A short message
Four points covered in a short piece of about 30 to 50 characters (Foundation).
Learn
A short message, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Know AQA's short passage
With AQA this is Question 2 of the Foundation writing paper. You write about 30 characters in all on four short bullet points in English, such as a person, a place, a hobby and a plan. It is worth 16 marks: 10 for content, covering the bullets clearly, and 6 for the quality of your language. The count is approximate, and doing every task matters more than reaching it.
Know Pearson Edexcel's short formal piece
With Pearson Edexcel this is Question 2 of the Foundation writing paper. You choose one of two tasks and write about 40 to 50 characters in a formal style, covering four bullet points, for 16 marks: 8 for communication and content and 8 for the accuracy of your Chinese. It tests noting down key points and passing on information, and the accuracy marks look for the present and the future.
Cover every bullet, in order
Write at least one clear sentence for each bullet and tick it off. With AQA that is about seven or eight characters a bullet, so a single simple sentence does it: 我下午去打篮球。 我六点回家。
Write politely for Edexcel's formal task
The reader is an adult, such as a teacher or someone at a hotel or a shop. Use 您 for you, 请 for please and a title with the name, as in 王老师 or 李先生. Leave out slang and anything you would only say to a friend. If the greeting and the sign-off are printed for you, put your characters into the four points instead.
Show the present and the future
Write about now with 现在 or 每天, and about plans with 要, 想 or 打算 and a time word: 下个星期六我要去北京。 The time word goes before the verb, and it is what makes the future clear.
Put times and dates in Chinese order
Chinese goes from the biggest unit to the smallest: 十月十号星期六下午三点 is three o'clock on the afternoon of Saturday 10 October. Two before a measure word is 两, as in 两个人 and 两点.
Keep sentences simple and accurate
Short sentences you are sure of score well here. Link a few with 因为, 所以 or 也, and join nouns with 和: 我和妹妹都喜欢游泳。 A word you can write well beats a better one you can't.
Write in characters, then check them
Write every word in characters. AQA's examiners have said pinyin can still get a message across but earns nothing for your language, so use it only where you would otherwise leave a gap. Then read your answer once for each bullet, once for time words before verbs and once for characters that sound alike, such as 在 and 再.
A short message key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Bullet point
- One of the four things a task asks you to write about. Every one needs covering.
- Formal register
- The polite style for an adult reader: 您, 请, titles like 老师 and no slang.
- 您
- The polite word for you, for a teacher, a customer or someone you don't know.
- 请
- Please, before a request: 请来我家。 is please come to my house.
- Key points
- The facts a task asks you to pass on, such as a time, a place or a plan.
- Time word
- A word like 明天 or 下个星期 that places an action in time. It goes before the verb.
- Character count
- The suggested length: about 30 characters with AQA and 40 to 50 with Edexcel. It is a guide, not a rule.
Common mistakes in A short message
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Leaving out one of the four bullet points.
Every bullet carries content marks. Write one sentence for each before you add anything else.
Using 你 and a chatty tone in Edexcel's formal task.
Write to the reader as 您, use 请 and their title, and keep every sentence polite.
Putting the time word at the end, as in 我去北京下个星期.
Time words go before the verb, at the start or straight after who: 下个星期我去北京。 and 我下个星期去北京。 both work.
Using 了 for a plan, as in 明天我去了商店.
了 marks something already done. For the future use 要 or 打算, as in 明天我要去商店。, with the time word first.
Writing far more than the task needs and losing accuracy.
The count is a guide. A short, accurate answer that covers every bullet scores better than a long one full of slips.