06 Sep CAE Exam Tips CAE Test that is writing Tips
Introduction
You have got 90 minutes to create two texts. Each text must certanly be about 220-260 words long (see the Questions section at the bottom if you have concerns concerning the word count). Part 1 is always an essay, whilst in part 2 you have got a selection of 3 tasks (letter/email; proposal; report; review).
The examiners assess you on 4 elements:
- Content – Did you will do the duty you were asked to complete?
- Communicative achievement – Did you make use of the tone that is right standard of formality?
- Organisation – Do you link paragraphs together? Can there be a logical flow?
- Language – Did you show off your sparkling vocabulary or did you merely use First Certificate words? Did you make plenty of grammar mistakes?
With your writing before you continue with this guide, I strongly recommend you read about this free tool that will help you:
Just last year I made the decision Grammarly, a free writing aid, was not useful – this is basically the story of how one Russian student convinced me to change my mind.
Time management
You have got 90 minutes to create 2 texts. Both texts would be concerning the length that is same and so are worth exactly the same quantity of points. Obviously, you really need to spend the same length of time on each! Personally, I’d spend as much time planning as possible, because it makes everything else easier. The exact time split is determined by how fast you write, but try something like this:
- Planning – 10 minutes (i have made a video clip about the planning process – it really is in section 8 below.)
- Writing – 25 minutes
- Checking – 10 minutes
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Plenty of students hate planning and think it is a waste of valuable exam time. But do chefs walk into a kitchen and just start cooking? Needless to say not – they lay out their ingredients, be sure their utensils are clean, and have now their recipe nearby.
Your plan is the recipe you are going to used to cook up a piece that is great of. Think of how paragraphs that are many want then get some good ideas in regards to the content of each and every. But even at this stage that is early should start planning the language you want to use. Ask yourself questions like:
- Where may I use a form that is passive?
- Where can i personally use an inversion?
- What CAE-level vocabulary do I’m sure about this topic, and where can it is used by me?
- How do you link in one paragraph to a higher?
Thinking about solutions before you start writing could be the way that is easiest to fix problems!
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The thing that is first’re assessed on is your content. That basically means reading the job carefully and doing what you are told to do! In part 1 you may be given three bullet points but they are asked to speak about TWO of them. (You’re also given some opinions on the subject that can be used if you want, you do not have to.) listed here is a typical example of the 3 bullet points and a job:
Because I feel like I have more to say about those topics if I were planning my answer, I’d probably choose ‘giving rules’ and ‘setting an example’ as my two points. (just how much would I talk about ‘offering advice’? Nothing! Because i ought to only write about two things!)
Another important point is to say that will be more efficient. I would probably write one paragraph about ‘giving rules’, in addition to next paragraph would be about ‘setting an example’ – I would personally make sure to give reasons why it was a more effective way to influence younger people.
How about part 2? Again, you need to browse the relevant question carefully and work out sure you include everything it instructs you to.
Here’s the style of task which will show up:
Listed here is a plan you could follow:
- Intro
- Evaluation associated with the programme
- Probably the most useful elements of the programme
- Suggested changes for next year
- Summary
Not very imaginative, however you’d be going to get full marks in terms of content!
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Which is better English:
Dear Sir or Madam
Well, this will depend who you’re talking to! If for example the task is to write a study for the ‘serious’ organisation you should utilize a formal tone. If you are writing a magazine article for teenagers you will be more informal.
This really is a giant topic and there is not room enough to get into it in detail here. I’ll list a couple of external resources that can help, but a good coursebook will offer you lots of guidance.
The key tip will be consistent – students often write a report that is 95% formal, and then throw in certain exclamation points, slang, contractions, and informal vocabulary. That is bad! It suggest you don’t have control of your tone.
Learn more about formal vs informal English:
Task types
You need to invest some right time making sure you realize the essential difference between a letter and an essay, and between a study and a proposal. Here are a few quick tips:
Essay
You’ll want to give your opinion in an interesting way. CAE essays are often academic in tone, so practice of formal writing shall be helpful.
Letter/email
Write a message because of the opening/closing that is same a letter. Within these you write about your experiences that are personal. Your writing shall have an objective, like responding to a newspaper article that you do not agree with.
Report/Proposal
Use headings for every paragraph. The job shall inform you some of the content you ought to include and you will be able to use your imagination to include some more ideas. You might be asked to evaluate if some goal happens to be achieved and/or to suggest alternative courses of action. A proposal could have more scope for making suggestions and more dependence on polite persuasive language.
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Cambridge love linking words and cohesive devices. They are items of text like ‘firstly’, ‘whereas’, ‘in addition’, ‘however’, and so on. Properly used, they will make your writing flow and work out your text simpler to read. You can’t do well in CAE without using these phrases.
Here’s a web page with some basic ideas about cohesive devices – attempt to include them in your writing. Here’s another one with tips for the IELTS exam.
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Organising a text, using linking words, and having all the content points is a great start, but also for a higher grade you’ll need to use advanced vocabulary and much more difficult sentence structures.
In the planning stage of the exam think about which high-level words you know for that topic and think by which paragraph you need to use them. For instance, if the topic is all about transport you may use phrases like ‘mass transit system’, ‘to commute’, ‘congestion,’ and ‘pressed for time’.
You will need to use many different structures – passives, inversions, cleft sentences, questions, sentences with semi-colons. The greater amount of variety the higher!
Also many different sentence lengths. This picture explains what I mean:
So instead of writing like this:
A lot of politicians say they are going to improve bus and train services. Having trains is wonderful for individuals who have to go to work. This means they do not need to use the motor car to your workplace. It is probably faster. If everyone takes a train to the office there will not be any traffic jams.
You are able to produce this:
Why do progressive politicians pledge to prov >mass transit systems in their cities? The solution is clear: Not only do pressed-for-time commuters benefit, but there is also less pollution. Let congestion be a thing of the past; let flowers bloom next to online essay every tram stop.
In those three sentences there was one question; one colon; one semi-colon; one ‘not only but also’; one imperative. So good, right? You can write like this if you practice and in case you’re not afraid in order to make some mistakes on the way.