A2 - Written Mediation 1:

Learning Sequence
Let’s celebrate!
Your friend Martina lives in Northern Ireland. She is preparing an oral presentation for
her school. She has been to Spain several times with her family on holiday, and she
loves our country. She is very interested in Spanish traditions and celebrations, so she
has chosen to speak about them. She
has sent you an e-mail asking for help:
she needs some information about the
most typical celebrations and what
people in Spain do to keep traditions
alive. She knows that some of the
things that we do to celebrate
New Year’s Eve
festivities in Spain are different from
On New Year’s Eve, Spanish
people eat 12 grapes the things people do in Northern
when the clock strikes
12 times at midnight. Ireland, so she needs your help to get to
According to the tradition,
this will bring you good luck know them. You write her an e-mail
for new year.
giving her some information about the
San Fermin
San Fermin is celebrated in most popular celebrations in Spain.
the city of Pamplona. On the
7th July, local people and
tourists share a good time
together dancing, playing music
Your e-mail to Martina should have
and eating typical food. between 65 to 80 words. Remember that
People wear white and red clothes.
you have to use paragraphs and follow the
La Tomatina structure of an informal e-mail.
At the end of the month of
August, a small town in
Valencia celebrates La In written
Tomatino. Floats are driven
around the streets and the mediation,
people on them throw soft
tomatoes at people. It is a you need to
very colourful celebrations.
Flamenco
understand
It is a type of music that is played the texts and the
with a guitar, but there are also
other instruments that can be used.
images provided. When you
There is usually one singer, and
flamenco dancers perform typical
understand all the ideas, try
flamenco choreographies. Woman to
dancers wear special flamenco
dresses. explain your message in
your
Blooming Cherry Trees own words.
Extremadura celebrates
this festivity in March.
People go to the cherry tree
Make sure it is clear why you
orchards to see the new are talking about the topic.
season’s blossoms. There
are many activities in the Refer to the context.
town of Valle del Jerte
and people have a great time
Underline the words and
Written Mediation. Let´s celebrate! 1|5
expressions that will help you
to understand the text better.

Written Mediation. Let´s celebrate! 2|5

Let’s get ready!
1. Analyse the task
a. Read the task carefully and answer these questions. They will help you choose the
register of the mediation task.
a) Who will receive the e-mail?
b) Why is she asking you for help?
c) What are you going to write about?
b. After analysing the task, choose the correct answer.
a) In a mediation task you have to / don´t have to be clear about the message.
b) In a mediation task, it is / it is not important to pay attention to the register.
c) Written language tends to be more formal / informal than oral language.

2. Analyse the information

Read the information in the poster carefully.
a) What is the important information in the poster that your friend needs?
b) Underline the ideas that are important for Martina´s project.

Let’s prepare the language!

1. Discuss advantages and benefits
1. Read this text where a person is writing about the importance of traditions.
Read carefully and underline the connectors you see.

From ancient times, people have celebrated a good harvest. Having plenty of cereals, fruit
and vegetables was a sign of a prosperous year ahead. However, not all the years had
reasons to celebrate. Plagues, floods and droughts were problems that affected harvests.
Despite the effort of farmers, climate conditions could ruin the economy of an entire
village as this was a factor they could not control. Moreover, a lot of people could have
serious problems even to survive. That is why good harvests were celebrated with such
joy and how season festivities have come down to us.
We still depend on good harvests to live but our reality is completely different. We still try
to keep traditions alive and season festivities are the perfect excuse to visit interesting
places and learn about other cultures.
In addition, the beginning of spring or summer have also been a reason to celebrate.
Temperatures got warmer and the cold winter was finished. Nowadays, we are not so
exposed to extreme weather. Nevertheless, we will always find a reason to celebrate old
traditions!

Written Mediation. Let´s celebrate! 3|5

Other Useful Language
For example, … Do not use the same expressions
For instance, … all the time. It is important to
… , such as … vary your language to show that
A typical example is … your skills are improving.
To give you an idea, …
… an example being …

2. Read the words below and classify them into two categories.

rain drought flood plague sun soil

GOOD FOR HARVESTS BAD FOR HARVESTS

2. Give reasons and examples

1. Give a reason and an example that support each of the statements below.
a) Having good harvests is important for the population.
___________________________________________________________________
b) Natural disasters can affect harvests.
___________________________________________________________________

Written Mediation. Let´s celebrate! 4|5

Let’s mediate!
Your friend Martina lives in Northern Ireland. She is preparing an oral presentation for her
school. She has been to Spain several times with her family on holiday, and she loves our
country. She is very interested in Spanish traditions and celebrations, so she has chosen
to speak about them. She has sent you an e-mail asking for help: she needs some
information about the most typical celebrations and what people in Spain do to keep
traditions alive. She knows that some of the things that we do to celebrate festivities in
Spain are different from the things people do in Northern Ireland, so she needs your help
to get to know them. You write her an e-mail giving her some information about the most
popular celebrations in Spain.

1. Content

Content
Look at the poster on page 1 and read the information there carefully again.
Select the information you are going to tell your friend Martina. You can use
the following questions:
 Which festivities are related to food in any way?
 Which festivities involve special clothes?

2. Language

Use your own words. Simplify or paraphrase the information.

Language
Remember to adapt your register to the task and addressee.
Vary the language you use. Look at the Other Useful Language on page 3.

Written Mediation. Let´s celebrate! 5|5