C1 Advanced · Writing · Part 2
C1 Proposal Practice (Free)
Persuade a specific reader to support a plan. Practise explaining a need, proposing workable actions and showing the benefits of your recommendations.
This exercise, its explanations and the downloadable PDF are in English.
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A conversation club for new adult learners
The director of your language centre wants to help new adult learners practise speaking outside lessons. You have been asked to write a proposal for a weekend conversation club. The centre has one spare classroom and two volunteer tutors, but no budget for additional staff. Recommend how a pilot could be organised, explain how it would benefit learners with different levels of confidence, and suggest how the director should decide whether to continue it. Write 220–260 words.
Write 220–260 words.
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One possible response
248 words · Original teaching example. Other responses can also work.
Proposal for a weekend conversation club
Purpose I propose a four-week Saturday pilot to give new adult learners regular speaking practice outside their classes. The club would use the spare classroom and the two volunteer tutors already available, avoiding the need for additional paid staff. It should initially accommodate twelve learners so that support remains manageable.
Organisation Each one-hour session would begin with a short demonstration of a useful everyday exchange, followed by paired conversations. One tutor would lead the activity while the other helped participants who needed more time to begin. Partners could change halfway through the session, giving learners practice with different people without requiring them to speak to the whole group.
Benefits and support Topics such as making an appointment or discussing weekend plans would connect practice to situations learners may encounter outside the centre. Optional question cards would help less confident participants sustain a conversation, while more confident learners could extend the task with follow-up questions. Tutors should model supportive listening and make clear that mistakes are expected, so the club does not feel like another examination.
Evaluation Attendance records and brief anonymous feedback after each session would indicate whether learners find the club useful and welcoming. The tutors should also note whether the group size allows everyone to participate. After four weeks, the director could compare these findings with the volunteers’ workload before deciding to continue or adjust the format. Expansion should wait until the pilot demonstrates that the available support is sufficient.
What to notice
Task and constraints
The director needs a feasible future plan. The model uses the stated classroom and two volunteers, proposes no extra paid staff, addresses different confidence levels and explains the continuation decision. The twelve-person limit is a proposed design choice, not a fact supplied by the task.
Plan and proposal structure
Purpose defines the pilot and its scale. Organisation explains what happens and who does it. Benefits and support links activities to learner needs. Evaluation explains how the centre would decide what happens next. Unlike a report on completed work, this proposal mainly uses would and could.
Content: connect action to benefit
Paired conversations lower the immediate demand of speaking to everyone. Optional cards support hesitant participants, while follow-up questions provide challenge for confident learners. These are distinct responses to different needs rather than the unsupported promise that everyone will improve equally.
Communicative achievement
“Avoiding the need for additional paid staff” directly addresses the director’s resource constraint. The explicit division of tutor roles makes the staffing plan credible. The recommendation stays practical rather than relying on enthusiastic but vague claims about a friendly atmosphere.
Organisation and language
Headings make the proposal easy to scan. “While” contrasts the tutors’ roles and the two support needs without suggesting either group matters less. “Expansion should wait until...” gives a clear condition, showing that a pilot is an opportunity to learn rather than a commitment to an unlimited service.
Evaluation and pitfalls
Attendance alone would not establish success: people may attend but feel unable to contribute. Combining feedback, participation observations and volunteer workload provides a better basis for the decision. Other schedules or group sizes could work if justified. Avoid assuming that existing volunteers can absorb unlimited work or claiming the proposed benefits have already been achieved.
Review your own choices
- Does the plan fit the stated room, staffing and budget?
- Are the timetable, group size and tutor roles clear?
- Have I addressed different confidence levels?
- Have I explained benefits rather than simply listing activities?
- Would the proposed evidence support a decision about continuation?
- Is the proposal 220–260 words?
Choose one improvement to make in your draft. Matching the model's wording is not the aim; compare how clearly each response does the task.
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