Your best friend just had her first baby. You are currently overseas but will be returning to your hometown in a week. Write to your friend. In your letter: - congratulate your friend - tell her when you will be returning home - ask when you could drop in to meet her and the baby
Sample Response
Dear Emma, I cannot believe I am an aunt now! You have become the mother of a sweet baby girl to make me the happiest person in the world. CongratulationsMany congratulations and my love and blessingsblessing tofor both of you. I wish I were there with youI regret that I am far away from you. DeleteAs a matter of fact, I came to Tokyo to attend a work meetingan official meeting last Monday. My tasks here will occupy me for another week or so, and I will returnor so I will return to Manhattan on 27th October. I want to see you and your baby as soon as I land. I will would love to visit you firstprobably visit you first and then goget back to my apartment. Please do not hesitate to text or call me if you would like me to bring anythingif you want me to bring anything for you. I will do some shopping for the baby and any suggestions from you would be very welcomeany suggestion from you is much welcomed. I cannot wait to see you both. I have not heard such wonderfulthrilling news in yearsdecades. My best wishes to you bothMy best wished to you all once again. Warm wishes, Eugene
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter has a warm, affectionate tone and clearly congratulates the friend while giving a definite return date. However, it announces an immediate visit rather than asking when it would be convenient to meet, so one required purpose is not fully achieved; the single-block structure and several awkward expressions also reduce polish. Add a direct availability question, organise the message into short paragraphs, and proofread fixed phrases and endings.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The congratulations and return date are clear and suitably informal, but the letter does not ask when a visit would be convenient.
Add a direct question asking which day and time would suit the friend for meeting her and the baby.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ideas progress logically from congratulations to travel plans and visiting, but one continuous paragraph and repeated excitement statements weaken organisation.
Divide the letter into paragraphs for congratulations, return arrangements, and the proposed visit, removing repeated closing sentiments.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary conveys warmth and includes some range, although phrases such as ‘much welcomed’ and ‘in decades’ are awkward or exaggerated.
Use natural informal expressions such as ‘any suggestions would be very welcome’ and ‘I have not heard such exciting news in years’.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses a range of sentence forms with generally clear meaning, but clause joining, word form, and passive construction errors recur.
Correct the run-on return-date sentence and forms such as ‘is very welcome’ and ‘best wishes’.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Your best friend just had her first baby. You are currently overseas but will be returning to your hometown in a week. Write to your friend. In your letter:
- congratulate your friend
- tell her when you will be returning home
- ask when you could drop in to meet her and the baby
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.