You are going to spend your vacation in a city in a foreign country. You have never been there before. Your cousin has a friend who lives there. Write a letter to your cousin's friend. In your letter: - introduce yourself - say why you are making this trip - ask some questions about the city (e.g. places to see, things to do, things to bring)
Sample Response
Dear Mr Rudy, I hope this letterHope this letter doesn’t come to you as a surprise since we have never met before. Actually, I am Alex Turner’s cousina cousin of Alex Turner, who is a friend of yours, and he suggested thatsuggested me that I should write to you and ask you for some informationask for some information from you before visiting Athensvisiting "Athens" where you currently livewhere you are currently living in. By the way, I am planning to visit Athens because I have been given two weeks off workgot two weeks' vacation from my work, and I want to spend it in a beautiful European city and Athens is my first choice. Anyway, given the long period of time you have lived in this city, I am sure that you would be able to guide me properly and provide me with some information about the place before visiting it. So, can you please tell me about the weather thereweather of that place during the months of March and April? How expensive is the taxi service there? Besides, I would also like to get some information about what kinds of food and drinks are popular there, and what affordable accommodation options are availablewhat are my options as far as finding some affordable accommodation is concerned. I will wait for your response. Yours sincerely, David Russett
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter clearly establishes the relationship, explains the reason for the trip, and asks a useful range of practical questions in an appropriately respectful tone. Its main weakness is that all the content is compressed into one paragraph and several linking phrases and expressions sound formulaic or awkward; separating the purposes into clear paragraphs and refining idiomatic phrasing would make the response more natural and easier to follow.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear, all three bullet points are addressed, and the practical questions are relevant and sufficiently developed.
Add a question about a recommended attraction or activity to broaden the city-focused enquiry further.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ideas progress logically, but the single-block presentation and repeated conversational linkers weaken the organisation.
Use separate paragraphs for the introduction, trip purpose, and questions, with fewer formulaic transitions.
Lexical Resource
The letter uses a good range of vocabulary for travel, accommodation, and requesting information, despite several awkward collocations.
Replace unnatural phrases such as asking about the weather of a place with more idiomatic wording.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A variety of complex structures is used with generally good control, although a few construction and preposition errors remain.
Correct verb patterns and relative-clause phrasing, especially in expressions such as suggested that I write and the city where you live.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You are going to spend your vacation in a city in a foreign country. You have never been there before. Your cousin has a friend who lives there. Write a letter to your cousin's friend. In your letter:
- introduce yourself
- say why you are making this trip
- ask some questions about the city (e.g. places to see, things to do, things to bring)
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.