misssimmonds style workshop octubre 2007 :) Writing style workshop Keep it (fairly!) simple! *Use the Spanish that you know and feel confident about. And so…*do not try to translate what you would say in English when writing in Spanish. Make sure that you cover all the points that you asked to cover! Use different paragraphs to cover the different points that you are making!

misssimmonds style workshop octubre 2007 :) Cómo escribir una carta/Letter- writing conventions Dont forget to put your town and date on the right-hand side of your letter (e.g. Londres, el ocho de octubre) You need to write the correct salutation: Querido (male friend) Querida (female friend) Muy señor mío Muy señora mía …and the correct ending… Un abrazo de/hasta pronto/con el afectuoso saludo/saludos Escribe pronto/escríbeme pronto

misssimmonds style workshop octubre 2007 :) Presentation, presentation, presentation! Take care with your work! Be neat! Be accurate! Avoid crossings out and use of If you must cross out, e.g. under controlled conditions, you should do one neat line. If you have time, copy up your rough version. Content Have you completed all the required parts of the task? Is the content relevant to the title/what it is supposed to be about? Is it well presented (see left )? Is it interesting? E.g. Express personal opinionsUsing a range/variety of structures (i.e. not using the same-old same-old type of sentence throughout your piece) and vocabulary. Describe, use adjectives and adverbs. Quality of language Referring to past, present and future events (do this more than once) Use range of structures and vocab (see above) Does it read like youve translated from English into Spanish? Also see below… Accuracy Will show how much you understand how the language works…do your sentences make sense? Have you got correct spellings and accents in the right places? Are your verbs formed correctly? Have you used the right tense for what you want to say? Check genders of nouns! Use a dictionary for this. What are the examiners looking for when they are marking?

misssimmonds style workshop octubre 2007 :) Check! Spellings – the only double consonants that appear in Spanish are the ones in the word CaRoLiNa, i.e. ___ ___ ___ ___ Agreement of nouns and adjectives! Your nouns and adjectives need to get on, in terms of number (sing./pl.) and gender (m./f.) e.g. Mi hermana tiene dos gatos preciosos que se llaman Paf y Pif. Remember that adjectives mainly go AFTER the noun… Have you used the right ending of the verb for the person(s )/thing(s) that you are talking about? Did you mean to refer to present, past or future events? A + EL= AL (Ayer mis amigos y yo fuimos al cine…) and DE + EL = DEL ( ¿A qué hora saliste del instituto el viernes…? USE YOUR GRADE C/GRADE A CHECKLIST (get into the habit of using this and aim to tick ALL boxes) and REFERENCE SHEET FOR MAKING LONGER SENTENCES (go beyond the minimum for higher level work!)!

misssimmonds style workshop octubre 2007 :) ¿Y tú? Questions for letters ¿Hay…? ¿A qué hora…? ¿Cómo es…? ¿Cómo se llama…? ¿Cuál es/qué es…? ¿Por qué…?

misssimmonds style workshop octubre 2007 :) Ave it! Quick ways in which to impress the examiner with your phenomenal coursework writing skills… Al/antes de/después de* + infinitive. P.ej. Al salir del cole, fui directamente a casa. ¡Qué bien/interesante /pena! Et cetera… (Up)on/before/after –ing. E.g. On leaving school, I went straight home. Give opinions and reasons Use linking words Use expressions with qué… meaning How/What a ____! Use idioms! *reference to a past event! As is hace when you use it to talk about how long ago something happened. E.g. Hace cinco meses = five months ago