A step-by-step practice frame for the IB Language ab initio Paper 1 — the beginner writing exam. Read the two tasks, choose the right simple text type, plan ideas and language you can actually use, and write two short, accurate responses — with the three assessment criteria and the exam method built in.
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This is roughly how your exported DOCX / PDF will read. Use it to rehearse two short, accurate responses in the right text type that answer both tasks fully.
The IB Language ab initio Paper 1 is the beginner writing exam (the productive-skills paper, worth 25% of the course), taken at SL only by near-beginners in a language such as Spanish ab initio or French ab initio. In about one hour you complete two short written tasks based on the prescribed themes, writing a brief response to each in an appropriate simple text type — an email, a note or message, a postcard, a blog entry, a simple letter, a social-media post, or a poster/notice. This examiner-written practice frame walks you through the method step by step — read both tasks and work out who each is to, why you are writing, and which text type fits; choose the right text type and its conventions; plan simple ideas and gather the vocabulary and phrases you already know; then draft, improve and check two short, accurate responses. Each step is paired with the assessment criteria, worked good-and-bad examples in French and Spanish (with English glosses), and the traps that cost beginners marks.
Paper 1 is marked across three criteria: A — Language (how clear, accurate and varied your simple language is); B — Message (whether your ideas answer the task fully); and C — Conceptual understanding (whether you chose the right text type, register and tone for the audience and purpose, and used its conventions such as a greeting, a sign-off, a title or a layout). Because this is the beginner course, you are rewarded for simple, accurate sentences using words and phrases you have learned — a short, correct response beats a long one full of mistakes.
The two tasks draw on the five prescribed ab initio themes — Identities; Experiences; Human ingenuity; Social organization; and Sharing the planet. For each task you choose a simple text type and use its conventions: an email or letter needs a greeting and a sign-off; a postcard is short and personal; a blog or social-media post is informal; a poster or notice gives clear key facts. Matching the text type and register to the audience and purpose — friendly for a friend, polite for someone formal — is what earns Criterion C, and planning it before you write is the easiest way to protect those marks.
The ab initio Paper 1 tool is free to start: the planning sections are free, and the later sections are a one-time unlock per tool. You sign in to save your work to your own account and sync it across devices. The frame and its guidance are written by experienced IB educators.