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 Michael, Your sudden decision to visit Kuala Lumpur is a pleasant surprise to me and as always, your letter was amusing to read. I am glad that you have been able to manage a week-long vacation and I cannot wait to meet you. I would love to have you at my home for as long as you want. In fact, while you are in Kuala Lumpur, I would not let you stay at a hotel. I recommend you to visit the Bird Park, Aquaria KLCC, Genting Highlands, National Museum, Butterfly Park and China Town during your stay in the city. I will take you to the Petronas Towers, which was once the tallest building in the world. I also recommend you to try the street food and do some shopping at the Central Market. Life is so vibrant and diverse in this city and I am sure you will enjoy it all. After you spend a few days in Kuala Lumpur, you should spend some time at Penang and Langkawi. While the formal is a state and known as the Pearl of the Orient and my personal favourite, the latter is a district and an archipelago of 104 islands in the Andaman Sea. We have a hot and humid climate year-round, interspersed with tropical rain showers. The temperature is between 26-36-degree Celsius now and we have rains almost every day. Bring light dresses suitable for summer and a raincoat considering the regular rain. Cannot wait any longer to meet you in person. Warm wishes, Mahmud Riad
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Break after greeting Original: Dear Michael, Your Suggested revision: Dear Michael, Your Why it matters: The letter body should begin after the greeting rather than continue on the same line.
- 2. Set off aside Original: to me and as always, Suggested revision: to me, and as always, Why it matters: A comma is needed before the parenthetical phrase “as always.”
- 3. Match holiday length Original: a week-long vacation Suggested revision: a two-week holiday Why it matters: The task states that the planned visit lasts two weeks.
- 4. Add stay Original: have you at my home Suggested revision: have you stay at my home Why it matters: The verb “stay” is needed to express the accommodation offer clearly.
- 5. Use stated duration Original: for as long as you want Suggested revision: for the full two weeks Why it matters: This wording aligns the offer with the visit length given in the task.
- 6. Soften the offer Original: would not let you stay at a hotel Suggested revision: would rather you stayed with me than at a hotel Why it matters: The revision keeps the friendly offer without sounding controlling.
- 7. Fix recommend pattern Original: recommend you to visit Suggested revision: recommend that you visit Why it matters: “Recommend” takes a that-clause rather than an object plus infinitive here.
- 8. Use Chinatown Original: China Town Suggested revision: Chinatown Why it matters: The place name is conventionally written as one word.
- 9. Use gerund Original: recommend you to try Suggested revision: recommend trying Why it matters: “Recommend” is followed naturally by a gerund in this construction.
- 10. Use in Original: at Suggested revision: in Why it matters: Cities and regions take the preposition “in.”
- 11. Correct former Original: While the formal Suggested revision: The former Why it matters: “Former” refers to the first of two places; “formal” is the wrong word.
- 12. Remove faulty conjunction Original: is a state and known Suggested revision: is a state known Why it matters: “Known as” directly modifies “state,” so “and” is unnecessary.
Suggested Rewrites
- Dear Michael, Your Dear Michael, Your
- to me and as always, to me, and as always,
- a week-long vacation a two-week holiday
- have you at my home have you stay at my home
- for as long as you want for the full two weeks
- would not let you stay at a hotel would rather you stayed with me than at a hotel
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter is lively, friendly, and rich in useful sightseeing and clothing advice. Its main limitation is task precision: it changes the planned holiday from two weeks to one, offers the writer’s own home rather than explicitly offering to find accommodation, and presents everything in one dense paragraph. Prioritise matching the prompt exactly and organising the three requested points into clear paragraphs.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Achievement
The response addresses accommodation, activities, and clothing in an appropriate friendly tone, but it contradicts the stated holiday length and modifies the accommodation request.
Keep the visit at two weeks and explicitly offer to find accommodation, even if staying at the writer's home is also suggested.
Coherence and Cohesion
The content moves logically from accommodation to activities and clothing, but the single dense paragraph obscures that progression.
Create separate paragraphs for the welcome, accommodation, activities, clothing advice, and closing.
Lexical Resource
The letter uses varied, vivid vocabulary for attractions, climate, and travel, with a few inaccurate or unnatural word choices.
Correct choices such as “formal” to “former” and use natural expressions such as “light clothing” and “frequent rain.”
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
There is a good range of complex sentences, but errors in complementation, prepositions, agreement, and sentence structure occur noticeably.
Review patterns such as “recommend that you visit,” “spend time in,” and complete clauses with explicit subjects.
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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.