1/7What you are asked to do
Part 3 of the Advanced Writing is an article for a website, of 180 to 220 words. According to the exam it targets C1 level, and its highest score reaches C2.
The descriptors give clues: the article has to use the task material correctly and with your own text; if you copy it, you are at the lowest score. And there is one key word: interesting.
Write an article for a website (180-220 words) about the benefits of learning a foreign language. It should be informative and engaging.
2/7Title and hook
An article for a website starts with a title that promises something concrete and a first sentence that makes people want to keep reading. In the model, the title is Why Learning a Language Changes More Than Your Vocabulary, and the first sentence drops you into a scene: Imagine ordering a coffee in a language you could not speak a year ago.
Why Learning a Language Changes More Than Your VocabularyImagine ordering a coffee in a language you could not speak a year ago.
3/7Paragraphs with a purpose
Each paragraph does one thing: it deals with one idea, explains it and supports it with an example. In the model, the first benefit is that it sharpens the mind, the second that it opens doors, and the third is confidence. Each one starts with a marker that announces it: First, Second, Perhaps the most surprising benefit.
4/7Engaging the reader
It is an article, not an essay: you talk to whoever is reading. Use you, a rhetorical question, an invitation or a sentence that makes them think about their own life. In the model: Think about the last time you felt proud of something difficult and So why wait?
So why wait?Think about the last time you felt proud of something difficult…
5/7The closing
End with an invitation or an idea that sticks, not with a summary of what you have already said. In the model: Choose a language, set aside twenty minutes a day, and give yourself permission to make mistakes. Your future self will thank you.
6/7C1 model article
The model article meets the word count (over 180 words) and combines the resources: a scene, three benefits each with a purpose, structures such as Not only does it improve your career prospects, it also lets you… and a closing that invites.
7/7What separates a 6 from a 5: being interesting
According to the Advanced descriptors, what separates a 6 (C2) from a 5 (C1) is that the article is interesting, as well as informative, with a clever use of the material and your own text. A 5 uses the material correctly and with your own text, but is not interesting.
That is why covering the points is not enough: look for a scene, a question or a detail that is not the first one everybody thinks of.
·Practice
To practise: choose a topic, write a title, a hook and three paragraphs with a purpose, and close with an invitation. Then check whether it is between 180 and 220 words, whether you speak to the reader and whether there is something that is not obvious.