You have a pen pal and you are writing your first letter to that pen pal. In your letter: - describe your previous studies and/or work experience - describe your current activities, hobbies and interests - tell your pen pal that you will be visiting him/her
Sample Response
Dear John, I am NeerajRaj from Delhi, India, writing to introduce myself. As a pen pal, I want to let you know more about me. I would like to thank you for your letter and it was nice to learnit was nice knowing so many things about you. I must say, you have a great way of writing. We both share many common interests and hobbies and this is a pleasant surpriseit is indeed a great surprise. The subjects that we had chosenhad opted in for our college and university studiesrespective college and university education were surprisingly similarwere coincidentally common. As a matter of fact, for this reasonit is due to this reason both our employment sectorsboth of our employment sector and job responsibilities are strikingly similar. InterestinglyIronically, the respective companies in which we both are employed are archrivals in the finance and banking industryindustry of Finance and Banking. I would like to update you about some of the recent events. I have recentlylately joined yoga and meditation classes. However, I still still pursue my long-standing hobbydo not miss my age-old hobby of swimming. It is hard to recollect even a single day, barring the weekly off, when I miss a dip in the swimming pool. In additionApart from this, my weekends are generally devoted to spending time strictly with my family. I attribute my good healthThe overall credit for my health, however, goes to a one-and-a-half-hour sessionthe one and a half session of yoga classes in the morning. Thank you for inviting me to visit your city. I will comewill certainly try to come and meet you. Let us catch up this coming Decemberin the coming December and till then take care and keep in touch. Warm wishes, Neeraj Mehra
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter creates a warm connection with the pen pal and gives lively detail about current interests, especially yoga, swimming, and family time. However, the study and work background remains vague, and the proposed visit is expressed as an attempt rather than a definite plan, so two task requirements are only partly developed. Prioritise naming the field studied and current role, then provide a clear intended visit date in a more naturally informal style.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are addressed, but previous study and work details are indirect and the December visit is not stated with sufficient certainty.
Specify the subject studied and current banking or finance role, then say directly that the visit is planned for December.
Coherence and Cohesion
The content moves logically from introduction to background, hobbies, and the visit, though the single dense block and some digressions weaken focus.
Divide the letter into short paragraphs matching the three bullet points and trim comments about the pen pal’s writing and rival companies.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary range is broad and often engaging, but several choices are overly formal or unnatural for a friendly letter.
Replace expressions such as opted in for, weekly off, and the overall credit with studied, day off, and I stay healthy through.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex structures are used with reasonable control, but agreement, article, noun-phrase, and sentence-structure errors remain noticeable.
Correct forms such as our employment sectors, one-and-a-half-hour yoga sessions, and it is because of this that our roles are similar.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have a pen pal and you are writing your first letter to that pen pal. In your letter:
- describe your previous studies and/or work experience
- describe your current activities, hobbies and interests
- tell your pen pal that you will be visiting him/her
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.