Your five sentences
Read out the five recommendation sentences you copied. Then say which one you would actually use.
One prediction before you read anything.
1. Somebody recommends a film and says nothing bad about it at all. What do you think?
Three recommendations
Read all three. Then underline every place somebody says something negative.
Elif, on a series
If you liked The Bureau, you will like this. It is a slow spy thing, six episodes, and almost nothing happens for the first two.
I nearly gave up, honestly. Then something happens at the end of episode two and I watched the other four in a night.
It is not for everybody. If you want something exciting from minute one, do not bother. But if you can wait, it is the best thing I have seen this year.
Danny, on a film
It is a rom-com, so you know exactly what is going to happen. That is fine — that is the point of a rom-com.
What makes it worth watching is the two leads. They are genuinely funny together, and the script does not make them stupid, which most of these do.
It is about twenty minutes too long. The last act drags. But I was smiling for most of it and I was not expecting to be.
Mira, on a book
I found the first hundred pages confusing. There are about nine characters and they all have similar names, and I kept going back.
It is worth it. Once it settles down it is one of the most moving things I have read.
I would say: give it a hundred pages. If you are still lost at that point, it is probably not for you.
Work from all three.
1. All three say something negative. Where does it come?
2. Elif says It is not for everybody. What is that doing?
3. Mira found the book confusing, not confused. What is the difference?
4. Danny says I was smiling for most of it and I was not expecting to be. Which tense, and why?
Six lines from the three recommendations. Match each to the job it does.
The shape of a recommendation
Four moves
| Move | Phrases | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is for | If you liked… · If you want…, this is not it | A recommendation to nobody in particular persuades nobody |
| The honest drawback | Almost nothing happens for… · It is about twenty minutes too long | Makes the praise believable |
| The strongest reason | What makes it worth watching is… · It is the best thing I have seen this year | One reason, not five |
| What to do | Give it a hundred pages. · Do not bother if… | Something the listener can act on |
Notice the order. All three speakers put the drawback before the strongest reason. A recommendation that ends on the negative sounds like a warning; one that ends on the reason sounds like a recommendation.
Put the four moves in the order all three speakers use them.
Make them believable
Five flat recommendations. Rewrite each with an audience, a drawback, and a reason.
1. It is a very good film.
2. You should watch it.
3. The book is amazing.
4. I did not like it.
5. It is boring.
One word per gap. Complete the recommendation.
If you her first film, you will like this one. It is slow — almost happens for the first half hour, and I nearly gave up. makes it worth watching is the last twenty minutes. It is not everybody: if you want something exciting from the start, do not . But it half an hour and you will see what I mean.
Recommend, and be believed
Task card · Speaking
Two recommendations: one thing you love, one thing you did not like at all.
Ninety seconds each. Both need an audience, a drawback, and one strong reason. Your teacher decides at the end whether they would watch each one.
- For the thing you love: name who it is for, then what is wrong with it, then the one reason anyway.
- For the thing you did not like: name who would like it. That is the hard part and it is the honest part.
- Finish each with something the listener can actually do.
One decision.
1. You want to say the film made you feel nothing. Which?
Would they watch it
Answer from your teacher's verdict.
1. Would they watch the one you love?
2. Which move did you leave out?
Before the rule
One question.
1. Why include something negative in a recommendation?
Before Lesson 3. Write down five sentences about how films or books have made you feel. Any five.
Do not look anything up and do not be careful. Next lesson we go through them, and the ones you got wrong are the whole point.