Your colleague is flying to the meeting by plane from another country. You have arranged an airport pick-up, hotel accommodation and planned his / her meeting. Write a letter to your colleague. In your letter: - Tell me when and where you will meet him/her - Explain where he/she will stop - Tell him/her about other arrangements you have made.
Sample Response
Dear Mr Smith,
I am writing to express my regard and affection for you for making my itinerary comfortable by arranging all the things beforehand such as accommodation, airport pickup and meeting.
So, I would like to have prior information about the time and place in order to avoid waiting for long hours. I know you are not a novice to Chandigarh as many times, before your migration to Canada, we used to visit for shopping. So, I suppose, Sector 17 is an ideal place to meet.
To be honest, flying by plane has shortened the distance. You will be at Chandigarh airport at the dawn. A private cab has been arranged and I have a pre-informed cab driver and he will drop you off in sector 17. So, it will not be a herculean task for you to look for transport.
You did not need to worry about your stay as I have pre-arranged all the things. Your stay will be in the Taj hotel, where you will get all the amenities. You will stay there until your meeting gets over. After that, I will fetch you to my home. Moreover, your meeting is also planned in room number 13 on the ground floor so that you do not need to go outside.
Hoping to meet you soon!
Best Regards,
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Remove excess linker Original: So, I would Suggested revision: I would Why it matters: The opening linker is unnecessary and makes the transition feel mechanical.
- 2. Use natural phrasing Original: have prior information Suggested revision: know Why it matters: This collocation is unnatural when asking for practical details.
- 3. Use concise wording Original: avoid waiting for long hours Suggested revision: avoid a long wait Why it matters: The revision expresses the same idea more naturally and concisely.
- 4. Choose suitable expression Original: not a novice to Chandigarh Suggested revision: familiar with Chandigarh Why it matters: Novice refers to experience in an activity and is unsuitable for familiarity with a place.
- 5. Remove irrelevant opener Original: To be honest, flying Suggested revision: Flying Why it matters: This discourse marker does not introduce a candid admission and weakens the transition.
- 6. Correct the collocation Original: distance Suggested revision: journey Why it matters: Air travel shortens a journey or travel time rather than the physical distance.
- 7. Remove incorrect article Original: at the dawn Suggested revision: at dawn Why it matters: Dawn normally takes no article in this time expression.
- 8. Use appropriate tone Original: herculean Suggested revision: difficult Why it matters: This dramatic word is unnecessarily grand for a practical letter to a colleague.
- 9. Use present tense Original: did Suggested revision: do Why it matters: The reassurance concerns the recipient's upcoming stay, so present tense is required.
- 10. Use natural wording Original: pre-arranged all the things Suggested revision: already arranged everything Why it matters: The original phrase is awkward and imprecise.
- 11. Capitalise hotel name Original: hotel Suggested revision: Hotel Why it matters: Both words form the proper name and should be capitalised.
- 12. Use standard collocation Original: meeting gets over Suggested revision: meeting ends Why it matters: Meeting ends is the natural formal expression.
Suggested Rewrites
- So, I would I would
- have prior information know
- avoid waiting for long hours avoid a long wait
- not a novice to Chandigarh familiar with Chandigarh
- To be honest, flying Flying
- distance journey
Why this response received Band 6.0
The letter gives reasonably clear details about the transport, hotel, and meeting arrangements, and its paragraphing makes the itinerary easy to follow. However, the opening reverses the roles and the response never states the meeting time and place as directly as required. The main priority is to maintain the correct perspective and give an explicit, unambiguous plan for meeting the arriving colleague.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is partly achieved because accommodation and other arrangements are covered, but the writer's role and the meeting details are confused.
State clearly when and where you will meet the colleague, then present every arrangement from the writer's correct perspective.
Coherence and Cohesion
Information progresses through meeting, transport, accommodation, and meeting-room details in generally clear paragraphs, although linking is repetitive.
Use fewer mechanical connectors such as 'So' and make each paragraph's relationship to the itinerary more explicit.
Lexical Resource
The response shows a reasonable range, but several conspicuous collocations are unnatural or imprecise, including 'novice to Chandigarh' and 'pre-informed cab driver'.
Prefer natural travel and accommodation phrases such as 'familiar with Chandigarh', 'at dawn', and 'a driver who has been informed'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures communicates meaning, though article, tense, pronoun, and sentence-construction errors recur.
Review time references and pronouns carefully, and simplify long sentences where coordination creates grammatical awkwardness.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Your colleague is flying to the meeting by plane from another country. You have arranged an airport pick-up, hotel accommodation and planned his / her meeting. Write a letter to your colleague. In your letter:
- Tell me when and where you will meet him/her
- Explain where he/she will stop
- Tell him/her about other arrangements you have made.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.