Mediating a town-hall notice for an exchange student
Nerea, a Valencian PAU candidate, is asked to mediate. Her English-speaking exchange partner, Sam, has seen a Spanish notice and asks what it says. The notice reads: 'Curso gratuito de mantenimiento de bicicletas. Sábados, de 10:00 a 13:00, del 5 de octubre al 23 de noviembre. Inscripción en el Centro Juvenil hasta el 30 de septiembre. Plazas limitadas: 15. Trae tu propia bicicleta.' Nerea writes: 'There is a free bicycle maintenance course on Saturdays from 10 to 13, from 5 October to 23 November. You can register at the Youth Centre until 30 September. There are 15 places and you gotta bring your own bike.' The task requires a 50-word message that gives Sam the information he needs to decide whether to register. Nerea's message is 48 words. Her teacher says the content is mostly right but that two details could mislead Sam and one register choice is too informal.
1. Identify the two details in Nerea's message that could mislead Sam and reformulate them precisely.
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The two misleading details are the time expression and the number of places. 'From 10 to 13' is not standard English for a time range; a reader may interpret '13' as a number rather than 1 p.m., or may not know whether it is morning or afternoon. Reformulate as 'from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.' 'There are 15 places' can suggest that 15 places are currently available, when the notice means 'places are limited to 15'. Reformulate as 'places are limited to 15' or 'only 15 places'. The register problem is 'gotta', which is too informal for a written message in an exam; use 'need to' or 'have to'.
2. Explain how the purpose of the mediation task should shape what Nerea includes or omits, and whether she should keep 'Centro Juvenil' or translate it.
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Purpose shapes mediation: Sam needs to decide whether to register, so the essentials are cost (free), activity (bike maintenance), dates, times, registration deadline and place, the limit on places, and the bike requirement. Details that do not help that decision can be omitted, but here almost everything is relevant. 'Centro Juvenil' should be translated as 'Youth Centre' because Sam needs to find it; if the official name matters, keep it with a gloss: 'Centro Juvenil (Youth Centre)'. A mediation task is not a word-for-word translation: it is a new English message for a new reader, so clarity and register matter as much as accuracy.
3. Rewrite Nerea's message in 50 words or fewer, using appropriate register and making the two details precise.
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There's a free bike maintenance course on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., 5 October–23 November. Register at the Youth Centre by 30 September; places are limited to 15, so you need to bring your own bike. (33 words) The rewrite keeps every decision-relevant detail, uses a standard time format, makes the limit explicit, and replaces 'gotta' with 'need to'. The contraction 'There's' is acceptable because the message is addressed to a peer, not to the town hall.