A friend is going on holiday soon and has asked you to recommend a destination that you have visited. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - recommend a good place for the holiday - say where you stayed - describe what you did there - describe what the food was like
Sample Response
Dear Ron, I am glad to hear from you after such a long time. I hope all is wellHope all is well with you and your family. Anyway, even though I am glad that you have asked for my recommendation for a good place to spend your summer holiday, it also makes me a bit nervous, thinking that you just might not like the place after visiting it. ButBut, I would still suggest that you visit Cyprus since it has someone of the best weather in the worldin the whole world. By the way, I stayed in Limassol, a city on the southern coast of Cyprus, after arriving in the country. In fact, the experience of enjoying the spectacularcelestial view of the entire city of Limassol at night from “Panthea Resort”, located inon the hills of Limassol in a central locationin the middle of all areas, is something more beautiful than words can describebeyond any words can describe. Besides, the chance to swim in the clear waterswater of the beautiful Limassol beach and enjoyenjoying the fresh Cypriot food and salads will remain memorablekeep your mind captivated for a long timelong, long time. Well, I think the information I have already given youthat information, I have already given you, should be enough for you to decide whether Cyprus would suit you as a holiday destinationwhether to choose Cyprus as your holiday destination or not. I hope you have a wonderful holidayWishing you a pleasant tour. Warm wishes, Rob
Why this response received Band 6.5
The recommendation is friendly and engaging, and it covers the destination, accommodation, activities, and food with enough detail to guide the friend. The main weakness is uneven language control: several long sentences contain awkward collocations, faulty comparisons, and parallel-structure errors. The highest-priority improvement is to use shorter, more natural sentences and expand the food description with specific qualities rather than relying on general praise.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter fulfils its purpose in an appropriate friendly tone and covers all four prompts, though the food description is rather brief.
Describe the Cypriot food more specifically, for example its flavours, ingredients, or a memorable dish.
Coherence and Cohesion
The response has a clear overall journey from recommendation to experience, but one long paragraph and overused conversational linkers weaken organisation.
Create separate paragraphs for the recommendation, accommodation, and activities and food, using fewer discourse markers.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and often vivid, but expressions such as one of the best weather and beyond any words can describe are inaccurate.
Choose idiomatic combinations such as some of the best weather and more beautiful than words can describe.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The writer attempts varied complex structures, but agreement, comparison, parallelism, and clause-construction errors recur despite clear meaning.
Check noun agreement and parallel verb forms, especially one of the best climates and the chance to swim and enjoy.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
A friend is going on holiday soon and has asked you to recommend a destination that you have visited. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
- recommend a good place for the holiday
- say where you stayed
- describe what you did there
- describe what the food was like
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.