Your English-speaking friend has asked for your help with a college project he/she is doing about celebrating New Year in different countries. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - say how important New Year is to people in your country - describe how New Year is celebrated in your country - explain what you like about New Year celebrations in your country
Sample Response
Dear James,
I hope you're doing excellent. I’m delighted to help with your college project on the topic 'New Year celebrations', and I'm so happy that you wrote to me about that.
In my country, the New Year is one of the most significant events of the year, marking a fresh start filled with hope and aspirations. Many people see it as an opportunity to set personal and professional goals, making it a time of great enthusiasm and positivity.
New Year’s Eve is typically celebrated with grand fireworks displays, lively street parties, and family gatherings. In major cities, such as London, thousands of people gather along the River Thames to witness the iconic fireworks at midnight. Many also host private parties, where friends and family toast the arrival of the new year with champagne. Additionally, it is customary to sing Auld Lang Syne, a traditional song symbolising friendship and nostalgia.
What I love most about New Year’s celebrations here is the incredible sense of unity and joy. Regardless of background, people come together to embrace new beginnings, which creates an atmosphere of hope and excitement. This is one of my favourite times of the year.
I hope this helps! Let me know if you need more details.
Warm wishes,
Henry
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use adverb complement Original: doing excellent Suggested revision: doing well Why it matters: Use the adverb “well” to describe how the friend is doing.
- 2. Use concise phrasing Original: on the topic 'New Year celebrations' Suggested revision: about New Year celebrations Why it matters: The shorter prepositional phrase is more natural in an informal letter.
- 3. Improve reference word Original: about that Suggested revision: about it Why it matters: “It” refers back to the project more naturally than the demonstrative “that.”
- 4. Remove unnecessary article Original: the New Year Suggested revision: New Year Why it matters: The holiday name is normally used without “the” in this general statement.
- 5. Refine relative phrase Original: where friends and family Suggested revision: at which friends and family Why it matters: “At which” refers more precisely to activities occurring at the private parties.
- 6. Add possessive reference Original: Regardless of background Suggested revision: Regardless of their background Why it matters: The possessive determiner makes clear that the background belongs to the people mentioned.
- 7. Clarify final reference Original: This is one of my favourite times of the year. Suggested revision: New Year is one of my favourite times of the year. Why it matters: Naming the celebration directly avoids a vague final reference.
- 8. Name the country Suggested revision: Identify the country explicitly before explaining the importance of New Year there. Why it matters: The project reader should not have to infer the country solely from the later reference to London.
Suggested Rewrites
- doing excellent doing well
- on the topic 'New Year celebrations' about New Year celebrations
- about that about it
- the New Year New Year
- where friends and family at which friends and family
- Regardless of background Regardless of their background
Why this response received Band 8.0
This is a well-developed, engaging letter that addresses every part of the request with specific cultural detail and a consistently warm tone. The main limitation is minor rather than structural: a few expressions sound slightly unnatural or more formal than necessary for a close friend. The best improvement is to make the opening and some abstract wording more conversational while retaining the strong detail and organisation.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
The letter fully covers the importance, customs, and personal appeal of New Year celebrations with relevant, well-developed detail and an appropriate friendly purpose.
Add one brief personal example of a family tradition to make the response even more individually engaging for the friend.
Coherence and Cohesion
Paragraphing is purposeful, progression is clear, and cohesive devices guide the reader smoothly without becoming mechanical.
Strengthen the link between the general description of celebrations and the personal-preference paragraph with a more explicitly personal transition.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is flexible and precise, particularly in the descriptions of celebrations, shared feeling, and new beginnings, with only slight over-formality.
Replace a few abstract expressions with more conversational wording that better matches an informal letter to a friend.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of sentence structures is used accurately and fluently, with only rare non-impeding slips such as “doing excellent.”
Use the adverb in “doing excellently,” or more naturally “doing well,” and check similarly fixed conversational expressions.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Your English-speaking friend has asked for your help with a college project he/she is doing about celebrating New Year in different countries. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
- say how important New Year is to people in your country
- describe how New Year is celebrated in your country
- explain what you like about New Year celebrations in your country
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.