Sample Answer for Write a letter to your Spanish friend [16 marks]

En España, me gusta nadir en el mar con mi familia porque es más divertido que relajar. También visitamos al mercado y comprar gafas de sol y los caramelos. Los caramelos de España son muchos deliciosos. En España es muy caliente que en Inglaterra y es más tranquilo que en Inglaterra. En España relajarme mucho pero en Inglaterra, no relajame mucho porque mi instituto. En el verano, mi familia y yo visitamos España porque mi abuelo vive allí. Las vacaciones son importante porque son divertido y relajarse. También las vacacions son uno tiempo por resté.

In Spain, I like swimming in the sea with my family because it's more fun than relaxing. We also visited the market and bought sunglasses and sweets. Spanish sweets are very delicious. Spain is much hotter than England and more peaceful than England. In Spain, I relax a lot, but in England, I don't relax much because of my school.

In the summer, my family and I visit Spain because my grandfather lives there. Holidays are important because they are fun and relaxing. They are also a time to rest.

Examiners Commentary: Content

At just over the 90 words required, this is a full response which covers all aspects of the task. Opinions are expressed. However, lapses in language mean that the clarity of communication is sometimes compromised. For example, the response to the first bullet point is in the present tense and is therefore not addressing the required task, unless we take visitamos to be a preterite verb. The last sentence communicates little and the student's response to the third bullet point ('En el verano mi familia y yo visitamos España porque mi abuelo vive allí.') does not really make it clear that he is talking about where he is going to spend his holidays this year, rather than what he usually does. The piece fits the Level 4 descriptor most accurately and given the number of points where poor expression causes some hindrance to the communication, the lower of the two marks is indicated. 7 marks.

Quality of language

Vocabulary is generally appropriate to the needs of the task and there are some attempts at complex language though these are not always successful. It is debatable how many time frames are referred to. Visitamos can be accepted as a correct preterite form though the following verb (comprar) in the same sentence is left in the infinitive. As pointed out above the response to bullet point 3 could be taken as a future reference but no verbs are used in either the future or immediate future tenses. The piece is more accurate than inaccurate but a number of infinitives are used instead of finite verbs and there are a number of minor errors (eg 'muchos deliciosos'; 'es muy caliente que en Inglaterra'). The piece fits the Level 2 descriptor but the lower mark in the band is more appropriate. 3 marks.

Total 7 + 3 = 10