Writing a Review Under a Word Limit
You must write a short Croatian review (120–150 words) of a school excursion for the school website. The excursion: departure 6:00, three hours by bus, two hours at a museum, a one-hour guided walk, lunch at 14:00, and return at 21:00. The museum guide was excellent; the bus was late and the lunch was cold. The editor asks you to be balanced and to recommend or not recommend the trip for next year's students. You tend to write long sentences and often exceed word limits.
1. Plan the review so it fits 120–150 words while covering all required elements. What must be cut and what must stay?
Read the worked answer
Keep - the verdict (recommend or not), one strong positive (the guide), one strong negative (late bus and cold lunch), and a brief mention of the schedule so readers understand the day.
Cut - detailed narration of the bus journey, descriptions of individual exhibits, and repetition of the schedule. The 6:00 departure and 21:00 return can be compressed into one clause rather than a timeline.
Structural plan (roughly):
- 1 sentence: what the trip was and the overall verdict.
- 2–3 sentences: the positive - the museum guide and the walk.
- 2 sentences: the negative - late bus, cold lunch.
- 1 sentence: recommendation for next year with a concrete suggestion (e.g. confirm bus times, arrange hot food).
This uses about 6–8 sentences. Because you write long sentences, aim for shorter clauses and count words before submitting; a 150-word cap is easy to overshoot by 30 words in one sentence.
2. Write the opening and closing sentences in Croatian and explain how they establish a balanced tone.
Read the worked answer
Opening: "Izlet je bio zanimljiv, ali organizacija je imala ozbiljne propuste."
Closing: "Preporučujem izlet i sljedeće godine, ali uz bolju organizaciju prijevoza i toplog obroka."
How they create balance:
- The opening pairs a positive ("zanimljiv") with a negative ("ozbiljne propuste") in one sentence, so the reader knows immediately this is not one-sided.
- The closing gives a clear verdict (recommend) with a condition, which is more useful to next year's students than a vague "bilo je dobro".
- Both avoid emotional exaggeration (no "katastrofa", no "savršeno"), keeping the review credible for a school website.
Note the register: neutral standard Croatian, no slang, suitable for publication.
3. Your draft is 185 words. Identify which parts are likely inflating the count and give a concrete trimming method.
Read the worked answer
Likely inflators:
- Narrating the journey ("ustali smo u pet, autobus je došao...") - this can become one clause: "putovanje je trajalo tri sata".
- Listing the schedule in order - the museum, walk, and lunch can be summarised as "muzej, šetnja i ručak".
- Double adjectives and filler ("vrlo, jako, zaista") - delete them; one precise adjective is stronger.
- Repeating the verdict in both the middle and the end - keep it once.
Method: cut whole sentences first, not words, then recount. Target 135–140 words to leave a margin. Read aloud and merge any two sentences joined by "i" or "ali" where the second adds nothing. If still over, drop the least important detail - here, the exact lunch time - since the cold food is the point, not the hour.