Shadowing Practice: Cambridge B1 Preliminary (PET): How to Write an Email - Learn English Speaking with Video

Kies een oefenmodus

Elke modus opent een volledig scherm oefenruimte.

121 zinnen
Als zinnen te kort of te lang zijn, klik op Bewerken om ze aan te passen.
1
if you are interested in how to write a really really good email in b1 preliminary you need to keep watching
2
hi and welcome to teacher phil where i help people like you pass their cambridge exams
3
make sure you subscribe to the channel and like the video
4
and also check out the full article the link is in the description box below
5
and with all
6
that being said let's get started emails are the only mandatory task in B1 preliminary writing
7
that means you don't have a choice you have to write
8
an email as you will see however writing a good email is really a lot easier than you might think also Also,
9
you have to write around a hundred words.
10
But I always tell my students to write a little bit more than a hundred words.
11
So between a hundred and a hundred and twenty is usually a good idea to be on the safe side.
12
You usually write an email in B1 preliminary to a friend
13
or a teacher or another person
14
that you know in every task you get the context of the email
15
that you have to write as well as the person you are writing to
16
and four content points
17
that you need to address in your text you need to
18
be familiar with the right language to address these different content
19
points for example you You have to know how to start and end an email.
20
But you also have to be able to show how to agree or disagree with something, how to give your opinion,
21
how to suggest things, how to apologize or how to explain something.
22
These are just some examples and there might be other functions that you have to fulfill
23
in your email but let's have a look at an example in a little bit more detail
24
so when you write an email for B1 preliminary there are three main areas
25
that you always need to keep in mind first of all
26
you have to choose the correct layout for an email
27
that means there needs to be a clear beginning and ending
28
and you need to address all the different topic points in the task second of all as i've just mentioned before
29
you also need to use the right language in order to address the different content points
30
and last but not least you also need to use the right style of language in an email
31
that is normally neutral English to informal English but we will talk about that a little bit more in a second
32
instead of just sitting down
33
and starting to write your email it makes a lot of sense to first of all look at the task
34
and analyze it carefully if you invest just two minutes you get a lot of information
35
that can help you when you start writing
36
and it can also save you a lot of time later
37
because once you get into time trouble it is always good to have a plan with all the information you need.
38
So here is an example task for an email in B1 preliminary.
39
When you look at it at first it might be a little bit confusing
40
but if you look at it with a system and
41
if you ask the right questions there shouldn't be any problem at all the first thing
42
you should always find out in your task analysis is the topic of your email the topic can help you
43
choose some nice words and expressions
44
that you could include in your email looking back at our example task we can see
45
that your teacher wants to organize a party at the end of the school year now
46
that we know the topic of the email we need to look at what exactly we have to include
47
and this is where we need to look at these different content points
48
they give us the details that we need to fill our email with the most important information
49
so let's have a look again at the example task from before you can see
50
that there are the four topic
51
or content points on the side of your teacher's email
52
and there are only some little notes that are connected to the text with straight lines.
53
The four content points in our example are that you need to show that you think it's great that there's a party.
54
You have to explain if you prefer the party to be in the classroom
55
or if you would like to go to the park.
56
You also need to suggest some activities and last
57
but not least you should tell your teacher about food you would like to eat at the party the third
58
and last question of every good task analysis is to check
59
who's going to read your email as i've mentioned earlier emails in b1 preliminary are usually written to your teacher
60
friend or some other person that you know.
61
So that means that you don't have to use formal language.
62
You already know the person so you don't have to be too polite.
63
So in most emails we can use neutral or informal language
64
and you have to check which one is the best option in each individual task.
65
Here because we are writing to our teacher, we shouldn't make it too informal and keep it more on the neutral side.
66
Once we finish our task analysis and we have all the information we need,
67
the last thing to get ready is to think about the structure of our email.
68
Luckily every email in b1 preliminary looks exactly the same we start the text with an opening formula
69
after which we address the different content points
70
and at the end of our email we also write a closing formula you might think now okay
71
that all sounds nice and quite easy but what exactly is an opening formula
72
and a closing formula and how can i write a good topic paragraph
73
so that's what we're going to look at next let's have a look at an example email in detail
74
and let's go through it step by step together
75
let's start at the beginning every good email starts with some kind of greeting and an opening formula.
76
Here we simply want to say hello to the person we're writing to
77
but once again we need to be careful
78
if we have to use an informal opening or maybe something that is a little bit more neutral or formal.
79
If you want to write to a friend we can choose something informal.
80
For example we could say hi Phil.
81
However if you remember in our example we write to our teacher Mrs. Lake.
82
So we should be a little bit more respectful and formal.
83
So a good option to do that would be to say something like Dear Mrs. Lake.
84
This is nice and respectful and not too informal so it's perfect for our email.
85
Next we are going to write our topic paragraphs.
86
The topic Topic paragraphs are the most important parts of your email because they contain the different content points from the task.
87
Each topic paragraph can be only one or two sentences.
88
They don't have to be long because remember, you only write between 100 and 120 words in total,
89
which means that you don't have a lot of words available for each of these topic paragraphs.
90
You also need to be careful
91
that you use the right functional language in each of these paragraphs to show the examiner
92
that you understand exactly what you have to do with each of the content points.
93
So let's look at an example email that I've written for this specific task.
94
You can see the rather formal greeting at the top where I say Dear Mrs. Lake.
95
and then you can see
96
my four topic paragraphs in each paragraph i use specific language
97
to express exactly what the task asks me to do you
98
can see the language in the different colored boxes in the text you can also see
99
that each topic paragraph is basically just one sentence once again we don't have
100
that many words to spare
101
so we try to get to the point as quickly as possible
102
and keep our sentences nice and short like the ones in my example last
103
but not least we want to end our email with a
104
nice closing formula here we can write one final sentence where we end the email in a nice way
105
and then we use some kind of salutation in the end to say goodbye.
106
Once again all we need to do is to be careful with formal,
107
neutral and informal language so we make sure that we show the person the right level of respect.
108
So here you can see that my example is not too formal but it is also not completely informal.
109
i didn't use any slang words the only thing i did was to say thanks again
110
and see you in class phil
111
you see how easy it can be to write a good email for the b1 preliminary writing exam
112
every email works more or less in the same way simply remember
113
that you can always use the same structure as in the example
114
and you just need to be careful with the right functional
115
language as well as the most appropriate style formal neutral
116
or informal thank you very much for watching the video as
117
i mentioned at the beginning you can check out the full
118
article in the description box below where there is a long list of useful language
119
and functional language that you can use in your own writing please also check out my other services
120
that you can find on my website
121
and don't forget to follow me on social media so take care and I'll see you next time

