The first question in Paper 2 of the First Certificate in English (FCE) Exam is one that all candidates have to answer. This is the transactional letter – the word transactional simply means that it is a response to a letter or email and some notes.
I’ve found it helpful to give a checklist to go through when you write your answer in the exam, and to give you key vocabulary for the types of reply you may need to write.
1. GET OFF TO A GOOD START
Before you do anything, read the question carefully and find out the following:
- who you are writing to
- why you are writing (e.g. to ask for information, to complain, etc.)
- what you are writing about
2. PLANNING
Remember that the transactional letter needs to be between 150-180 words.
Take advantage of this and use the extra time for planning – a well-planned answer will be much easier to write and will get a much better mark.
There are three things to consider when you are thinking about a plan:
a) The question – This will give you the basic details about who you are writing to and why. It will also help you decide whether your reply should be formal or informal, as choosing the correct style is an important part of the test.
The question may also contain clues about the functions you will need to use – in other words whether you are writing to apologise, congratulate, thank, ask for information and so on. In your preparation for the exam, make sure you are familiar with the language needed to do these things.
b) The original letter or email – This will give you a very clear idea of the subject, and the original letter or email can be helpful in giving you some of the vocabulary you might need. However, remember that the more you can use your own words and phrases the better.
c) The handwritten notes – These are perhaps the most important part of the input. The notes sometimes give you details that you can use in your answer, but more often than not they suggest something that you have to write about. For instance, if the note just says ‘weather?’ you will be expected to ask what the weather is like at that time of the year, what sort of clothes you should bring, etc.
3. DECIDING ON PARAGRAPHS
The next stage is to decide what will be in each paragraph. Usually the answer will have four or more paragraphs:
a) A very short opening paragraph – usually just a sentence – thanking the other person for their letter or email and adding any other appropriate comments. Make sure that you know a range of set phrases (formal and informal) for this.
b) The first main paragraph – The topic for this is usually given in the original question, so make your plan based on the letter and notes.
c) The second main paragraph – The topic for this again is usually given in the original question, so make your plan based on the original letter and notes. (There may be additional paragraphs after this, depending on the exact topic of the letter).
d) The ending – Again, this will usually be short – just a sentence or so – but make sure you know a range of formal and informal ways of ending.
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4. USING YOUR OWN WORDS
When it comes to the exact words and phrases that you use, you should avoid copying too many words and phrases from the original letter. If you can use your own words and phrases, then you will demonstrate your ability to use a range of structures and show your breadth of vocabulary.
5. CHOOSING THE RIGHT STYLE
Another way of doing well in this part of the paper is to make sure that you use the appropriate style.
If it is an email to a friend about a party, you will want to keep the language informal; if it is a letter to a company, you will need to keep the language formal or neutral.
Sometimes it is difficult to remember the differences between formal and informal English, so here is a short checklist of how to write informal English, for example in an email to a friend. A lot of these differences are very small, but if you use all of them together, they make a big difference.
In informal English:
a) Use short forms like isn’t, won’t, it’s, I’ve instead of is not, will not, it is, I have, etc. This is because we tend to use these forms when we are speaking, and using them in written English makes it sound more informal.
b) Sometimes miss out words in a sentence – In letter writing, it is often quite common to miss out the word ‘I’. For example, at the end of a letter you might write ‘Hope to hear from you soon’ instead of ‘I hope to hear from you soon’. Other common expressions are ‘Wish you were here’ and ‘Having a great time here’. Including these gives the impression of a letter or email being written quickly and informally.
c) Use informal intensifiers – In spoken English, we often use words like really and incredibly meaning really nice, really good. We often also use some of the more extreme intensifier + adjective combinations such as completely fantastic, absolutely awful, etc.
d) Use simple vocabulary – In English there is often a choice between a simpler word or phrasal verb and a longer more complex word. In informal English it is better to choose the simpler form, so you would say get off the boat rather than disembark from the boat.
In formal English, do the opposite of all these things.
6. CHECK AND CORRECT
When you have finished, always go back and look at your work again. Don’t just read it three or four times – look for something specific each time. For example, if you know you sometimes make mistakes with word order, check each sentence for word order. If you have problems with prepositions, go back and check each one carefully.
Remember that grammatical accuracy is very, very important.
SUMMARY
PLANNING
- Read the question carefully.
- Decide on the purpose of the letter and the target reader.
- Choose the right style.
- Make a plan before you start writing.
- Check that you are covering all the points in the question.
- Learn and revise important set phrases for letter writing (don’t try and make them up).
- Learn and revise important functional expressions (ways of suggesting, apologising etc.).
- In the rest of the letter, use your own words and phrases wherever possible; don’t copy big chunks from the question.
- Make the style appropriate for the letter, i.e. formal or informal.
CHECKING
Always read back through your work, checking for something specific (e.g. spelling, grammar, phrases, etc.) each time.
Hints:
- Begin and end your letter with:
Dear Sir/Madam (if you do not know the name of your addressee)//
Yours faithfully,
David Beckham
Dear Mrs Penney (if the name is given in the task) //
Yours sincerely,
David Beckham - Explain who you are and why you are writing this letter
- Do not copy phrases from the question.
- Do not use contractions.
- Use formal language.
- In this type of letter you may need to use a construction that is
called a dependant question. Regular (independent) questions in English
are formed by inversion:
Where is my book?
When does it start? - However, if you precede these questions by phrases like: I do not know; Could you tell me; I want to ask,
the word order remains like in the statement, not question. Note that
these sentences do not end with question marks, either.
Compare:Could you tell me where my book is.
I want to ask when it starts.