MATSEC IM Spanish: Writing: the 120-word email that became a 190-word history essay

Writing: the 120-word email that became a 190-word history essay

You are on the MATSEC Intermediate Spanish Writing paper, Task 1: an email of about 120 words in 25 minutes. You must write to your Spanish friend Lucía inviting her to visit you in Malta in July. The bullet points are: give two possible dates, suggest one place to visit, and ask about her family. You have memorised a long opening - «Espero que te encuentres bien y que todo te vaya genial» - and a closing with ojalá. After 20 minutes you have written 190 words, including a full paragraph on the history of the Knights of Malta, which is not in the task. You have also written ¿Cómo está usted? twice. You have five minutes left and have not yet asked about her family.

1. Lucía is a friend. What register should the email use, and how should you correct the two occurrences of `usted`?

Read the worked answer

Register judgement: tú, consistently.

The task says tu amiga Lucía. Friendship dictates informal address; usted would be appropriate for a landlord, a hotel or an official, not for a friend.
The error is consistency, not just vocabulary: one formal verb form in an otherwise informal email is more noticeable than a simple informal one throughout.

Corrections

¿Cómo está usted? → ¿Cómo estás? or ¿Qué tal estás?
Check the possessives and object pronouns too: tu familia, te escribo, contigo, not su familia, le escribo, con usted.
The memorised opening Espero que te encuentres bien is already informal and fits; keep it if it does not crowd out task content.

Reasoning: examiners reward a consistent register more than an ambitious one. A correctly sustained tú frame with simple structures outscores a mixed frame with advanced tenses.

2. You have written 190 words against a 120-word task. What should you cut, and what must you protect?

Read the worked answer

Protect the three bullet points first.

Two dates: e.g. del 10 al 17 de julio o del 24 al 31.
One place: e.g. podríamos ir a Mdina.
A question about her family: e.g. ¿Cómo están tus padres? ¿Y tu hermana?

Cut without hesitation

The paragraph on the Knights of Malta. It is not required, it is history rather than invitation, and it consumes words that should be doing task work.
Any second example where one is enough: one place, not three; two dates, not a full calendar.
Long memorised formulae, if they push the task content out. Espero que te encuentres bien is acceptable; a four-line greeting is not.

Why length matters here

A 120-word task answered in 190 words with off-task material signals weak task achievement and reduces the space for accuracy checking. The aim is full coverage in roughly 110–130 words, not maximum output.

Judgement principle: in a directed writing task, relevance is a marking criterion. Extra words are only an asset if they serve a bullet point.

3. With five minutes left, what should you do, and what should you deliberately not do?

Read the worked answer

Do, in this order

Add the missing family question - it is a required bullet point and currently scores zero.
Write the closing and sign off (Un beso, Hasta pronto).
Check verb endings and agreement in the first two lines and the last two lines, where examiners notice errors most.
Check the register: tú forms throughout, no usted.

Do not

Do not start a new paragraph or add new content. New content cannot be checked and may introduce errors or go further over the word limit.
Do not rewrite the whole email. Partial editing under time pressure creates inconsistencies.

Use of ojalá

If you keep it, remember it takes the subjunctive: Ojalá puedas venir or Ojalá nos veamos en julio. If you are not confident of the form with seconds to spare, use a simpler closing (Espero verte en julio) rather than risk an incorrect subjunctive.

Judgement principle: in the final minutes, complete the task before improving the style.