What's Your Writing Level in English?

How confident do you feel about your writing? If you learn to be a better writer, you'll become a better communicator in general. Can you imagine a job interviewer who doesn't value a strong communicator? Hi. I'm Jennifer from English with Jennifer, and I invite you to test your writing skills. I'll show you five models at different CEFR levels, and I'll challenge you to complete different writing and vocabulary tasks as we move from level to level. Let's start. Let's start improving this text and take it up to level A2. Do you see sentences that can combine? Let's join some sentences together with the conjunction AND. This allows us to avoid repeating WE LOVE four times. Do you know another verb we can use in place of LOVE? How about ENJOY? We could also use the word NEARBY to avoid using HOTEL yet again. Now let's add some detail. What adjectives can I use before ROOM and BREAKFAST? How about A BEAUTIFUL ROOM and A DELICIOUS BREAKFAST? Here's the same basic text at the A2 level with more variety, richer vocabulary, and less repetition. My daughter and I took a trip to New Hampshire. Our hotel was small and very nice. We stayed there for two nights, and we loved everything. We enjoyed our beautiful room, the delicious breakfast, and especially the view of the lake nearby. Just like I replaced WENT with TOOK A TRIP, we can look for other common words that we can replace with more advanced vocabulary. This will help us take the text to the B1 level. Look. Any ideas? A learner's dictionary or thesaurus will offer possible synonyms. Here are my suggestions that will help take this text to level B1. Next, can you think of a way to avoid using AND four times? If we end the sentence after two nights, do you see a way to drop one use of AND? Here's my suggestion. My daughter and I took a trip to New Hampshire. Our hotel was cozy and charming. We stayed there for two nights. We loved our gorgeous room and the delicious breakfast. We especially enjoyed our view of the lake nearby. As we move to the B2 level, we can reduce repetition even more. AND still repeats a lot. We can rephrase some sentences to avoid this. Can we move the adjectives COZY and CHARMING before the word HOTEL? Yes. Then what other changes would you make? Look. How about this? We stayed at a cozy, charming hotel for two nights. At the B2 level, I'd expect more complex sentences and a greater level of detail. For example, when was the trip taken? What was the purpose of the trip? What made the room special? Where exactly was the hotel? Let's look at that text at the B2 level now. Recently, my daughter and I took a weekend trip to visit Squam Lake in New Hampshire. Our cozy hotel was full of charm, from the architecture to the service. We spent two nights there, and we loved everything so much that we wanted to stay longer. Our room had a pretty brick fireplace. Each morning, the hotel served a hot breakfast that was both memorable and delicious. The hotel stood on a hill, offering us a breathtaking view of the lake nearby. Let me ask you some questions to make sure you understand how I improved the writing. What time word was added in the first sentence? Recently. Where is the purpose of the trip stated? In the first line, with an infinitive of purpose. To visit Squam Lake in New Hampshire. What phrase implies that the hotel offered a lot? From the architecture to the service. That implies there's more in between. Can you identify the adverb clause that expresses the degree or extent of our appreciation of the hotel? So much signals extent. So much that we wanted to stay longer. What feature of the room was highlighted? The brick fireplace. Do you see the use of an adjective clause to describe the breakfast? Look for a relative pronoun like that, which, or who. That was both memorable and delicious. What was the location of the hotel? It stood on a hill. Note that the use of stood allows us to avoid using was again. Instead of the hotel was on a hill, we write the hotel stood on a hill. And there's more complexity here because the sentence ends with a reduced relative clause. And finally, what's the synonym for beautiful and gorgeous? Breathtaking. Could we elevate the writing even more? Of course. At the C1 and C2 level, I'd expect rich use of verb forms and vocabulary. For example, what tense is this? Wanted to stay longer. Wanted. The simple past, right? We can use a perfect modal to suggest a past possibility. Would have stayed longer. If you want to learn about perfect modals, I have a lesson on that. I'll put the link in the video description. Here's a new variation of that sentence. We loved everything so much that we would gladly have stayed longer. Also, we can be more creative than simply saying the room had a pretty brick fireplace. We could say the room boasted a brick fireplace. Or delighted us with a brick fireplace. Finally, we can make an effort to avoid repetition. Learning how to avoid repetition is a skill you can develop. If you wish, you can pause the video and come up with your own revision. Compare your edits to mine. This final task is challenging. I'm showing you a model at the advanced level to inspire you, not to frustrate you or overwhelm you. You will get there with practice and patience. If your level is B2, you can join me on Patreon for regular language practice and receive my feedback and support. Okay, here's the final model at the C1, C2 level. Recently, my daughter and I took a weekend trip to visit the Squam Lakes region in New Hampshire. After a short drive north, we arrived at a cozy inn full of old-world charm, from the architecture to the service. The location and the accommodations created an indelible impression on us. We loved everything so much that we would gladly have extended our stay by a day or two. The room in particular delighted us with its brick fireplace as well as the antique furnishings. Each morning, the staff served a hot breakfast that was both memorable and delicious. The hotel stood on a hill, offering a stunning view of the lake. We could not have asked for a better getaway. Do you understand the new vocabulary I introduced? Let me quiz you. Is DRIVE used as a verb or a noun? A noun. After a short drive north is a prepositional phrase of time. It helps explain the location of the hotel. What's another word for a small hotel that resembles a house? How can we refer to a hotel and its services? Do you see a synonym for UNFORGETTABLE? An indelible impression is a good collocation to learn. What's another word for LENGTHEN? What's a synonym for BEAUTIFUL, GORGEOUS, and BREATHTAKING? What's the word for a short trip away from home? Recently, my daughter and I took a weekend trip to visit the Squam Lakes region in New Hampshire. After a short drive north, we arrived at a cozy inn full of Old World charm from the architecture to the service. The location and the accommodations created an indelible impression on us. We loved everything so much that we would gladly have extended our stay by a day or two. The room in particular delighted us with its brick fireplace as well as the antique furnishings. Each morning, the staff served a hot breakfast that was both memorable and delicious. The hotel stood on a hill, offering a stunning view of the lake. We could not have asked for a better getaway. I hope you have a better idea now about your writing level in English. Most important, I want you to understand that writing well is more than just correct spelling and correct grammar. Can you focus on a topic and explain it clearly in detail? Can you write with a variety of sentence structures? Do you have enough vocabulary to avoid repeating words? These are just some elements of good writing. So here's your writing challenge. Tell me about a trip that you took. Write one short paragraph of about a hundred words and make it a good one. Post it in the comments. We'll end here. Please remember to like and share the video if you found the lesson useful. As always, thanks for watching and happy studies!