Extended writing in Arabic
Arabic · Key Stage 3 · The School
Plan in Arabic, not in English
Planning in English and translating produces sentences that are grammatically English wearing Arabic words. Plan instead as a list of the Arabic structures you can already write, then order them. Writing what you CAN write well beats attempting what you cannot and producing something unreadable.
Connectives
Sentences joined with wa (and) alone read as a list. A handful of connectives change that: li-anna (because), lakin (but), thumma (then), aydan (also), li-dhalika (therefore). Two or three used correctly lift a paragraph more than any amount of ambitious vocabulary used wrongly.
Varying the shape
Alternate nominal and verbal sentences. Vary length. Put a time phrase at the front of one sentence. Ask a question and answer it. These are the same devices that make English writing readable, and examiners in every language reward them, because a paragraph of identical sentences is hard to read whatever it says.
Flat: أَحْبَبْتُ الرِّحْلة. زُرْنا المَتْحَف. كانَ الطَّقْسُ جَميلاً. عُدْنا مُتْعَبين. Now connect with variety, not four ثُمَّ in a row: أَحْبَبْتُ الرِّحْلة كَثيراً، حَيْثُ زُرْنا المَتْحَف وَكانَ الطَّقْسُ جَميلاً، وَلٰكِنَّنا عُدْنا مُتْعَبين. One sentence, three different connectives, and it reads as writing rather than a list.