You have a friend who lives in a city abroad. You would like to apply to do a course at one of the colleges in this city. Write to your friend. In your letter: - explain what you would like to do - describe the work or studies you have been doing for the past few years - ask for help contacting an appropriate institution
Sample Response
Dear Sam, Hope you are fine. I am now in Vizag and working for a large architectural consultancy firm. In order to accelerate my professional and personal growth, I need to complete a course pertaining to architectural design. I am hoping you would be able to provide details on some renowned colleges that offer the courses and guide me chose one. It is well known that Dubai undertakes excellent construction projects, and colleges there offer outstanding architectural and designing courses too. As you are studying and residing in Dubai, I request you to kindly apprise me of the architectural courses offered by colleges. I am relying on you to pick a course at a college. I request you to kindly examine the content of the course, its duration, the course curriculum, the cost and finally the placement opportunities after completion of the course. It would immensely help me in analysing and picking up the right course from the right institution. I would be grateful for the information and support. I will be waiting for your reply in this regard. Warm wishes, Talluri
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use natural wording Original: pertaining to architectural design Suggested revision: in architectural design Why it matters: The shorter prepositional phrase sounds more natural in a letter to a friend.
- 2. Use standard collocation Original: provide details on Suggested revision: provide information about Why it matters: 'Information about' is the natural phrase for requesting course guidance.
- 3. Clarify generic reference Original: the Suggested revision: such Why it matters: 'Such courses' refers generally to courses in the field already mentioned.
- 4. Correct verb form Original: guide me chose one Suggested revision: help me choose one Why it matters: After 'help me', the base verb 'choose' is required.
- 5. Use parallel nouns Original: architectural and designing courses Suggested revision: architecture and design courses Why it matters: Parallel field names require the noun forms 'architecture' and 'design'.
- 6. Use friendly register Original: I request you to kindly apprise me Suggested revision: Could you please tell me Why it matters: The original wording is excessively formal for a letter to a friend.
- 7. Remove repeated content Original: content of the course, its duration, the course curriculum Suggested revision: course content and duration Why it matters: 'Content' and 'curriculum' overlap, so listing both is redundant.
- 8. Use selection verb Original: picking up the right course Suggested revision: choosing the right course Why it matters: 'Choose' is the natural verb for selecting a course.
- 9. Sentence rewrite Original: Hope you are fine. Suggested revision: I hope you are well. Why it matters: The rewrite supplies the missing subject and uses a natural friendly greeting.
- 10. Develop work history Suggested revision: Add how long you have worked at the architectural consultancy and briefly describe the work you have done there. Why it matters: The letter states only the current job and does not describe the past few years as requested.
Suggested Rewrites
- pertaining to architectural design in architectural design
- provide details on provide information about
- the such
- guide me chose one help me choose one
- architectural and designing courses architecture and design courses
- I request you to kindly apprise me Could you please tell me
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter clearly identifies the desired architecture course and asks for substantial help comparing colleges, course content, costs, and employment prospects. Its main limitation is task coverage: it barely describes the writer's recent work or studies and does not clearly ask the friend to contact an institution; the register is also overly formal for a friend. Prioritise those two missing details in a warmer personal tone.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The desired course is clear and the request for guidance is detailed, but recent work or study is barely described and contacting a college is not directly requested.
Explain the architectural work completed over the past few years and ask Sam to contact one or two suitable colleges for application information.
Coherence and Cohesion
The message follows a clear path from current circumstances to course aims and requested help, though repetition and a single paragraph make the organisation less effective.
Use separate paragraphs for the course goal, professional background, and specific help requested from the friend.
Lexical Resource
There is a reasonable range of education and career vocabulary, but repetition and overly formal choices such as 'apprise me' and 'in this regard' make the friendly letter unnatural.
Adopt conversational phrases such as 'let me know,' 'help me find,' and 'get in touch with the college.'
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Most sentences are structurally clear and some complex forms are controlled, though errors in verb patterns, articles, and noun choice recur.
Correct forms such as 'guide me to choose,' 'architecture courses,' and 'information about colleges.'
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have a friend who lives in a city abroad. You would like to apply to do a course at one of the colleges in this city. Write to your friend. In your letter:
- explain what you would like to do
- describe the work or studies you have been doing for the past few years
- ask for help contacting an appropriate institution
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.