A friend from another country is moving to your city for work. He / she has asked you for advice about living in your city. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - suggest an interesting part of the city to live in - describe the public transport in your city - say how your friend can meet new people there
Sample Response
Dear Irina, It's very exciting to hear that you'll be moving to London and congratulations on your new job! As you'll probably be working in the city centre, perhaps you could think about living near me in Croydon. It's a large town in south London. There are people here from all over the world and it has a friendly, relaxed vibe. In terms of public transport, you can get around London by bus, train and the Underground. You should just get an Oyster card, which I'll help you with. It means you can get on and off without having to buy a separate ticket each time. Public transport is pretty crowded in the mornings but no worse than in Moscow! I'll introduce you to my friends and I'm sure you'll meet people at work too. You could try living in a shared house if you want to meet some locals. Anyway, I can't wait to see you. Lots of love, Jane
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use a tighter phrase Original: perhaps you could think about living Suggested revision: perhaps you could consider living Why it matters: This is more concise while keeping the friendly, tentative tone.
- 2. Use precise wording Original: vibe Suggested revision: atmosphere Why it matters: “Atmosphere” is a little more precise for describing an area of a city.
- 3. Remove the weakener Original: You should just get Suggested revision: You should get Why it matters: Removing “just” makes the practical advice more direct without changing its tone.
- 4. Clarify the reference Original: It means you can get on and off Suggested revision: The card means you can get on and off Why it matters: Naming the card makes the reference immediately clear.
- 5. Use natural phrasing Original: try living in a shared house Suggested revision: consider sharing a house Why it matters: This expresses the suggestion more smoothly and concisely.
- 6. Sentence rewrite Original: It's very exciting to hear that you'll be moving to London and congratulations on your new job! Suggested revision: It's very exciting to hear that you'll be moving to London. Congratulations on your new job! Why it matters: Separating the two messages avoids an awkward coordination and gives each idea clearer emphasis.
- 7. Separate the main topics Suggested revision: Organise the advice about Croydon, transport, and meeting people into separate short body paragraphs. Why it matters: Clear paragraphing would make the three requested points easier for the reader to follow.
- 8. Develop the location advice Suggested revision: Add one concrete attraction, amenity, or activity that makes Croydon an interesting place to live. Why it matters: A specific example would develop the first requested point beyond the area's general atmosphere.
Suggested Rewrites
- perhaps you could think about living perhaps you could consider living
- vibe atmosphere
- You should just get You should get
- It means you can get on and off The card means you can get on and off
- try living in a shared house consider sharing a house
- It's very exciting to hear that you'll be moving to London and congratulations on your new job! It's very exciting to hear that you'll be moving to London. Congratulations on your new job!
Why this response received Band 8.0
The letter is warm, natural and highly effective, giving clear advice on where to live, how to travel and how to meet people. Its main limitation is presentation: all the ideas appear in one continuous block, which slightly weakens the organisation despite clear progression. The highest-priority improvement is to separate the accommodation, transport and social advice into distinct paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The friendly letter fully addresses all three prompts with relevant, practical detail and an entirely suitable tone.
Develop Croydon's attractions a little further so the recommendation feels even more compelling.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress logically through accommodation, transport and social life, with smooth linking between points.
Use separate body paragraphs for the three main topics to make the structure immediately visible.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is flexible, precise and naturally informal, including effective phrases such as 'relaxed vibe' and 'shared house'.
Add one or two more specific words describing Croydon's amenities or character to sharpen the recommendation.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A varied range of sentence forms is used accurately, and the language remains consistently easy to follow.
Refine punctuation around the greeting and opening sentence to give the letter a more polished layout.
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
A friend from another country is moving to your city for work. He / she has asked you for advice about living in your city. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
- suggest an interesting part of the city to live in
- describe the public transport in your city
- say how your friend can meet new people there
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.