C1 Writing practice: A personal profile | Planning your writing

Hello there!

I was talking to my C1 level students (High school advanced) about how they had to write personal profiles for college aplications and some of them struggled a bit. So of course I grabbed my books, found a good resource and here are some tips and tricks to write a personal profile.

Read the personal profile and answer. Where do you think it might appear?

Here are some guidelines for writing a personal profile.

1. Share positive things.
2. Keep it short: condense rather than use very long sentences.
3. Choose specific details and examples, not generalisations.
4. Don't lie, boast or exaggerate.
5. Keep it informal and friendly.

Remember that different situations ask for different types of profiles. Before you start writing think of the situation you'll use your profile for. Here are some things you can put in a personal profile.

Where you’re from	Family information	Likes/dislikes	Hobbies
Talents and skills	Education/grades/qualifications	Goals and plans	Favourite music/food
Religious or spiritual beliefs	Adress	Pet peeves	Groups you belong to
Job	Trips and unusual experiences	Professional achievements	Civil status

Teacher tip:

Think of writing as a conversation. Always remember your audience. Who will read your writing? What do they expect (think about content, lenght, tone and formality)? What do they know about the topic? Write for your audience.

Do the following writing exercise to practice what you've learned.

Write a personal profile as a part of a class profile. Follow stages 1-4 below:

1. Think about your audience and what you need to include. Make notes.
2. Writ an outline for your profile.
3. Write your profile (150-200 words). Check it and make any corrections.
4. Share your profile with other students if you can.

Let me know if you need any tip or feedback and I hope you found this post useful. I'll see you on the next tip.

Love, Teacher Clyo