improving Writing skills

WRITING
You complete tasks such as: 
 writing notes or a short message of between 35 and 45 words
 writing a story or letter of up to 100 words
 completing exercises involving changing the meaning of sentences


1. COMPARISONS

 ………. more often than ………
 ………. less often than ……….
 ………. as often as …………
 ………. faster than ………..
 ….…… slower than …….
 ………. as fast as ………
 ………. better than …….
 ………. worse than …….
 ………. as good as …….




2. WHEN DID IT HAPPEN
 ……….. before ……….
 ……….. after …………
 ……….. until …………
 ……….. when ………..
 ……….. as soon as ……
 ……….. while …………
 ……….. during ………..


3. EXAMPLE

You have an American penfriend called Pat who asks what your bedroom is like. Write an email to Pat. In the email, you should:
 Tell her how big your room is
 Say what’s in the room
 Explain why you like it

Write 35-45 words


ADVICE
1. Read the instructions carefully and imagine the situation.
2. Make sure you write about all three points in the instructions.
3. Remember to address your message to the person named (eg Dear Pat, Hi Pat,).
4. Don’t forget to write your name at the end.
5. Don’t write less than 35 words or more than 45.
6.  Check what you have written for silly mistakes.




4. REPHRAISING

1. Do you play basketball well?
Are you a …………………… player?

2. Does art interest you?
Are you ………………… art?

3. What is your age?
How ………….. you?

4. Which is your favourite school subject?
Which school subject ………….. like best?

5. How is that spelt?
How do …………….. that?

6. Each lesson lasts forty minutes.
Each lesson …………….. long.

7. What‟s the price of this book, please?
How ………   this book, cost, please?

8. I think Spain is a wonderful country.
Spain is a wonderful country ……… opinion.

9. I think you are right about the weather.
I agree …………. about the weather.

10. I think mobile phones are very useful.
Mobile phones are very useful ……….. opinion.

11. We‟ll talk about the price first.
How ………………… about the price first?

12. Bill is too weak to carry the box.
Bill isn‟t …………. to carry the box.

13. In our school only a few students have curly hair.
In our school, not ………………….. curly hair.

14. My sister prefers milk chocolate to dark chocolate.
My sister likes milk chocolate ………… dark chocolate.

15. In our house, dinner is usually prepared by my father.
In our house, my father …………………. dinner.

16. My father said, „Come home at 10.‟
My father told ………home at 10.

17. Susan asked for paella in the restaurant.
In the restaurant, Susan said, „Can ………… paella, please?‟

18. Mary suggested that we order a pizza.
Mary said, „Let‟s ………………… a pizza.‟

19. Britain is a small island, so everywhere is near to the sea.
Britain is a small island, so nowhere is ………………. the sea.

20. Never go for a long run without taking water with you.
Take water with you, if you‟re ……………… a long run.

21. Look at a map of Africa if you want to find Zimbabwe.
You won‟t find Zimbabwe unless ……………………… a map of Africa.

22. I became a policeman five years ago.
I …………. a  policeman for five years.

23. I came to Spain in 2005.
I …………….. in Spain since 2005.

24. My mother asked me if I wanted an ice-cream.
My mother said, „Would …………. an ice-cream?‟

25. Yesterday a photographer took my photo.
Yesterday my photo ………..…….. a photographer.


LISTENING ( PRACTISE AND PRACTISE)

http://www.eltpodcast.com/archive/bc

Simple Sentences

LISTENING & SPEAKING


Personal Pronouns (Subject)

http://www.puroingles.com/pronombres-sujeto-en-ingles/

Verbs

• TO BE

http://www.puroingles.com/el-verbo-to-be-en-ingles-con-sonido/

• TO HAVE 

http://www.puroingles.com/el-verbo-to-have-en-ingles/

• TO DO

http://www.puroingles.com/el-verbo-to-do-en-ingles/

Colours

http://www.puroingles.com/pronunciacion-de-los-colores-en-ingles/

 

READING

Primary colours are red, yellow and blue. If you want to get the secondary colours, you have to mix the primary ones. We have green when we mix yellow and blue; we have orange from red and yellow; and, finally, we have purple with red and blue.

The absence of colour is black and, on the contrary, white is the combination of all the colours. However, it is impossible to get white colour to paint mixing all the colours.

If we have a white crayon, we can mix it with red and we obtain pink.

Brown, is a curious color. It is possible to obtain a large variety of "browns" by mixing different reds, yellows, greens...

1- How many colours do we mention in the text? Is there any other colour in this page that we haven't mentioned?
2- How do we get the secondary colours? Can you explain one?
3- Nowadays, can we buy any colour to paint or do we have to mix some to obtain the colour we want?
4- What is your favourite colour and why? How do we obtain it?

WRITING


Now, you are going to fill in the gaps in a text.
Imagine you are writing a brief presentation about yourself to a person you want to know.

Presentation (fill in the gaps)