Your three, and your readers
Name your three. For each one, say in five words who it is for. Three different readers.
One decision before you write.
1. A hundred and sixty words across three recommendations. How much each?
A model, and the rubric
Model — 158 words
Three things worth doing here, depending on who you are.
If you can face getting up early: the market on the north side, Tuesdays and Fridays. The fish half is the reason to go, and by ten it is finished. Not for you if you dislike crowds — it is genuinely hard to walk.
If you would rather do something quiet: the garden behind the old hospital. It is free, open until sunset, and almost nobody knows about it. I like sitting there for an hour. There is nothing to do, which is either the point or the problem.
If you want to eat well and spend nothing: avoid the centre. The places near the cathedral are overrated and touristy. Two streets back there is a row of small places where you can eat for eight euros. My favourite has no sign, which is not helpful, I know.
The rubric — four criteria
| Criterion | What it means | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reader-first | Each one opens by naming who it is for | 25% |
| Concrete | A price, a time or a number in each; no good, nice, interesting | 25% |
| Verb patterns | -ing, to and bare, each in its right place | 30% |
| Length | 150–170 words, counted and written at the bottom | 20% |
Compare the written model with Rui's spoken version in Lesson 5.
1. What replaced One… Two… Three…?
2. The opening line is Three things worth doing here, depending on who you are. What does it do?
3. How many verb patterns appear in the three opening clauses?
4. How many times does the word good appear?
Spoken recommendation → written list
What changes
| Spoken | Written | Why |
|---|---|---|
| One… Two… Three… | paragraphs opening If you… | The reader organises the page, not the numbering |
| you know · honestly · I mean | mostly cut, one kept | One aside per piece keeps it human |
| and… and… and… | and · but · which · where | Written English varies its joins |
| It is really really good. | It costs eight euros. | Intensity becomes a fact |
| I cannot remember its name | kept | The admission is what makes it a person writing |
| It is not for you if… | kept, shortened to Not for you if… | Writing can drop the frame |
Match each spoken feature to what happens to it in 160 written words.
Keep one aside. A written recommendation with every hesitation removed reads like marketing. One admission — which is not helpful, I know — is what makes the other 155 words sound like somebody you would take advice from.
Open with the reader
Four thing-first openings. Rewrite each so it opens with the reader.
1. There is a good market on the north side.
2. The garden behind the hospital is nice and quiet.
3. The places near the cathedral are expensive.
4. The museum is interesting.
Write the verb in brackets in the right form. This is the model's three openers plus their sentences.
If you can face (get) up early: the market on the north side. If you would rather (do) something quiet: the garden behind the old hospital. I like (sit) there for an hour. If you want (eat) well and spend nothing, avoid the centre. You can (eat) for eight euros two streets back, and I would rather (queue) there than (sit) down near the cathedral.
Write it, swap it, choose
Task card · Writing
"My Top 3", 160 words. Then somebody reads it and picks one.
Three recommendations, reader-first, 150–170 words. Then your reader chooses one and names the sentence that decided them.
- Write (12 min). An opening line, then three paragraphs of about fifty words each.
- Proofread (3 min). Start with the pattern check. Then count the words and write the number at the bottom.
- Swap (2 min). Read your partner's piece once.
- Choose (3 min). Pick one of their three, say why, and name the sentence that decided you.
Proofreading checklist. Answer about your own page.
1. Does each of the three open with the reader?
2. Every modal — is the verb after it bare?
3. Did you write good, nice or interesting anywhere?
Which one, and why
Your reader chose one and named a sentence. Underline it on your page.
If it contains a number, a price or a time, your concrete work is landing. If it is an adjective, it is not.
Answer from your reader's choice.
1. Which of the three did they choose?
2. What kind of sentence decided them?
3. Did they say any of the three was not for them?
Before the unit task
One question.
1. What opens each recommendation?
Before Lesson 8. Keep your draft and the underlined sentence. Do not rewrite it tonight.
Next lesson you also have the recommendation conversation out loud, with somebody who disagrees with two of your three.