Some help to improve your Writing skills

What kind of essays do you know?

1. In my opinion
2. Advantages and disadvantages
In favor/ For and against
3. Description (a dream, a (famous) person, your last
holidays…)
4. Informal letter
5. Formal letter
6. A complaint
7. A review
8. A report
9. An article
10. A short story
Steps you have to follow before you
start your composition
1. Brainstorming (possible information)

2. Draft (take some useful ideas to develop)

3. Edit

4. Check (check it before you hand it in)

Some ideas for your essay
Introduction
Nowadays …
In our society…
Today in our social structure…
Broadly speaking
Body
As recent surveys show…
-Advantages and disadvantages
On the one hand /on the one side/ on the positive side
On the other hand/ on the other side/ on the negative side
I can show some advantages such as…
But also there are some disadvantages such as
And/ in addition/ besides/ apart from
Also/too/as well as
Last but not least
Conclusion
To conclude
In conclusion
According to the said before
 To build an argument: THE BODY OF THE ESSAY

In the first place

- First of all
- First and foremost
- To start / To begin with
Secondly
- In the second place
- Apart from this/that
In addition (to this/ to that)
- What´s more
- Besides
- On top of this/ that
- Moreover, Furtherore
On the one hand … on the other hand
Finally
-In conclusion
-To conclude
- Lastly
Some linking words
 To talk about a fact
- In fact
- Actually
- As a matter of fact
- Really
- Of course
- Naturally
- In theory … In practice…

 To explain a result or whatever issue

- Because of this/ that
- In this/that way
- For this reason
- Therefore
- As a result
- Consequently
 To modify what we are saying
- To some extent
- Up to a point
- More or less
- At least
- Under the/certain circumstances
- Especially
- In particular
- Above all
- Not to mention
- In general
- Basically
- Essentialy
- In essence
• To show our personal opinion
- In my opinion
- In my view
- Personally
- From my point of view
- As I see it
- As far as I am concerned
• Some others
- According to (the text, author, writer)
- For instances
- Such as
- And so on and so forth
 Think while writing
 Verb tenses
Most of the essays will tell you in the heading the tense you
have been asked to use:
 Present simple tense: as you are going to write about your
likes, dislikes and personal routines. In this case, remember the
position of the adverbs of frequency
 Past tenses: when you are describing something in the past think
about the agreement of the tenses (past simple/cont, past
simpl/perfect…)
 Future tenses: read properly the title of the composition and make
sure what they´re asking you to write about (a prediction, something
we have already arranged…)
Think about the vocab
Remember that you can use different verbs to talk about
thoughts, likes and deslikes
 Thoughts: Believe, consider, guess, hope, imagine, know,
mean, suppose, think, understand…
 Likes: Like, love, enjoy, fancy, dislike, hate,

And remember that there is specific vocabulary for every

topic: money, descriptions, movies, food, family, transport,
sport, education, houses, electronic devices…
Writing 1

 Description of a person: 125 words.

Your friend Samantha is looking for a flatmate and you know
someone who may be a good option to her. Describe your
friend to Samantha and tell her why you you think he/she is a
nice person to live with.
 Writing 2
 An informal email 130 words
Your Irish friend Lucy, has sent you an email asiking you to help her
organinise a surprise welcome party to her sister Charlotte. Read her email
and the notes you have made. Using all the given information answer an
email to Lucy.
We must make sure that Charlotte doesn´t know about the surprise. We may
invite about 15 people because there is not much space in her house. I was
thinking about booking a place later to go for a drink all together.
I have thought about buying her a present but I don´t know what to buy
because I don´t want anything big or expensive. Any ideas?
Could you come and help me a little bit the day before the party with some
preparations? If you have any other ideas just let me know.
Best wishes,
Lucy
YOUR NOTES:
 You have thought going to the O´clock pub (tell the reasons)
 Charlotte loves Big Bang Theory
 Say sorry you can´t help her the day before the party
 Some extra idea you had
Writing 3
 An article for a magazine: 200 words
Your are going to write an article about how our eating
habits and diets are changing (regarding those our grand
parents used to have) and why.
Writing 4
 Telling a story. 200 words
Write about a frightening story that happened to you or
anyone you know
Writing 5
 A film review. 150 words
A. Write about your favourite movie
B. Write about a movie you really disliked
Writing 6
 Why is it important to play sports to have a healthy life? 130
words.

• (Try to develop all possible ideas because this composition

could be useful for you speaking too)
Writing 7
 Choose between these two options and develop your
arguments.
A. How do you spend your free time with your friends?
B. What alternatives can the Government offer young people to
encourage a healthy life?
Writing 8
 Choose between one of these two options and write 130-150
words.
A. How useful is technology in your daily life?
B. Advantages and disadvantages of the mobile phone
Writing 9
 Describe your ideal house. 100 words. Remember you have
to use a vocabulary according to your level.
 Writing 10
A. (Answer an e-mail) You have just come from United Kingdom.You were at your
friends´ house for a week . Write a letter or email telling Barbara and Luke thanks fot
everything and that it has been your best holiday ever.You should include:

1) you have impoved your English

2) You really enjoyed you trip to London
3) You invite Barbara to come
4) Some extra information about you

B. (Description) The best holiday ever Write about the best holidays you have ever
had.
- Where was it?
- Who did you go with?
- What did you do?
- Where did you stay?

C. Seaside or countryside holidays? Advantages and disadvantages of going

to the seaside.
Writing 11
 Write a biography about someone you have always admired. 125 words.
Some of these question may help you.
 What: What did he/she do?
 Where: Where did he/she work?
 What kind of: what kind of music did he/she
like?
 Who:
 How :
 When:
 Which:
 Why : Why have you always admired this
person?