The two CIPLE writing tasks, with worked examples
The written part is two short texts inside the 75-minute paper. Neither is an essay, and both are marked on whether you did what was asked as much as on your Portuguese.
Text 1 — a reply, 25 to 35 words
You are given a situation and the message you have just received, and you reply to it. The message always asks something, and an answer that ignores the question loses marks however good the Portuguese is.
Thirty-five words is short. Two or three sentences that answer, explain and close is the whole job.
Text 2 — an email, about 60 to 80 words
The opening line is printed for you and you continue from it. The task is usually to recount something that happened — which is why the past tenses are what to practise.
Cover every point the situation implies, keep to the length, and close the way an email closes.
What loses marks
In practice, three things, in this order:
- ·Not answering what was asked — the commonest and the most expensive
- ·Length: well under the count reads as an unfinished task
- ·Brazilian Portuguese. "Estou trabalhando" and "ônibus" are not the variety being marked