You had a good meal at a local restaurant with your family. Write a letter to the newspaper. In your letter: - tell the newspaper about the restaurant - describe the meal you had - explain why you think the restaurant is worth visiting
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to share my positive review for the Yummy Restaurant that I believe is a worth visiting dining establishment in our area. We celebrated my sister's birthday party last week at this restaurant. Originally, I thought only twenty people would attend, but apparently, the number increased to thirty. I was worried that it would not be possible for the restaurant to accommodate more people without prior notice. However, I was pleasantly surprised when the Manager told me that they could do it and would even upgrade our room to a more spacious one. The overall service was impeccable and the party was a hit, thanks to the great staff and their professionalism. We ordered a three-course set menu and the taste was top-notch. The escargot entree was absolutely divine that I could still remember the taste of its garlic butter sauce. My sister ordered pan-fried salmon fillet with mashed potatoes as the main course, and people were raving about it. The dessert was a mini-opera which I thought to be rather average, though it might be simply because I do not have sweet teeth. Overall, we experienced a wonderful night at this restaurant. This place is highly recommended and we have even started planning our next visit. I believe you should publish an article regarding this establishment in your 'Fine diners' section so that people can learn about this fabulous place. Thank you in advance. Yours faithfully, Helen Lim
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Fix review preposition Original: for Suggested revision: of Why it matters: A review is written “of” a restaurant, not “for” it.
- 2. Fix modifier order Original: a worth visiting dining establishment Suggested revision: a dining establishment worth visiting Why it matters: “Worth visiting” naturally follows the noun it describes.
- 3. Remove redundant noun Original: my sister's birthday party Suggested revision: my sister's birthday Why it matters: “Birthday” already identifies the celebration, so “party” is unnecessary here.
- 4. Use lower case Original: Manager Suggested revision: manager Why it matters: A general job title is not capitalised when it does not precede a name.
- 5. Clarify the action Original: they could do it Suggested revision: they could accommodate the larger group Why it matters: The replacement states clearly what the restaurant agreed to do.
- 6. Describe food naturally Original: the taste was top-notch Suggested revision: the food was excellent Why it matters: This wording evaluates the whole three-course meal more naturally.
- 7. Fix result clause Original: absolutely Suggested revision: so Why it matters: A result clause introduced by “that” requires the “so … that” construction.
- 8. Fix idiom Original: do not have sweet teeth Suggested revision: do not have a sweet tooth Why it matters: The fixed expression is the singular phrase “have a sweet tooth.”
- 9. Organise the letter Suggested revision: Separate the opening purpose, the meal and service description, and the final recommendation into clear paragraphs. Why it matters: The single continuous paragraph makes the three requested parts less easy to follow.
Suggested Rewrites
- for of
- a worth visiting dining establishment a dining establishment worth visiting
- my sister's birthday party my sister's birthday
- Manager manager
- they could do it they could accommodate the larger group
- the taste was top-notch the food was excellent
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter’s strongest feature is its vivid, well-developed account of the restaurant, meal and service, which gives the newspaper a convincing reason to recommend the venue. Its main weakness is presentation: all content is compressed into one long paragraph, and a few expressions such as “a worth visiting” and “sweet teeth” are inaccurate. Prioritise clear paragraphing by purpose and polish these isolated collocation errors.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is immediately clear, all three bullet points are fully developed with relevant detail, and the formal recommendation to the newspaper is convincing.
Refine the review by giving the restaurant’s location or defining feature briefly, while retaining the balanced and specific meal description.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ideas move logically from the occasion and service to the food and recommendation, but the single long paragraph weakens the letter’s structure.
Separate the opening purpose, restaurant and service details, meal description, and final recommendation into distinct paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is flexible and vivid, with effective choices such as “impeccable,” “spacious,” and “divine,” though a few collocations are inaccurate.
Replace “a worth visiting dining establishment” with “a dining establishment worth visiting” and “sweet teeth” with “a sweet tooth.”
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex structures is used with strong control, and the few grammatical slips do not impede communication.
Polish relative-clause and result structures, for example changing “so divine that I can still remember” to express the intended relationship cleanly.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You had a good meal at a local restaurant with your family. Write a letter to the newspaper. In your letter:
- tell the newspaper about the restaurant
- describe the meal you had
- explain why you think the restaurant is worth visiting
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.