App downloaden

Alles wat je nodig hebt om vloeiend te spreken

AI UitspraakScoor elke zin
IPA OefeningBeheers elk geluid
WoordenschatBouw je woordenschat op
WoordenspelLeren terwijl je speelt

Over deze les

In deze les leer je hoe je een goede e-mail schrijft voor de Cambridge B1 Preliminary (PET)-examens. Je krijgt inzicht in de structuur, de juiste taal en stijl, en leert hoe je de opdracht effectief analyseert. Dit helpt je niet alleen om de verplichte schrijfopdracht te behalen, maar ook om je algemene engelse schrijfvaardigheid te verbeteren. Ideaal voor wie wil leren engels met video's en zich voorbereidt op het examen.

Belangrijke woorden en uitdrukkingen

  • Content points: De centrale onderwerpen die je in je e-mail moet bespreken (bv. suggesties, meningen).
  • Layout: De structuur van de e-mail, met een duidelijke begin en einde.
  • Neutral English: Een neutrale taalstijl, tussen formeel en informeel.
  • Task analysis: Het zorgvuldig bestuderen van de opdracht om de juiste informatie te vinden.
  • Context: De achtergrondinformatie van de e-mail (bv. een schoolfeest).

Praktische tips

Om je spreekvaardigheid te verbeteren, kun je de shadowing-techniek toepassen op de video. De spraaksnelheid is gemiddeld en de toon is duidelijk, wat ideaal is voor oefening. Hier is hoe: luister naar een korte fragment (10-15 seconden) en herhaal het onmiddellijk na de spreker, met dezelfde intonatie en tempo. Dit helpt je om je engelse uitspraak te verbeteren en de natuurlijke flow van de taal te leren. Herhaal dit meerdere keren per fragment om de techniek te beheersen.

Wanneer je schrijft, onthoud dat je tussen de 100-120 woorden moet schrijven. Analyseer eerst de opdracht: vind de topic (onderwerp) en de content points (centrale punten). Dit zorgt ervoor dat je niets vergeet. Gebruik de juiste stijl: voor een vriend is het informeel, voor een leraar is het neutraal. Door deze tips te volgen, versterk je zowel je schrijf- als spreekvaardigheid, en ben je beter voorbereid op het examen.

Grammatica in deze video

De structuren die de spreker het meest gebruikt, met de exacte woorden uit de video:

StructuurIn de video
Present perfect have/has + voltooid deelwoord — iets uit het verleden dat nu nog telti've just mentioned · i've mentioned · I've written
Lijdende vorm be + voltooid deelwoord — het gaat om wat er gebeurt, niet om wie het doetbeing said · are connected · are usually written
Advies met “should” should + werkwoord — zeggen wat een goed idee isshouldn't be · should always find · should tell
Mogelijkheid met “might / may” might/may + werkwoord — iets is mogelijk maar niet zekermight think · might be

Wat is de Shadowing-techniek?

Shadowing is een wetenschappelijk onderbouwde taalleermethode die oorspronkelijk is ontwikkeld voor professionele tolkentraining en gepopulariseerd door polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. De methode is eenvoudig maar krachtig: je luistert naar native Engelse audio en herhaalt het onmiddellijk hardop — als een schaduw die de spreker volgt met slechts 1–2 seconden vertraging. In tegenstelling tot passief luisteren of grammaticadrills, dwingt shadowing je hersenen en mondspieren om echte spraakpatronen tegelijkertijd te verwerken en te reproduceren. Onderzoek toont aan dat het de uitspraaknauwkeurigheid, intonatie, ritme, verbonden spraak, luisterbegrip en spreekvaardigheid aanzienlijk verbetert — waardoor het een van de meest effectieve methoden is voor IELTS Speaking-voorbereiding en echte Engelse communicatie.

Shadowing-techniek: lees de volledige stap-voor-stap-gids →