You recently visited a place that had a strong impact on you. Now you want to write to your friend about the place. Write a letter to a friend about the place. In your letter: - explain where the place was and how you got there - describe what you saw - offer to take your friend there
Sample Response
Dear Kakoli, Hope you are doing great. I was away for a meditation course for a week and after my arrival, I got to see the beautiful birthday gift sent by you. Thank you so much. I had a nice vacation at the ‘Art of Living’ meditation centre and enjoyed my birthday amid perfect serenity. Words are few to describe the place. Though located in a populated area like Bangalore, the meditation centre is very calm. What I liked most is my fellow participants; they were full of positive energy. I feel I have rediscovered myself in just those seven days. Believe it or not, I was in total silence for four days. In those four days, I could deeply reflect on my life goal and what I really want to do. Why don’t you join me the next time? I know you are quite fond of meditation and yoga, so let’s plan a trip. Take care and see you soon. Warm wishes, Ushree
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Add the subject Original: Hope you are doing great Suggested revision: I hope you are doing great Why it matters: A complete sentence needs the subject 'I', even in an informal letter.
- 2. Clarify the return home Original: after my arrival Suggested revision: when I returned home Why it matters: 'Arrival' does not identify where the writer arrived, so the sequence is unclear.
- 3. Use a direct verb Original: got to see Suggested revision: saw Why it matters: The simple verb expresses the action more directly in this context.
- 4. Use active wording Original: sent by you Suggested revision: you sent me Why it matters: This creates the natural phrase 'the beautiful birthday gift you sent me'.
- 5. Name the experience precisely Original: nice vacation Suggested revision: wonderful retreat Why it matters: A meditation course at a centre is described more precisely as a retreat.
- 6. Use a natural setting phrase Original: amid perfect serenity Suggested revision: in a perfectly serene setting Why it matters: This phrasing describes the peaceful surroundings more naturally.
- 7. Describe the location naturally Original: populated area like Bangalore Suggested revision: busy city such as Bangalore Why it matters: 'Populated area like' is less natural and less specific than this city description.
- 8. Keep the tense consistent Original: is Suggested revision: was Why it matters: Use the past tense because the writer is describing a completed visit.
- 9. Use a duration phrase Original: in just those seven days Suggested revision: during those seven days Why it matters: 'During' clearly introduces the period in which the change occurred.
- 10. Use the standard collocation Original: total Suggested revision: complete Why it matters: 'Complete silence' is the more natural collocation.
- 11. Use the plural form Original: goal Suggested revision: goals Why it matters: The reflection concerns the writer's broader aims, so the plural is more natural.
- 12. Match the past timeframe Original: want Suggested revision: wanted Why it matters: The verb should match the past reflection described by 'could'.
Suggested Rewrites
- Hope you are doing great I hope you are doing great
- after my arrival when I returned home
- got to see saw
- sent by you you sent me
- nice vacation wonderful retreat
- amid perfect serenity in a perfectly serene setting
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter conveys a vivid personal response to the meditation centre and ends with a warm, natural invitation that suits a friend. Its main limitation is task coverage: it locates the centre only broadly, never explains how the writer travelled there, and describes the experience more than what was seen; prioritise adding the journey details and two or three concrete visual features while removing the unrelated opening about the birthday gift.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The location, personal impact, and invitation are clear, but the means of travel is missing and the description of what was seen is limited.
State how the centre was reached and add concrete details about its buildings, grounds, or surroundings before explaining the emotional impact.
Coherence and Cohesion
The letter follows an understandable path from the visit to its effect and the invitation, though the gift discussion is a distracting opening and the text lacks paragraph breaks.
Remove the unrelated gift material and use separate paragraphs for the journey, the place and experience, and the invitation.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary is varied and expressive, with effective choices such as "serenity," "positive energy," and "reflect," despite occasional awkward phrasing.
Keep the expressive tone while using more precise descriptive nouns for the place and replacing phrases such as "Words are few to describe" with natural wording.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of sentence forms is used accurately overall, with only occasional tense, complement, and noun-form lapses.
Maintain consistent past tense when describing the visit and revise forms such as "What I liked most was the positive energy of my fellow participants."
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You recently visited a place that had a strong impact on you. Now you want to write to your friend about the place. Write a letter to a friend about the place. In your letter:
- explain where the place was and how you got there
- describe what you saw
- offer to take your friend there
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.