You have recently changed your job and started working for a new company. Write a letter to an English-speaking friend. In your letter: - explain why you have changed your previous job - describe your new job - tell him/her your other news
Sample Response
Dear Jane, Hope you're doing well. It's been so long since I've heard from you. I was thinking of you the other day when I saw my neighbour's garden full of tulips. I am sure you are still a passionate gardener. You would be glad to hear that I have recently taken a job and moved to Ottawa, Canada. As you know, I was eagerly looking forward to settling in Ottowa with my family. So when I got a job offer from one of the prestigious hospitals in Ottawa, I accepted it. I liked my previous job in Ontario but had been stuck in the same position for a long and was not getting many chances to further my career. That's why I changed my job and so far I find my new responsibilities exciting. I am a general physician at the hospital and I have to look after the visiting patients to diagnose and suggest treatment of illnesses. Sometimes I need to do some minor surgery. I must say that this place is absolutely amazing and the people are friendly, kind and accommodating. Aside from that, Ottawa is celebrating Tulip Festival annually in May, during the springtime. I know your passion for tulips and gardening. I bet you would definitely like it here. So far, I’m enjoying my life here and all the new experiences. I hope you could visit us soon. How are things back home in the United Kingdom? I am eagerly waiting to hear from you soon. Warm wishes, Eva
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Correct place name Original: Ottowa Suggested revision: Ottawa Why it matters: The city name is misspelled here.
- 2. Complete time phrase Original: for a long Suggested revision: for a long time Why it matters: The duration expression requires the noun ‘time’.
- 3. Sharper career wording Original: many chances to further my career Suggested revision: many opportunities to advance my career Why it matters: ‘Opportunities to advance my career’ is more precise and natural in this context.
- 4. Use correct collocation Original: do some minor surgery Suggested revision: perform minor surgery Why it matters: Medical procedures are normally described with the verb ‘perform’.
- 5. Avoid doubled certainty Original: would definitely like it Suggested revision: would like it Why it matters: ‘I bet’ already expresses strong certainty, so ‘definitely’ is redundant.
- 6. Use suitable modal Original: could Suggested revision: can Why it matters: Use ‘can’ after ‘hope’ to express a realistic future possibility.
- 7. Natural closing phrase Original: eagerly waiting to hear Suggested revision: looking forward to hearing Why it matters: This is the conventional and more natural phrase in a friendly letter.
- 8. Natural time expression Original: since I've heard from you Suggested revision: since I last heard from you Why it matters: ‘Since I last heard from you’ expresses the elapsed time more naturally.
- 9. Natural collocation Original: passionate Suggested revision: keen Why it matters: ‘Keen gardener’ is the more natural expression for someone strongly interested in gardening.
- 10. Use direct future form Original: You would be glad to hear Suggested revision: You'll be glad to hear Why it matters: The future form suits the immediate news being introduced to the friend.
- 11. Remove redundant emphasis Original: eagerly looking forward to settling Suggested revision: looking forward to settling Why it matters: ‘Looking forward’ already conveys eagerness, making the adverb unnecessary.
- 12. More concise description Original: one of the prestigious hospitals Suggested revision: a prestigious hospital Why it matters: The shorter phrase retains the intended positive description without unnecessary wording.
Suggested Rewrites
- Ottowa Ottawa
- for a long for a long time
- many chances to further my career many opportunities to advance my career
- do some minor surgery perform minor surgery
- would definitely like it would like it
- could can
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter fully addresses the purpose in a warm, convincing voice, with especially clear explanations of the job change and new responsibilities. Its main limitation is presentation: the entire message forms one long paragraph, while a few awkward collocations and a spelling slip reduce precision. The highest-priority improvement is to separate the three content areas into purposeful paragraphs and polish unnatural phrases while preserving the natural, friendly tone.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is fully achieved through relevant coverage of the job change, new role, and additional personal news in an appropriate friendly tone.
Make the additional news slightly more distinct from the job update so that each bullet point has an equally clear focus.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress logically from personal contact to the move, the new position, and life in Ottawa, with natural linking throughout.
Divide the letter into clear paragraphs for the reason for changing jobs, the new role, and the closing personal news.
Lexical Resource
A broad, effective vocabulary conveys professional duties and personal impressions, although a few collocations are awkward and Ottawa is misspelled once.
Use more natural combinations such as 'suggest treatments for illnesses' and proofread place names for consistency.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A varied range of simple and complex structures is handled with strong control, and the few errors do not impede meaning.
Polish minor structural slips such as 'for a long time' and review tense choice in the sentence about the annual festival.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have recently changed your job and started working for a new company. Write a letter to an English-speaking friend. In your letter:
- explain why you have changed your previous job
- describe your new job
- tell him/her your other news
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.