You don’t need to read this section be-
cause you already know the information. It’s always the same.

Find out and highlight 2 

Write your answer in 140-190 words in an appropriate
the important infor- style. Always check your tar-
mation: get reader(s). Here it’s
What are you review- You see this announcement in an educational magazine teenage readers of an
ing? for teenagers. educational magazine.
- favourite website Reviews are generally
Reviews needed!
What do you have to informal in writing style,
talk about? Do you have a favourite website ? It could be one that
but make sure your re-
- how you found out you use to help you with your schoolwork , or to find
view has an educational
about it out about a hobby you are really interested in, for
value in this case.
- what you use it for example. Send us a review of the website, telling us
- anything negative how you found out about it and what you use it for .
- recommend or not, Mention anything not so good about it, too, and say Read the question care-
and for whom whether or not you’d recommend it to other people fully. Do you have to
your age . write about a website to
The best reviews will win a prize! do with school or a hob-
by? No. These are just
Write your review .
examples given. Think
about what you would
Highlight the type of task. If you The point of a review is to say if find it easiest to write
want to find out straight away you think something is good or bad. about in that case. May-
before reading the main input Therefore, you always have to give be use a real example of
material, look at the instruction your recommendation at the end: a website you like.
here. It is always in the same say whether or not you would recom-
place at the bottom. mend it and for whom. Do this even
if the question doesn’t ask you to.

A review can usually be either positive or negative. However, think about this specific question. You
are writing about your favourite website. Therefore, it should be a generally positive review.

1 After you have read the task and tips above, answer these questions.

Ex. What style of writing should you use? Informal

1. What is the question type and topic? Review – favourite website
2. What must you mention? how you found out about it / what you use it for / anything not good
3. What else must you do at the end? give a recommendation

Step 2: Planning your answer ...

Always spend a few minutes planning your answer. Marks are awarded for organisation, so make sure you
structure your paragraphs in a logical way.

7
 Writing | Part 2

1a Match the information (A-F) to the correct sections (1-3).

There are different ways to structure your review. Here, we will use a simple three-paragraph plan.
Think about where you would put the different pieces of information you have to write about.
A The name of the website. 1 Paragraph 1 A, C, F
B The things you dislike about it.
C How you found out about it.
2 Paragraph 2 B, E
D Would you recommend it and for whom.
E The things you like about it.
F What the website is for. 3 Paragraph 3 D

1b Compare your answer with the suggested one.

Generally, the basic information (what, where, when, etc.) goes in the first paragraph. The main body
discusses your experience of the thing being reviewed and what you like and dislike about it. The final
paragraph sums up your views and gives your recommendation.

Brainstorm ideas ...

It’s harder to brainstorm ideas because you have less guidance on what specifically to write about in Part
2. Let’s have a little help ...

2a Look at the lists of good and bad points in the different columns of the table. Use a dictionary if you
need help with any words and label the reviews with the matching numbers.

A 3 Book review C 1 Website review E 4 Film review

B 5 Hotel review D 2 Restaurant review

1 2 3 4 5
Good points
- interesting - great - great storyline - great plot - great location
articles atmosphere - amazing special - good character - clean rooms
- easy to navigate - n ice décor effects development - excellent range
- helpful members’ - g ood service - interesting plot - colourful of facilities
forum - f riendly staff twist descriptions - beautiful views
- educational -delicious food - good chemistry - original ending - good value for
videos - convenient between the lead money
location actors
Bad points
- a lot of ads - limited choice on - a little slow and - a difficult read - staff a little
- not updated with menu dull at the start - very long; over impolite
new content - expensive - story differs from one thousand - a little noisy
regularly the book it’s pages during the night
based on

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 Writing | Part 2

2b Now brainstorm ideas for your website review. Quickly think of as many as you can for each section
below. Refer to Exercise 2a (the website section) if you need some help.

Paragraph 1: What type of website? How did you find out about it?

Paragraph 2: What did you like and dislike about it? (More likes than dislikes – positive review.)

Paragraph 3: Would you recommend it for teens? Anyone else?

2c Now, have a look at the examples below. Remember, it’s just an example. Your ideas are probably very
different.

Paragraph 1: What type of website? How did you find out about it?
Football website; my English pen pal
Paragraph 2: What did you like and dislike about it? (More likes than dislikes – positive review.)
Good: live match updates; detailed match reports from all the major
leagues; footballer profiles; video highlights; info in different languages -
great for my language learning
Bad: pay a subscription fee to use after free trial
Paragraph 3: Would you recommend it for teens? Anyone else?
Yes, but only football lovers (especially if love languages too); people of any
age who like football

9
 Writing | Part 2

Once you have completed Exercise 2b, that should leave you with a full plan. Then, it’s time to use the plan
to write your review. However, before you do that, let’s read the example answer and tips below.

