A friend has written to you asking for advice about a problem at work. You have had a similar problem in the past. Write a reply to your friend. In your letter: - tell your friend you understand the problem - explain what happened to you in the past - suggest possible solutions to the problem.
Sample Response
Dear Samantha,
I heard that you are having some problems communicating with other team members at the company. I am writing to tell you that I completely understand what you are going through and I hope I can help you with my advice.
I was in the exact position last year when I first started working at the company. My communication styles were not compatible with my coworkers and most of the things I said either got misunderstood or ignored. It was such an uncomfortable experience to me and I even considered quitting the job.
However, I soon realised that the communication improved tremendously when I started giving more specific examples while explaining my ideas and opinions. I also started using concept checking questions to make sure that my message was successfully conveyed. I think this method can also do wonders to you and I highly recommend that you give it a try.
I hope this helps and please keep me updated on the issue.
Best wishes,
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Show warmer empathy Original: I heard that Suggested revision: I’m sorry to hear that Why it matters: This opening acknowledges your friend’s difficulty with a more supportive informal tone.
- 2. Improve collocation Original: help you with my advice Suggested revision: offer some helpful advice Why it matters: Offer advice is a more natural collocation in this context.
- 3. Use correct collocation Original: exact Suggested revision: same Why it matters: The same position is the natural expression for a similar past experience.
- 4. Fix number agreement Original: My communication styles were Suggested revision: My communication style was Why it matters: The singular possessive subject my requires style and the singular verb was here.
- 5. Fix passive structure Original: either got misunderstood or ignored Suggested revision: were either misunderstood or ignored Why it matters: The plural subject things requires were to form the passive construction correctly.
- 6. Use correct preposition Original: to Suggested revision: for Why it matters: For is the correct preposition when describing how an experience affected someone.
- 7. Specify the communication Original: the Suggested revision: my Why it matters: Communication needs a specific determiner here because it refers to your own communication.
- 8. Hyphenate compound modifier Original: concept checking questions Suggested revision: concept-checking questions Why it matters: The compound modifier should be hyphenated before the noun questions.
- 9. Fix idiomatic phrase Original: do wonders to you Suggested revision: work wonders for you Why it matters: Work wonders for someone is the standard idiomatic expression.
- 10. Sentence rewrite Original: I hope this helps and please keep me updated on the issue. Suggested revision: I hope this helps. Please keep me updated on the situation. Why it matters: Separating the two requests creates a cleaner and more natural closing.
Suggested Rewrites
- I heard that I’m sorry to hear that
- help you with my advice offer some helpful advice
- exact same
- My communication styles were My communication style was
- either got misunderstood or ignored were either misunderstood or ignored
- to for
Why this response received Band 8.0
The letter addresses the friend’s problem directly, supports the advice with a relevant personal experience, and progresses clearly from empathy to practical solutions. Its main weakness is a small cluster of unnatural collocations that slightly reduces precision; the highest-priority improvement is to replace phrases such as “uncomfortable experience to me” and “do wonders to you” with idiomatic alternatives.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response fully covers empathy, a similar past experience, and two relevant solutions in a consistently appropriate friendly tone.
Make the advice even more useful by briefly explaining how Samantha could introduce these techniques in her next team discussion.
Coherence and Cohesion
The information is logically sequenced across focused paragraphs, and cohesive devices guide the reader naturally from problem to solution.
Refine the closing link by separating the final two requests for a slightly cleaner finish.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and topic-specific, although several collocations, including “experience to me” and “do wonders to you,” are unnatural.
Use idiomatic combinations such as “an uncomfortable experience for me” and “work wonders for you.”
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response shows a wide range of accurately controlled complex structures, with only minor non-impeding lapses.
Polish coordination in the closing sentence by writing “I hope this helps, and please keep me updated.”
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
A friend has written to you asking for advice about a problem at work. You have had a similar problem in the past. Write a reply to your friend. In your letter:
- tell your friend you understand the problem
- explain what happened to you in the past
- suggest possible solutions to the problem.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.