You will be celebrating your son's 6th birthday next week. You want to invite one of your colleagues to attend the birthday party. Write an invitation letter to this college. In your letter: - invite your colleague to your son's birthday party - give details of the party and its date and time - say how happy you and your family would be to have him/her at the party
Sample Response
Dear Traverse, Hope this letter reaches you in good health and spirit. My life, of course, is going as usual except that my family is planning big to celebrate my son’s 6th birthday next week on the 4th of December, and my whole family would very much wish that you attend and enjoy the party. To give you a little idea about the schedule of the birthday party, we will start our programme at around 7:00 pm with a very popular children’s song, to be sung by the little school friends of my son, followed by a display of some of the old and funny videos of him from his infancy. Later on, some light snacks will be provided to refresh the guests which will include my family members, close relatives and close friends. At around 9.00 pm, we will start the cake cutting ceremony. Finally, we will sign off with serving dinner to all the guests. Anyway, you must know how much my son really likes you, and what a great fan he has been of you because of your funny cartoon drawings. So, please come to the party because it would mean a lot to my whole family. Yours sincerely, John Larry
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use plural noun Original: spirit Suggested revision: spirits Why it matters: The conventional expression uses the plural noun “spirits”.
- 2. Complete the expression Original: planning big Suggested revision: planning a big celebration Why it matters: “Planning big” is incomplete and unnatural in this context.
- 3. Warm the invitation Original: would very much wish that you attend Suggested revision: would be delighted if you could attend Why it matters: This wording makes the invitation sound warmer and more natural.
- 4. Use natural phrasing Original: the little school friends of my son Suggested revision: my son’s young school friends Why it matters: The possessive structure is more concise and idiomatic.
- 5. Hyphenate compound modifier Original: cake cutting ceremony Suggested revision: cake-cutting ceremony Why it matters: The compound modifier before “ceremony” is conventionally hyphenated.
- 6. Choose natural verb Original: sign off with serving dinner Suggested revision: finish by serving dinner Why it matters: “Sign off” is not idiomatic for ending a party programme.
- 7. Fix noun complement Original: what a great fan he has been of you Suggested revision: what a great fan of yours he has become Why it matters: “A fan of yours” is the correct noun-complement pattern.
- 8. Sentence rewrite Original: Later on, some light snacks will be provided to refresh the guests which will include my family members, close relatives and close friends. Suggested revision: Later, light snacks will be served to the guests, including my family members, close relatives and close friends. Why it matters: This rewrite fixes the unnatural verb choice and the faulty relative clause.
- 9. Separate key stages Suggested revision: Divide the letter into short paragraphs for the invitation, party details, and warm closing. Why it matters: The single-block format makes the purpose and event schedule harder to scan.
Suggested Rewrites
- spirit spirits
- planning big planning a big celebration
- would very much wish that you attend would be delighted if you could attend
- the little school friends of my son my son’s young school friends
- cake cutting ceremony cake-cutting ceremony
- sign off with serving dinner finish by serving dinner
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter warmly fulfils its purpose, covers every requested point, and uses specific party details to make the invitation engaging. Its main limitation is presentation as one continuous paragraph, while several phrases sound slightly unnatural despite the broad vocabulary and generally controlled grammar. The highest-priority improvement is to organise the invitation into clear paragraphs for the invitation, arrangements, and closing appeal, while refining awkward collocations.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
The invitation is clear, appropriately warm, and fully develops the party arrangements and the family's wish for the colleague to attend.
Make the opening slightly more direct by stating the invitation before introducing the surrounding family context.
Coherence and Cohesion
The sequence of events is easy to follow and cohesive devices guide the reader, but the entire letter is presented as one long paragraph.
Divide the response into logical paragraphs covering the invitation, party schedule, and personal closing appeal.
Lexical Resource
A good range of vocabulary conveys the celebration vividly, although phrases such as "planning big" and "sign off with serving dinner" are not fully natural.
Use more idiomatic collocations, such as "planning a big celebration" and "finish the evening by serving dinner".
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A varied mix of simple and complex structures is generally accurate, with only occasional awkward constructions and punctuation weaknesses.
Shorten the longest sentences and check clause boundaries so that each detail remains precise and easy to process.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You will be celebrating your son's 6th birthday next week. You want to invite one of your colleagues to attend the birthday party. Write an invitation letter to this college. In your letter:
- invite your colleague to your son's birthday party
- give details of the party and its date and time
- say how happy you and your family would be to have him/her at the party
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.