You have recently started work in a new company. Write a letter to an English-speaking friend. In your letter: - explain why you changed jobs - describe your new job - tell him / her your other news
Sample Response
Dear Eva,
How are you? I hope you’ve been well. Sorry for having been out of touch for a short while. There have been some changes in my life and I wanted to let you know the latest from my side.
The big news is that I have finally changed my job! Do you remember when you were here on holiday, I always talked about how I hated my boring bank job? Well, it was clear I needed a change. So, finally, I took a part-time TESL course and trained to be an ESL teacher. Now I’m working full-time in a private language school. I teach General English, Business English and IELTS. Each day, I look forward to going to work. My students come from all over the world and I love teaching them as well as learning from them.
Aside from that, I also moved to a new apartment near the school where I work. It’s small, but downtown, so I am right in the heart of the city, instead of way out in the suburbs. Suddenly, there’s so many fun things to do, in the evenings too. I am a much happier person today because of these recent changes.
So, how about you? I hope you’ll have a chance to visit Canada again soon. In the meantime, please write and let me know what’s new with you.
Warm wishes
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Simplify the verb form Original: having been out of touch Suggested revision: being out of touch Why it matters: The simpler gerund form is more natural after “sorry for.”
- 2. Use a natural phrase Original: the latest from my side Suggested revision: my latest news Why it matters: This phrase expresses the intended meaning more naturally in a friendly letter.
- 3. Choose the right preposition Original: in Suggested revision: at Why it matters: Use “at” when referring to an employer or workplace.
- 4. Clarify the location Original: small, but downtown Suggested revision: small but centrally located Why it matters: “Centrally located” describes the apartment’s location more precisely.
- 5. Match subject and verb Original: there’s so many Suggested revision: there are so many Why it matters: The plural noun phrase “so many fun things” requires “there are.”
- 6. Remove the unnecessary comma Original: to do, in the evenings too Suggested revision: to do in the evenings too Why it matters: No comma should separate the verb phrase from its time expression here.
- 7. Use a natural time word Original: today Suggested revision: now Why it matters: “Now” is more natural for describing the writer’s current state after recent changes.
- 8. Punctuate the closing Original: Warm wishes Suggested revision: Warm wishes, Why it matters: A comma conventionally follows a complimentary close.
- 9. Sentence rewrite Original: Do you remember when you were here on holiday, I always talked about how I hated my boring bank job? Suggested revision: Do you remember how, when you were here on holiday, I always talked about hating my boring bank job? Why it matters: The rewrite fixes the faulty clause connection while preserving the writer’s meaning.
Suggested Rewrites
- having been out of touch being out of touch
- the latest from my side my latest news
- in at
- small, but downtown small but centrally located
- there’s so many there are so many
- to do, in the evenings too to do in the evenings too
Why this response received Band 8.0
This is a warm, engaging letter that fully addresses the job change, the new teaching role, and the writer's additional news with convincing personal detail. Its main limitation is a small number of grammatical slips in otherwise fluent writing; the highest-priority improvement is to check agreement and sentence boundaries so that the strong, natural style remains consistently accurate.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter fully covers all three bullet points with relevant detail and a consistently appropriate friendly tone.
Refine the final update by adding one more specific detail about the new apartment or neighbourhood.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress naturally through well-focused paragraphs, with cohesive devices used smoothly and without overuse.
Make the transition into the apartment news slightly more direct to sharpen the link between the two major life changes.
Lexical Resource
A broad and natural vocabulary conveys work, location, and personal feelings precisely, with effective idiomatic phrasing.
Continue refining collocations so phrases such as the description of evening activities sound completely effortless.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of sentence structures is handled confidently, although a few agreement and sentence-boundary errors remain.
Proofread for subject-verb agreement in phrases such as 'there's so many' and separate loosely joined clauses more carefully.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have recently started work in a new company. Write a letter to an English-speaking friend. In your letter:
- explain why you changed jobs
- describe your new job
- tell him / her your other news
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.