Writing task 1, a set of 3 prompts at 10 minutes each

Task 1 is a message of 60 to 120 words. FEI doesn’t set a time per task, but keeping 10 minutes for it leaves time for the other two. The hard part isn’t writing a good message, it is writing one in 10 minutes, with no dictionary and without copying.

Here are three prompts to do one after another, from easiest to hardest. The prompts and the model answer are ours, not FEI’s. Nobody outside FEI can say what mark a text would get, and our model aims at B2, which is NCLC 7.

How to run the set

1. Open the task 1 timer, set to 10 minutes.
2. Do one prompt per session, or all three on the same day with a break between them.
3. Write with no help, as on test day. No dictionary, no spell checker.
4. When the timer ends, stop, even mid-sentence. Note where you were.
5. Only then count your words and check your text against the list at the bottom of the page.

How to split the 10 minutes

Minutes	What you do
0 to 1	Read the consigne (the instructions) and underline each verb to cover
1 to 2	Pick tu or vous, note one precise detail per point
2 to 8	Write the message, one paragraph per point
8 to 10	Check agreements, count the words

This split is ours. If you run past 10 minutes twice in a row, the problem is usually minutes 1 to 2. You look for ideas while writing instead of noting them first.

Prompt 1, to a friend (easiest)

Consigne. Votre ami Karim vient de trouver un nouvel emploi à Halifax. Écrivez-lui un message pour le féliciter, lui proposer de fêter ça ensemble et lui demander quand il est libre. (60 mots minimum, 120 mots maximum)

(Your friend Karim has just found a new job in Halifax. Congratulate him, suggest celebrating together and ask when he is free.)

Three verbs, three points. Tu is the obvious choice. The trap is to congratulate in one line and then run out of things to say. Give a precise reason for your joy and a precise idea for the outing.

Prompt 2, to a stranger (harder)

Consigne. Vous avez vu sur un site d’annonces un vélo d’occasion à vendre à Moncton. Écrivez au vendeur, que vous ne connaissez pas, pour vous présenter, lui poser des questions sur le vélo et lui proposer un rendez-vous pour le voir. (60 mots minimum, 120 mots maximum)

(You saw a used bike for sale in Moncton. Write to the seller, whom you don’t know, to introduce yourself, ask questions about the bike and suggest a time to see it.)

Here vous is required and the questions must be well built. A string of « Est-ce que » shows less than an inversion or « Pourriez-vous me dire si ».

Prompt 3, replying to a notice (hardest)

Consigne. Vous habitez un immeuble à Laval. Le gestionnaire, Mme Gagnon, a affiché cet avis.

Avis aux locataires. Des travaux de plomberie auront lieu dans tous les appartements la semaine du 14 avril. Un technicien devra entrer chez vous. Merci de nous indiquer vos disponibilités.

Écrivez un message à Mme Gagnon pour lui donner vos disponibilités, lui signaler un problème dans votre appartement et lui poser une question sur les travaux. (60 mots minimum, 120 mots maximum)

(Your building manager has posted a notice about plumbing work in every flat. Write to her to give your availability, report a problem in your flat and ask a question about the work.)

This is the hardest, because you first read a document, then cover three points in a formal register without copying the notice.

The model answer to prompt 3

Madame Gagnon,

Je suis locataire de l’appartement 304 et j’ai bien lu votre avis sur les travaux de plomberie prévus la semaine du 14 avril. Je travaille de jour du lundi au jeudi, mais je serai chez moi le vendredi toute la journée. Si ce jour-là ne convient pas au technicien, ma voisine du 302 a accepté de lui ouvrir ma porte. Par ailleurs, je voudrais vous signaler que le robinet de ma cuisine fuit depuis deux semaines. Serait-il possible de le faire réparer pendant la même visite ? Enfin, pourriez-vous me dire combien de temps l’eau sera coupée ?

Je vous remercie d’avance,

Daniel Okafor

(Daniel gives his availability, offers a backup with a neighbour, reports a leaking kitchen tap and asks how long the water will be off.)

106 words, greeting and signature included, counting every group of characters between two spaces as a word. That is in range, with a margin under 120.

Why this message scores

FEI groups its criteria into three families, linguistic, pragmatic and sociolinguistic. The table links each passage to one of them. This is our reading, FEI publishes no annotated scripts.

In the text	What it shows
le vendredi toute la journée, ma voisine du 302	The task is done. The availability is precise, with a backup
Par ailleurs… Enfin…	Organisation. Each point of the consigne has its place, announced by a connector
Serait-il possible de… ? pourriez-vous me dire… ?	Register. Polite requests in the conditional, right for a building manager
fuit depuis deux semaines	Range. A precise verb and « depuis » with the present tense
Si ce jour-là ne convient pas… a accepté	Accuracy. « Si » followed by the present, and a correct passé composé
no sentence copied from the notice	Rewording. « travaux prévus la semaine du 14 avril » keeps the information, not the sentence

The message uses no rare words. What puts it at the target level is that it covers all three points with checkable details, in a vous kept from start to end.

A 2-minute check

1. Every verb in the consigne has at least one sentence.
2. Tu or vous doesn’t change halfway.
3. The practical details are precise, such as the day, the time or the place.
4. Questions have a question mark and a correct form.
5. The text has 60 to 120 words. FEI doesn’t say whether the greeting and signature count, so count them and keep a margin.

For the step-by-step method, see the task 1 guide, and for typical mistakes, task 1 mistakes. The set continues with task 2 in 15 minutes.

Have the message you wrote in 10 minutes corrected. The corrector marks every error and estimates your NCLC, with a limited free trial, and that is where you see what the timer cost you.