Last year you met someone on holiday and became friends. He/she has informed you that he/she will be travelling near your hometown on business in a few months’ time. Write a letter to your friend inviting him/her to stay with you. In your letter: - express how pleased you are to hear from him/her - invite him/her to stay with you - tell him/her about your ideas of how you could spend some time together
Sample Response
Dear Mathew, It was a pleasant surprise to receive your letter yesterday. The happiness doubled when I learnt that you will be in Singapore in December with your wife for some professional reasons and have plans to stay a bit longer to wander around the city. I am quite excited to meet you and your wife and cordially welcome you to stay with us as long as you wish. Our memory, together in Bali, Indonesia last year, is still fresh and I am happy to have the chance to meet you in a distant country. How daunting it would have been if someone so kind like you did not find the papers I lost! You were like an angel sent by God to save me from a disaster. The more I learned about you, the more attached I felt to you as a friend. I live in an apartment located in the centre of Singapore city with my wife and have a spare room that you can use during your stay. My wife, Eugene, is equally excited to have you in our city. After you complete your professional works, we will visit some notable places like the Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay, Chinatown, Changi Chapel and Museum and enjoy local foods and movies. I am looking forward to having you with us. Have a safe journey. Warm wishes, Adrian
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use natural reaction Original: The happiness doubled Suggested revision: I was even happier Why it matters: The original expression is not idiomatic for describing the writer's response.
- 2. Complete duration phrase Original: as long as you wish Suggested revision: for as long as you wish Why it matters: For is required to express the duration of the stay.
- 3. Fix memory phrase Original: Our memory, together in Bali, Indonesia last year, is still fresh Suggested revision: My memories of our time together in Bali last year are still fresh Why it matters: The revision corrects number, agreement, possession, and awkward punctuation.
- 4. Use concise purpose Original: for some professional reasons Suggested revision: for work Why it matters: For work is the natural concise phrase in a friendly letter.
- 5. Use direct verb Original: have plans to stay a bit longer Suggested revision: plan to stay a little longer Why it matters: The direct verb is smoother and avoids an unnecessary noun phrase.
- 6. Use positive activity verb Original: wander around the city Suggested revision: explore the city Why it matters: Explore better conveys purposeful sightseeing.
- 7. Use direct emphasis Original: quite excited Suggested revision: very excited Why it matters: Very is more natural than quite for the strong enthusiasm expressed here.
- 8. Use friendly invitation Original: cordially welcome you to stay with us Suggested revision: would love you to stay with us Why it matters: The revision sounds warmer and more natural between friends.
- 9. Create friendly paragraphs Suggested revision: Separate the opening reaction, direct invitation and accommodation, shared memories, proposed activities, and closing into short paragraphs. Why it matters: The current single block makes the warm personal letter harder to read than necessary.
- 10. Unite invitation details Suggested revision: Place the direct invitation and spare-room offer together before the longer Bali memory. Why it matters: This would make the practical invitation immediately clear to the friend.
Suggested Rewrites
- The happiness doubled I was even happier
- as long as you wish for as long as you wish
- Our memory, together in Bali, Indonesia last year, is still fresh My memories of our time together in Bali last year are still fresh
- for some professional reasons for work
- have plans to stay a bit longer plan to stay a little longer
- wander around the city explore the city
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter is warm, engaging, and fully addresses the invitation by expressing pleasure, offering accommodation, and proposing specific activities in Singapore. Its main limitation is occasional awkward or inaccurate phrasing, particularly the conditional about the lost papers and expressions such as "professional works" and "local foods"; the single-block presentation also obscures the natural stages of the message. Prioritise idiomatic wording and separate the reunion, accommodation, and activity plans into paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are fully addressed in a warm, appropriate register, with specific accommodation and sightseeing plans supporting the invitation.
Keep the strong task coverage while shortening the extended recollection about the lost papers to maintain sharper focus on the visit.
Coherence and Cohesion
The message develops logically from pleasure and shared memories to accommodation and activities, but its single paragraph makes this progression less visible.
Divide the letter into short paragraphs for the reunion, invitation and accommodation, and plans for spending time together.
Lexical Resource
The letter uses a broad range of warm and descriptive vocabulary, although several phrases such as "professional works" and "local foods" are not idiomatic.
Replace awkward expressions with natural alternatives such as "work commitments," "explore the city," and "local food."
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Varied complex structures are generally well controlled, with a few non-impeding errors in the counterfactual conditional and comparative phrasing.
Revise the lost-papers sentence to "How daunting it would have been if you had not found the papers I lost" and check similar complex forms.
Use this task for your next draft
Feedback is more useful when you actively apply it in a draft, rather than only recognising improvements on the page.
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.
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