Always give your review a title. Typically, this is the name of what you are reviewing; in this case, a
football website.

In your review, you can Football Magic Remember: Follow your

use an informal style of My favourite website is Football Magic. I’ve been a mas- plan closely. So, in para-
writing, so contractions sive fan of football for many years and this is by far the graph 1, mention the name
like I’m are OK instead best dedicated site I’ve ever seen, so I’m really grateful to of the site, what type of
of I am. my English pen friend for showing it to me. site it is, and how you
What I love most about the site is that it has live updates found out about it.
and really detailed match reports and statistics for every
A review is written game in every major league globally. What’s more, the
from your perspective, video highlights of matches are fantastic; really well ed- Remember: If you do not
so always include your ited and you only see the best action. And another thing, answer all the input points
own opinions. the information is available in five different languages, in the question, you will
including mine and English, so it’s helpful for my studies, lose marks. You must talk
too. The only downside is the fact that the fee you have about:
One of the aims when to pay after your month’s free trial ends is quite a lot. - what you use the site for
you write a review is to However, if you are a lover of football like me, I think it’s - any bad points
keep your readers’ in- worth the money. - your recommendation for
terest. To do this, you teenage users
I’d have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending this
can use more colourful
site to my fellow teens, provided you are football lovers,
descriptive language.
too. In fact, I think it’s the perfect site for footie fans of
For example, instead of Remember: Every review
any age.
great say fantastic. must have a recommenda-
tion. That’s the most im-
portant part.
It’s useful to know a few stock phrases like this for making recommendations.

Here are some more stock phrases:

Positive: I’d highly recommend ... I can’t recommend ... highly enough. ... gets a huge
thumbs up from me and I would definitely recommend it.
Negative: I couldn’t possibly recommend ... I simply cannot recommend ... There’s simply
no way I could recommend ...

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 Writing | Part 2

Using more colourful language

In order to interest your reader, get into the habit of using more colourful language in your review. Here’s
a simple exercise to show how easy it can be ...

3 Replace the words in italics in the text with more colourful words/phrases from the list below.

absolutely no cost   amazing   fascinating   incredibly   
massive   ’m crazy about   tiny

I (1) love the website Free Games because it has a (2) big selection of (3) interesting computer games
you can play for (4) no charge. That’s (5) great value. Some of the games are a (6) little bit slow to
load, but that’s a(n) (7) very small criticism.
1 ’m crazy about 5 amazing
2 massive 6 tiny
3 fascinating 7 incredibly
4 absolutely no cost

Giving your impressions – talking about what you liked and disliked ...
Here are some useful phrases for giving your impressions about your experience of the thing you are re-
viewing (rather than simply saying I liked or I disliked all the time).

4 Label the columns. Which expressions are for likes and which are for dislikes?

1 Likes 2 Dislikes
I was very impressed by/with ... I was not terribly keen on ...
I was pleasantly surprised by ... I was slightly/incredibly disappointed with/by ...
I really appreciated ... I felt let down by ...
I thought ... was/were superb. I was not completely/remotely satisfied with ...

Examples:
I was slightly disappointed with the behaviour of staff, though. I found them very impolite.
I really appreciated the low price. This product was excellent value for money.

Step 3: Putting it all together ...

Now it’s time to write your answer, using your notes. Remember:
44 Stick to your simple paragraph plan and follow your notes.
44 Write about all the input material.
44 Use a title.
44 Use linking words and phrases to improve the flow of your ideas.
44 Use informal language.
44 Always give your recommendation at the end and say who (if anyone) you’d recommend it for.

11
Ahead with

FCE for schools

Ahead with FCE Skills Builder:

l  0 pages of preparation and skills practice for the
5
Writing and Speaking papers of the FCE exam for
schools
l  pecific instruction and preparation for the:
S
Essay, Review, Story, Article and Letter/Email
parts
l Specific instruction for all the Speaking parts
l  Can be used in correlation with the Ahead with
FCE practice tests or individually
l  Teacher's book (overprinted version) is
available FREE online

Components
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ISBN: 978-88-98433-43-8
 Skills builder for writing and speaking
 ISBN: 978-88-98433-47-6
(Teacher's book - overprinted version - available online)
Teacher’s book (overprinted version)
with Audio CD
ISBN: 978-88-98433-45-2

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