You live in a high-rise building with a communal laundry room. Residents sometimes leave washing in the machines, making others wait. You think the management should provide ten extra laundry baskets. Write to the Property Manager, Mr Watson. In your letter: - explain how long you have been a resident - describe the problem - propose your solution
Sample Response
Dear Mr Watson, I hope that you are doing well. I have been a resident of your Sky Village Apartment Complex for almost 5 years, and I must say that I have enjoyed living here all these years without any major problems. However, lately, I, like many other residents in your high-rising building, have been dealing with an issue which, I think, deserves some immediate attention from your part. This issue, I am talking about, is related to the efficient use of our communal laundry room where people sometimes have to wait for a significant period of time to use the washers and dryers in order to do their laundry because there are not just enough laundry baskets available in the room. This problem becomes even more acute when people do not bother to empty the washing machines and dryers on time when their laundry is done. So, based on these problems, I would really appreciate it if you purchase at least 10 extra laundry buckets so that the laundry users, waiting for their turns to do their laundry, can empty the laundry machines and keep their contents into those baskets. This will improve the situation to a great extent and reduce our waiting time significantly. I hope to hear from you soon regarding this. Yours sincerely, Lance Donovan
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Spell out small number Original: 5 Suggested revision: five Why it matters: Spelling out a small number suits the formal tone of the letter.
- 2. Avoid repetition Original: all these years Suggested revision: throughout that time Why it matters: This avoids repeating ‘years’ in the same sentence.
- 3. Correct building term Original: rising Suggested revision: rise Why it matters: ‘High-rise’ is the standard adjective for this type of building.
- 4. Remove interrupting aside Original: issue which, I think, Suggested revision: issue that Why it matters: The parenthetical phrase interrupts an otherwise direct request.
- 5. Correct attention phrase Original: attention from your part Suggested revision: attention from you Why it matters: ‘Attention from your part’ is not an idiomatic English expression.
- 6. Use neutral wording Original: do not bother to empty the washing machines and dryers on time Suggested revision: do not promptly empty the washing machines and dryers Why it matters: This describes the delay without sounding unnecessarily accusatory.
- 7. Link solution directly Original: based on these problems Suggested revision: to address this problem Why it matters: The letter describes one central problem, and this phrase clearly introduces the solution.
- 8. Use concise request Original: would really appreciate Suggested revision: would appreciate Why it matters: ‘Really’ is unnecessary in this polite formal request.
- 9. Use polite conditional Original: purchase Suggested revision: purchased Why it matters: After ‘would appreciate it if’, the past form creates the conventional polite request.
- 10. Match requested solution Original: at least 10 extra laundry buckets Suggested revision: ten extra laundry baskets Why it matters: The task specifically asks for ten baskets, while buckets are a different item.
- 11. Use resident label Original: the laundry users Suggested revision: residents Why it matters: ‘Residents’ is the natural term for the people using the communal facility.
- 12. Use singular expression Original: turns Suggested revision: turn Why it matters: The fixed expression is ‘wait for their turn’ when referring to each person’s opportunity.
Suggested Rewrites
- 5 five
- all these years throughout that time
- rising rise
- issue which, I think, issue that
- attention from your part attention from you
- do not bother to empty the washing machines and dryers on time do not promptly empty the washing machines and dryers
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter fully addresses the situation, explains the resident’s history and the laundry-room problem, and proposes ten extra baskets with a clear practical benefit. Its main weakness is presentation and precision: the response is one dense paragraph and occasionally uses awkward or incorrect expressions such as 'laundry buckets.' The priority is to organise the request into short purpose, problem, and solution paragraphs while keeping the courteous tone.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are fully developed, the request is clear, and the respectful tone suits a letter to the property manager.
Refine the proposal by consistently calling the requested items baskets and briefly stating where management could place them.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ideas follow a logical sequence from residency to problem and solution, but presenting the entire letter as one paragraph weakens organisation.
Use separate paragraphs for the opening context, the laundry problem, and the proposed solution and benefit.
Lexical Resource
The response shows a flexible range for explaining inconvenience and making a polite request, despite several unnatural collocations and the inaccurate word 'buckets.'
Prefer natural phrases such as 'high-rise building,' 'attention from you,' 'enough baskets,' and 'place the laundry in them.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of complex sentences is generally controlled, with occasional errors in conditional form, prepositions, and punctuation that do not impede meaning.
Use the polite conditional accurately, for example 'I would appreciate it if you purchased ten extra baskets,' and shorten overloaded sentences.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You live in a high-rise building with a communal laundry room. Residents sometimes leave washing in the machines, making others wait. You think the management should provide ten extra laundry baskets. Write to the Property Manager, Mr Watson. In your letter:
- explain how long you have been a resident
- describe the problem
- propose your solution
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.