Writing: A 25–40 Word Email That Must Meet a Checklist
Your school is starting an email exchange with a school in Australia. Your teacher gives this instruction:
'Write one email to your partner, Alex. Use 25–40 words. Introduce yourself, say one thing you do every weekend, ask one question about school life in Australia, and ask Alex to write back. Use because at least once. Write in English only.'
Mei writes:
Hello Alex. I am Mei. I am liking music very much. I play tennis every weekend. What club are you in? What food do you like? Please reply. I am looking forward to your email.
The teacher says the email has one grammar problem and one content problem, and that the word count is acceptable. You have one class period to revise it and hand it in.
1. Identify the grammar problem and the content problem. Quote the exact words that show each one.
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Grammar problem: 'I am liking music very much.' Like is a stative verb, a feeling or state rather than an action in progress, so it is not normally used in the present progressive. Correct: 'I like music very much.'
Content problem: the instruction asks for one question about school life, but Mei asks two: 'What club are you in?' and 'What food do you like?' The second is also not about school life at all; it is about food. A strict marker would count this as failing the content condition even though the English is correct.
What is not a problem: the word count, 35 words, is inside 25–40, and 'Please reply' satisfies the instruction to ask Alex to write back.
Exam skill: in free-writing tasks the checklist is marked separately from the grammar. A well-formed sentence that does not match the prompt can still lose the content marks.
2. Rewrite Mei's email so that it meets every instruction. Give your word count.
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Hello Alex. I am Mei, a second-year student. I play tennis every weekend because I want to be stronger. What club are you in? Please write back soon. Mei
Word count: 29 words, within 25–40.
Checklist:
- Introduces herself: 'I am Mei, a second-year student.'
- Weekend activity: 'I play tennis every weekend.'
- One question about school life: 'What club are you in?'
- Asks Alex to write back: 'Please write back soon.'
- Uses because: 'because I want to be stronger.'
The rewrite removes the second question and the stative progressive, and it keeps the sentence order simple so that the reader can find each required part.
3. Mei asks why 'I am looking forward to your email' is acceptable when 'I am liking music' is not. Answer her.
Read the worked answer
'I am looking forward to your email' is a fixed polite closing. Here look forward to describes a current feeling directed at a future event, and the progressive form softens it into a polite formula. It is learned and used as a set expression.
'I am liking music' is not a set expression. Like is a stative verb describing a general preference. English normally uses the simple present for states: 'I like music.' The progressive would suggest a temporary, changing action, which is not what Mei means.
Practical rule for the exam: do not put stative verbs such as like, know, want, believe, or have meaning possession into the -ing form to make a sentence sound more advanced. Use the simple present. Expressions such as I am looking forward to... are exceptions to memorise as whole units, not a pattern to copy with other verbs.