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 a resident in the Teraleus community and a photojournalist by profession. I am writing a recommendation to other citizens, which I believe you would publish in your newspaper, for one of our fine neighbourhood dining establishments - The Diners' Heart. I had been to this establishment twice last month, and I absolutely love their food, professionalism, decor and behaviours. The décor, free parking, and friendly staffs are something a guest would notice even before he tastes the food. I particularly enjoyed their variety of dishes including exotic ones. But, it was the service, along with the size and quality of the portions, that was most memorable. I must mention that they offer a great price. The service was professional yet intimate, and along with the sheer quantity of the dishes served, their great price motivated me to pass on my recommendation. I enjoyed their fried rice, and a giant fresh, crisp salad accompanied by a selection of appropriately selected seasonal vegetables and a fish curry. I finally enjoyed their fabulous dessert item - and all for a reasonable price. I hope you would help others know about this establishment so that they can enjoy the delicious food and have family parties at a great place. Yours faithfully, Wilson Miller
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Separate salutation Original: Dear Sir or Madam, I am Suggested revision: Dear Sir or Madam, I am Why it matters: A newspaper letter should place its formal greeting on a separate line.
- 2. Use resident preposition Original: in Suggested revision: of Why it matters: A person is a resident "of" a community.
- 3. Introduce restaurant name Original: establishments - The Diners' Heart Suggested revision: establishments: The Diners' Heart Why it matters: A colon properly introduces the specific establishment being recommended.
- 4. Use simple past Original: I had been to this establishment Suggested revision: I went to this establishment Why it matters: No later past reference point requires the past perfect.
- 5. Name service qualities Original: behaviours Suggested revision: service Why it matters: "Behaviours" is unnatural here and does not identify the restaurant staff clearly.
- 6. Keep staff uncountable Original: staffs Suggested revision: staff Why it matters: "Staff" is normally an uncountable collective noun in this context.
- 7. Match plural subject Original: something Suggested revision: features Why it matters: The plural list requires a plural complement rather than "something."
- 8. Use inclusive pronoun Original: before he tastes Suggested revision: before they taste Why it matters: Singular "they" avoids assuming every guest is male.
- 9. Clarify menu variety Original: their variety of dishes including exotic ones Suggested revision: their wide variety of dishes, including exotic options Why it matters: The revision uses a natural collocation and clearly identifies the unusual dishes.
- 10. Fix contrast opening Original: But Suggested revision: However Why it matters: No comma follows coordinating "but" in this position; "however" provides a clean transition.
- 11. Use value expression Original: offer a great price Suggested revision: offer excellent value Why it matters: Restaurants offer good value rather than a single great price.
- 12. Use portion wording Original: sheer quantity of the dishes served Suggested revision: generous portions served Why it matters: The concise phrase describes the amount of food more naturally.
Suggested Rewrites
- Dear Sir or Madam, I am Dear Sir or Madam, I am
- in of
- establishments - The Diners' Heart establishments: The Diners' Heart
- I had been to this establishment I went to this establishment
- behaviours service
- staffs staff
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter’s strongest feature is its enthusiastic and detailed recommendation, covering the restaurant, the meal, service, value, and suitability for family occasions. Its main limitation is repetitive development and several awkward lexical choices, while the single-block presentation reduces readability; the highest-priority improvement is to organise the meal and recommendation reasons separately and remove duplicated comments about service, portion size, and price.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are addressed with relevant detail and an appropriate persuasive purpose, although the dessert description remains vague.
Name or describe the dessert briefly so the meal account is as specific as the main dishes.
Coherence and Cohesion
The recommendation develops logically, but one long paragraph and repeated references to service and price make the progression less efficient.
Separate the restaurant introduction, meal description, and reasons for recommending it into distinct paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
There is a varied range of dining vocabulary, but words such as “behaviours,” “staffs,” and “appropriately selected” are inaccurate or redundant.
Use “staff,” “professional service,” and “seasonal vegetables” without unnecessary modifiers.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Meaning remains clear through varied structures, though article use, countability, tense consistency, and punctuation errors occur periodically.
Write “the friendly staff are,” keep the past tense for the visit, and remove the comma after “But.”
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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.