You have seen an advertisement for a community college that needs teachers for night classes. Write a letter to the community college. In your letter: - say which advertisement you are answering - describe which course(s) you want to teach, and what it/they would be about - explain why you would be a suitable teacher
Sample Response
I am writing to City Evening College in reference to an advertisement I saw in The Vancouver Sun on May 14th for language teachers at your college. I am interested in teaching Korean and Korean Cookery. I have seen that your guide for last term does not include these courses, but I understand there are now large numbers of second and third-generation Koreans living in this part of the city who may be keen to learn more about their language and culture. I have a Bachelor of Science degree and a teaching diploma. I hold special qualifications in language teaching and cookery. I was a science teacher in Korea, but moved to San Francisco in 2010. There, I taught Korean for Beginners and Korean Cookery at two community colleges. The language course assumed students had no prior knowledge of Korean. It gave them simple everyday language, as well as recognition of the alphabet. The cookery course focused on easy meal preparation and the art of pickling, or kim chi. In Vancouver, I could teach the same courses as previously, or we could devise new ones, depending on what the college considered its market to be. I look forward to hearing from you. Yours faithfully, Kim Stevenson
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Add a salutation Original: I am writing to City Evening College Suggested revision: Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing Why it matters: A formal letter to an unnamed college contact should begin with an appropriate salutation.
- 2. Use parallel hyphenation Original: large numbers of second and third-generation Koreans Suggested revision: many second- and third-generation Koreans Why it matters: The suspended hyphen shows that both ordinal numbers modify the compound adjective.
- 3. Choose precise wording Original: special Suggested revision: relevant Why it matters: Relevant states more directly that the qualifications suit the advertised teaching work.
- 4. Specify the language Original: simple everyday language Suggested revision: basic everyday Korean Why it matters: Naming Korean makes the course content more precise.
- 5. Clarify the alphabet Original: recognition of the alphabet Suggested revision: recognition of the Korean alphabet Why it matters: The added qualifier makes the course description unambiguous.
- 6. Use natural phrasing Original: easy meal preparation Suggested revision: preparing simple meals Why it matters: This gerund phrase describes the practical course activity more naturally.
- 7. Clarify course content Original: the art of pickling, or kim chi Suggested revision: how to make kimchi Why it matters: This wording gives a direct and concise description of what students would learn.
- 8. Use natural comparison Original: previously Suggested revision: before Why it matters: As before is the more natural expression for repeating previously taught courses.
- 9. Organise the letter Suggested revision: Separate the purpose, proposed courses, qualifications, and closing into clear letter paragraphs. Why it matters: Distinct paragraphs would make the progression of information easier for the college to follow.
Suggested Rewrites
- I am writing to City Evening College Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing
- large numbers of second and third-generation Koreans many second- and third-generation Koreans
- special relevant
- simple everyday language basic everyday Korean
- recognition of the alphabet recognition of the Korean alphabet
- easy meal preparation preparing simple meals
Why this response received Band 8.5
The letter’s strongest feature is its complete, specific coverage of the teaching proposal, supported by a consistently professional tone and highly controlled language. Its main limitation is presentation as one uninterrupted block, which weakens the otherwise clear progression between purpose, qualifications, course content, and closing. The highest-priority improvement is to divide these stages into purposeful paragraphs so the reader can scan the proposal more easily.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose and all three bullet points are addressed fully with specific, relevant details and an appropriate formal tone.
Retain this direct coverage while making the proposed course outcomes even more explicitly useful to the college.
Coherence and Cohesion
The information progresses logically and cohesive links are natural, though the entire letter appears as one uninterrupted paragraph.
Separate the opening, qualifications, course descriptions, and closing into clear functional paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is broad, precise, and natural, especially when describing qualifications, prospective learners, and course content.
Maintain this precision while making the final reference to the college’s market more specific.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide variety of complex structures is used accurately and naturally throughout the letter.
Preserve this control while varying a few sentence openings to make the prose even more fluid.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have seen an advertisement for a community college that needs teachers for night classes. Write a letter to the community college. In your letter:
- say which advertisement you are answering
- describe which course(s) you want to teach, and what it/they would be about
- explain why you would be a suitable teacher
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.