11.1 Tarea 2: Choosing a Prompt and Following Its Genre
Key Takeaways
Task 2 requires one response of 130–150 words, choosing between two prompts.
Option numbers do not permanently identify narrative and formal genres.
Select by the actual content, audience and language you can use accurately.
Develop every guiding point with relevant description, events, reasons or reactions.
Do not assume an unofficial ±10% word allowance or a compulsory grammatical formula.
Choose One Prompt, Then Read Its Requirements
Writing Tarea 2 asks you to produce 130–150 words on one of two topics. The official specifications describe a descriptive or narrative composition that expresses opinion and personal information about experiences, feelings or anecdotes. Possible outputs include a composition, diary entry or biography. The task supplies instructions and a brief stimulus to establish the context.
The option numbers do not define permanent genres. Do not enter the exam assuming Option 1 is always a story and Option 2 is always a formal civic letter. Read both actual prompts. Either can require description, narrative and personal opinion; tone follows the audience and communicative purpose.
| Decision | Read this part of the prompt | Avoid this shortcut |
|---|---|---|
| Which topic? | The two actual subjects | Always choose the same option number |
| Which genre? | The requested output | Turn every text into a formal letter |
| Which content? | All guiding points | Recycle a prepared essay regardless of the question |
| Which tense? | The timeline being described | Insert every tense you know |
| Which register? | The audience and purpose | Assume public writing always uses usted |
A Short Selection Routine
Take a brief look at both prompts before committing. A 90-second selection exercise can be useful in practice, but it is not an official separate timer. The whole writing test lasts 60 minutes, so choosing cannot consume the time needed to complete both responses.
First, identify what each task actually asks you to do. Does one ask about a memorable celebration and another about a person who influenced you? Write down the main content points mentally. You need a specific event or person, enough detail to develop the text and the language to explain its significance.
Second, test your vocabulary. If you choose a memory about cooking, can you name the participants, place, actions and reactions? You do not need technical culinary vocabulary to describe a meal. Familiar, accurate language is more useful than an ambitious topic you cannot explain.
Third, test the timeline. If a prompt requires an earlier experience, can you distinguish the main events from the background? A prompt about current preferences may need a present description, a past example and a future intention. The required content should determine those choices.
Finally, choose one option and keep its prompt in view. Switching after drafting half a response usually wastes time. Follow any choice-marking and answer-space instructions in the actual booklet rather than assuming the page layout is identical in every paper.
Developing a Personal Narrative
For a narrative prompt, establish when and where the event happened and who was involved. Use the imperfect for background when appropriate: Era invierno y estábamos en casa de mis abuelos. Use the simple preterite to present the events: Llegó mi prima, preparamos la mesa y cenamos juntos.
If an earlier completed event explains something, a pluperfect can help: Habíamos comprado la comida el día anterior. It is useful because it clarifies the timeline, not because one occurrence is a compulsory scoring token. Do not add it where there is no earlier event to explain.
Include the requested feelings or reflection. Me sentí acompañado porque hacía meses que no veía a mi familia gives a concrete reason. Fue muy bonito, muy especial y muy bueno repeats an evaluation without developing it. A concise specific detail often adds more meaning than several generic adjectives.
Developing Description and Opinion
For a descriptive prompt, organize rather than list. A text about a teacher might describe the person’s role, explain what happened in a class and say why their support mattered. A text about a favorite place can move from its location to what you do there and the reason you return.
Personal opinion does not automatically require a formal argument about municipal policy. Para mí, aprender con otras personas es más útil porque puedo practicar la conversación is a clear B1 opinion. Add an example or a qualification when relevant: Sin embargo, repaso el vocabulario solo para concentrarme mejor.
If a practice prompt does request a formal proposal, choose a suitable register and polite request. Treat that as one genre exercise, not a permanent description of official Option 2. A greeting and signature make sense in a letter; they may be unnecessary in a composition or diary entry.
Map Every Guiding Point to Content
Consider an original practice prompt about a celebration. It asks where it happened, who attended, what you did and why you remember it. A four-line plan might read:
- Casa de mi hermana; junio; cumpleaños familiar.
- Mis primos vinieron de otra ciudad; hacía mucho que no nos veíamos.
- Cocinamos juntos; después tocamos música.
- Recuerdo especial porque pudimos reunir a toda la familia.
Each line is an idea to develop, not a sentence to copy mechanically. As you write, check that the reader can find each required point. Missing a point affects task fulfillment; it does not justify inventing a fixed automatic Band 1 cap or an overall disqualification rule.
Stay within the Requested Length
Aim around 140 words, then count and revise. The guide’s model counts use space-separated words. Do not rely on a supposed 117–165-word tolerance, a stopping rule or a bonus for exceeding the range. The instruction remains 130–150 words.
If the draft is short, add meaningful content tied to a missing or thin point: a reason, a concrete action or a reaction. If it is long, remove a repeated introduction, an unnecessary greeting or a second example that adds nothing. A 35-minute practice block with planning and revision can help, but adapt it so both writing tasks are finished within the official hour.
Evaluate the response under genre/task adequacy, coherence, correction and range, together with its overall communicative success. No genre choice earns automatic extra points. The best choice is the prompt you can answer fully, clearly and appropriately with the language you control.
In DELE B1 Prueba 3 (Tarea 2), which of the following statements accurately reflects the official task regulations and word count guidelines?
Candidates must write brief responses to both prompts, dividing the 130–150 words between them.
Candidates may choose either prompt, but choosing the formal civic letter grants five additional bonus points due to its register.
Candidates must choose exactly one prompt and write between 130 and 150 words, fulfilling all prompt bullet points to pass.
Candidates are permitted to write between 80 and 220 words without penalty, provided their narrative has an introduction and conclusion.
In an original practice choice between a personal narrative and a formal proposal, a candidate has strong narrative past tenses and descriptive vocabulary. Which is the more manageable choice?
The personal narrative or blog post, because it centers directly on past aspectual sequencing, pluperfect anteriority, and descriptive personal vocabulary.
The formal civic letter or opinion piece, because examiners automatically award higher scores to formal letters regardless of subjunctive or register errors.
The formal opinion essay, because formal opinion essays do not require complex syntactic connectors or subjunctive triggers.
Neither task format, because DELE B1 mandates demonstrating the subjunctive mood across both written tasks to obtain a passing mark.
During Tarea 2, a candidate writes a grammatically flawless, beautifully phrased 145-word narrative based on the personal experience prompt. However, the candidate forgets to address the final bullet point of the prompt, which required explaining what personal lesson was learned from the incident. What is the impact on their evaluation?
A perfect mark is guaranteed by elegant grammar.
The entire examination is automatically cancelled.
The omission is irrelevant to task adequacy.
The missing reflection harms task fulfillment and should be supplied; the complete performance is rated against the descriptors.
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.