Last month you had a holiday overseas where you stayed with some friends. They have just sent you some photos of your holiday. Write a letter to your friends. In your letter: - thank them for the photos and for the holiday - explain why you didn't - write earlier - invite them to come and stay with you
Sample Response
Dear Emma and Jenifer, I cannot thank you enough for the hospitality you showed me during my stayhave shown me during my stay at your house. Also, I am writing to thank youI am writing to say thanks for the great photos you sent mephotos you have couriered me. I am hoping you two would visit me during the summer vacation. I was greatly surprised by the beauty of Venice in Italy and the days I spent with you. Each day was magical. The fabulous canals in Venice lined with Renaissance and Gothic palaces were breathtakingheavenly. MoreoverHowever, you two were excellent hostshad been excellent hosts and I can never express how much I enjoyed my time with you. Thank you so muchA huge thank you for making my holidayholidays special and sending some of the very best photos we took during ourthis holiday. My apologiesapology for not writing to you earlier. I had been busy with the office and I guess you already know how sometimes I struggle to manage everything in my life. I had to travel to Brisbane twice to visitmeet my mom whose health is deterioratinghealth condition is deteriorating these days. I would love to have you both stay with me during the summer vacationhave you both with me during the summer vacation. Please start planning the tripPlease plan for the trip and I am sure you will enjoy your time in Australia. Take care and stay wellfine. Warm wishes, Kelly
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter has a warm, convincing tone and fully addresses the thanks, explanation and invitation, with engaging details about the holiday and the proposed visit. Its main limitation is organisation: the response is one dense block and repeats both the thanks and invitation, while some tense choices are inconsistent. Prioritise dividing it into clear functional paragraphs and using past tense for the completed holiday and present or future forms for the invitation.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are fully addressed with a warm, suitable tone and relevant personal detail about the holiday, delayed reply and invitation.
Make the invitation even more useful by adding a specific proposed time, length of stay or activity in Australia.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ideas follow a sensible sequence, but the single dense paragraph and repetition of thanks and invitation weaken the overall organisation.
Use separate paragraphs for appreciation, the reason for the late reply and the invitation, mentioning each main purpose once.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is varied and expressive, though phrases such as "couriered me," "my holidays" and "stay fine" are somewhat unnatural.
Prefer natural informal-letter phrases such as "sent me," "made my holiday special" and "take care."
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of sentence structures communicates clearly, but tense and modal choices are inconsistent and one fragment reduces accuracy.
Use past tense for the completed stay, "I hope you will visit" for the invitation, and a complete clause such as "I apologise for not writing earlier."
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Last month you had a holiday overseas where you stayed with some friends. They have just sent you some photos of your holiday. Write a letter to your friends. In your letter:
- thank them for the photos and for the holiday
- explain why you didn't
- write earlier
- invite them to come and stay with you
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.