Cambridge B1 Preliminary (PET): How to Write an Article

in this video we are going to look at how to write amazing articles for cambridge b1 preliminary or short pet we are going to look at a typical task and at each different part so you know exactly what you have to do hello and welcome to teacher phil where i help people like you pass their cambridge exam make sure you subscribe and like the video and don't forget to check the full article the link is in the description box below and with all that being said let's get started articles are an optional writing task in the pet exam you can decide if you want to write an article or a story instead in every article task you write for a magazine or website which means that we can use a lot of great language to make the text more interesting for the reader first of all however let's have a look at what exactly an article is an article is usually written in neutral to inform language as i've mentioned before you always write for a magazine or website and you try to keep your reader engaged from start to finish in addition there will also be some kind of question for you to answer or some kind of information that you have to give in every single article task the main points that you should keep in mind if you want to write a really good article are the following number one make sure you answer the question in the task or give the information that the task wants you to give as clearly as you can number two make sure that you stay on topic don't write about anything that is not relevant to the task and make sure that everything you write is important for answering the question number three always organize your article in paragraphs this is important to make it easier for the reader to follow your ideas number four use neutral to informal language later in this video i'm going to explain to you in a little bit more detail what that means and last but not least number five always try to include some vocabulary that is connected to the topic that you write about now that you know the most important things that you should focus on if you want to write an amazing article let's look at an example task and let's see how we can analyze it the first thing you should do when you look at a new article writing task is to analyze it even before you write anything down this is an example task for article writing in the pet exam make sure that whenever you look at a new task you answer three very specific questions that can help you get the most information possible from the task so let's go through them one by one the first question is always what topic do i have to write about knowing the topic to the task helps you get a general idea of what you have to write about and it also can help you find good vocabulary that is connected to the topic as you can see in our example task from before the very general topic of the task is films think about vocabulary that you could use and that is connected to the topic of films possible synonyms other things like people that work around films different parts of a film or maybe you know some words that we can use to describe how a film is made the second question is what do i have to include in my text this question is more specific than the first one and here we are going to look at what exactly you have to write about remember the general topic was films but let's look at our example task again and let's see what exactly we have to write about in the context of films here i have highlighted for you the two topic points that you will have to address in this article the first question is what kind of film do you enjoy and the second question talks about your preference watching films at the cinema or at home remember when i told you that one of the main things to focus on in article writing is to stick to the point and stay on topic this question can help you a lot with that point if you know exactly what the questions are it is much easier for you to stay on topic and stay specific with your answers the last question in a good task analysis should always be who is going to read my article this question helps us find out what style we should use i've already mentioned that in articles we typically use neutral to informal style because we always write to a magazine or website just have a look again at our example task here you can see that this task is no exception to the rule so here we also use neutral to informal language when we talk about formal and informal english there are a few things that we have to be careful with in informal english in the cambridge exam we should include a few things that we can't do when we write formally for example one thing that you should definitely include in informal english are contractions contractions are combinations of words for example i am becomes i'm or you are becomes your remember to include some of them in your article and you will be fine the second feature of informal english that can help you get higher marks is phrasal verbs always try to include two or three phrasal verbs in your article because examiners look for vocabulary like this it can give you higher marks and make the examiner happy and third of all you can also try to put a few colloquial expressions in your article colloquial expressions are phrases and words that we would normally use in spoken english rather than in written english because our article is informal we can sprinkle in one or two as well but be careful everything you write in your article needs to be in the dictionary also try to avoid slang words as once again they might not be part of the dictionary and therefore might be marked as a mistake okay now you know how to analyze a text with the three questions that i've just given you once you've analyzed the task and you know exactly what the topic is what you have to write about and what kind of language to use you can think about what you need to put in each different part of your article and that's the next thing we are going to look at any great article in the pet exam can be broken up in basically three different parts we start with a title which is your first part second of all we look at our topic paragraphs in the topic paragraphs you answer the specific questions in the task and last but not least you should always finish your article with a good final sentence of course there are a few more details that you need to know about each individual part and i'm going to tell you if you keep watching let's start from the beginning every excellent article starts with a good title don't get stressed however with making your title special or super interesting it is okay if your title is simple and just gives a little bit of an idea of what the article is going to be about of course you can try to make it a little bit more interesting here you can see three possible examples of a good title for our example article as you can see i tried to make the titles interesting and to use different techniques the first one is very straightforward while the second and third title idea are a little bit more interesting in the second one you can see that i started with how to how-to articles are usually very popular and people read them to learn something in the third title i asked a question questions are always a good way to generate some interest and engage the reader they want to continue reading and find out more about what you have to say and they want you to answer the question for them once again if this feels a little bit too complicated for you you don't have to worry your title can be simple and it doesn't have to be like any of the examples that i've just shown you however you should have some kind of title so make sure that you make a mental note and don't forget about it when you write an article the second and most important part of every good article are the topic paragraphs the topic paragraphs answer the specific questions that we've identified in the task that means they should be the longest paragraphs in your text and they should contain most of the information here in this example you can see that i've answered both the questions from the task and i really stayed on topic i didn't write about anything that is not relevant and i gave some examples to support my answers in the first paragraph i talk about different types of films like animated romantic drama and adventure and i also name one very specific film here indiana jones i also tried to include some interesting grammar vocabulary as well as different linking words to connect my ideas in the second paragraph i also simply answer the question and say how i prefer watching a film i also explain why that is and once again i also try to include some good grammar this all might sound like it's a lot of information and right now you might feel a little bit overwhelmed but don't worry if you practice this will become easier and easier and within no time you will write really really good topic paragraphs last but not least you should always finish your article with a nice final sentence just as with the title you don't have to worry about your final sentence too much it doesn't have to be anything special you can simply decide to summarize your article but if you want you can also try to be a little bit funny or end in a more surprising way always remember the more interesting your article is the higher your marks might get so once again let's have a look at a practical example in my final sentence i try to be a little bit funny even though i'm not very good at it but i speak directly to the reader this is always a good way of making your article a little bit more interesting because the reader feels like they are really a part of the text so there you have it every good article has a title topic paragraphs that address the specific topic points in the task as well as a nice and interesting final sentence to finish it off i hope this video will be helpful for you simply take my ideas and my advice and apply it to your own writing and with time and practice i am sure that you will become an amazing article writer you can find out a lot more about b1 preliminary on my website teacherfield.com i also offer writing feedback where i can help you in a much more direct and personalized way all the links are in the description box below and i see you next time

Channel: Teacher Phill

Views: 12,986

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Length: 14min 46sec (886 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 17 2021