An English-speaking friend wants to spend a two-week holiday in your region and has written asking for information and advice. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - offer to find somewhere to stay - give advice about what to do - give information about what clothes to bring
Sample Response
Dear Julie
Thanks so much for your latest letter. I’m really excited to hear that you’re planning to visit Toronto. It will give me a chance to take you around, as you did so kindly for me when I was in Amsterdam last year.
Regarding your visit, I would be happy to help in any way possible. First, unless you really like freezing weather, I suggest you come in the summer months of July or August. Though most hotels are expensive at that time, we have some wonderful guest suites available in our high-rise building, for only about $50 per night. They are fully furnished studio apartments, with a kitchen, so you can have the option of eating in. Just let me know your dates and I can make a reservation for you.
Summer is also the time when all the tourist sites are open. We can visit Centre Island, Canada’s Wonderland, Niagara Falls, the CN Tower, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Science Centre and Thousand Islands. The weather should be warm and comfortable, around 25 – 30 degrees Celsius, so bring your informal summer clothes, a swimsuit and an umbrella too. We do get summer showers quite often.
I can’t wait for you to come! Write soon with more details,
Warm wishes
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Punctuate salutation Original: Dear Julie Suggested revision: Dear Julie, Why it matters: A comma should follow the salutation in a friendly letter.
- 2. Improve adverb placement Original: as you did so kindly for me Suggested revision: as you so kindly did for me Why it matters: Placing 'so kindly' before the verb produces more natural word order.
- 3. Remove redundancy Original: summer months of July or August Suggested revision: months of July or August Why it matters: July and August already identify the summer months in the writer's recommendation.
- 4. Remove unnecessary comma Original: building, for only Suggested revision: building for only Why it matters: A comma should not separate the location phrase from the following price phrase.
- 5. Make wording concise Original: with a kitchen, so you can have the option of eating in Suggested revision: with a kitchen, so you can eat in Why it matters: The shorter phrase conveys the same option more directly and naturally.
- 6. Add place-name article Original: and Thousand Islands Suggested revision: and the Thousand Islands Why it matters: This geographical name conventionally requires the definite article.
- 7. Use natural collocation Original: informal Suggested revision: casual Why it matters: 'Casual clothes' is the more natural collocation for relaxed holiday clothing.
- 8. End sentence correctly Original: details, Suggested revision: details. Why it matters: The request is a complete sentence and should end with a full stop.
- 9. Punctuate sign-off Original: Warm wishes Suggested revision: Warm wishes, Why it matters: A comma should follow the closing phrase before the sender's name.
Suggested Rewrites
- Dear Julie Dear Julie,
- as you did so kindly for me as you so kindly did for me
- summer months of July or August months of July or August
- building, for only building for only
- with a kitchen, so you can have the option of eating in with a kitchen, so you can eat in
- and Thousand Islands and the Thousand Islands
Why this response received Band 8.0
The letter is especially strong in its warm, consistent tone and the specific, practical detail provided about accommodation, attractions, weather, and clothing. There is no substantial weakness, although a few points could be made even more selective and polished. The highest-priority improvement is to refine minor punctuation and condense the long attraction list into a little more personalised advice.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response clearly fulfils its purpose, covers every bullet point, and supports each one with relevant practical detail.
Develop the activity advice slightly by highlighting why one or two attractions would particularly suit the friend.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas are organised into a clear progression, and cohesive devices guide the reader smoothly without drawing attention to themselves.
For an even sharper flow, group the attractions by type rather than presenting one long list.
Lexical Resource
A wide and precise vocabulary is used naturally, with effective informal expressions and topic-specific language.
Refine the already strong wording by replacing the broad phrase ‘informal summer clothes’ with a more precise natural alternative.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex structures is handled with strong control, and almost all sentences are error-free.
Polish minor letter punctuation by adding commas after the greeting and closing while preserving the varied sentence structures.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
An English-speaking friend wants to spend a two-week holiday in your region and has written asking for information and advice. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
- offer to find somewhere to stay
- give advice about what to do
- give information about what clothes to bring
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.