You would like to participate in a work-related seminar in another country. Write a letter to the person in charge of the seminar. In your letter: - ask for information about the seminar dates - ask for details of the programme - ask about accommodation - ask about the cost
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am keen to partake in the seminar you are going to organise next month in Finland. I am hoping to get further information about it to finalise my participation. I am Raj Muthuraman, working as a senior architect at BT Financial Group in India. Currently, I am managing a research project- ‘Failure and Recovery of Technical Orchestration’, for the company and I believe your symposium on Enterprise Architecture Seminar would be a great help to me. However, the invitation I received for the event did not confirm the dates as they were still being finalised. Can you confirm the schedule and provide an agenda for the event so that I can plan ahead? Also, can you suggest some good hotels in the area with an indicative cost? That will help me in planning my travel, accommodation and the cost of the trip. It would be great if you could send me the requested details at your earliest preferably by the end of this week by fax or email. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Yours faithfully, Raj Muthuraman
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use standard participation verb Original: partake Suggested revision: participate Why it matters: Participate in is the standard formal collocation for attending a seminar.
- 2. Use planned-event tense Original: you are going to organise Suggested revision: you are organising Why it matters: The present continuous naturally describes an event already being arranged.
- 3. Use formal information request Original: I am hoping to get Suggested revision: I hope to receive Why it matters: Receive is more formal and concise than get in this request.
- 4. Clarify attendance decision Original: finalise Suggested revision: confirm Why it matters: Confirm is the natural verb for committing to attendance after receiving details.
- 5. Use complete coordinated clause Original: I am Raj Muthuraman, working as Suggested revision: I am Raj Muthuraman and work as Why it matters: The replacement gives both parts parallel finite verbs and removes the unnecessary comma.
- 6. Condense invitation reference Original: the invitation I received for the event Suggested revision: the event invitation I received Why it matters: The compact noun phrase conveys the same information more efficiently.
- 7. Request plural rates Original: with an indicative cost Suggested revision: with their approximate rates Why it matters: Multiple hotels require plural price information, and rates is the natural accommodation term.
- 8. Complete deadline phrase Original: at your earliest preferably Suggested revision: at your earliest convenience, preferably Why it matters: The fixed expression requires convenience, followed by a comma before the preferred deadline.
- 9. Sentence rewrite Original: Currently, I am managing a research project- ‘Failure and Recovery of Technical Orchestration’, for the company and I believe your symposium on Enterprise Architecture Seminar would be a great help to me. Suggested revision: I currently manage the company's 'Failure and Recovery of Technical Orchestration' research project, so your Enterprise Architecture seminar would be highly relevant to my work. Why it matters: The rewrite fixes the dash and clause structure while removing the redundant symposium on seminar phrase.
- 10. Ask seminar fee directly Suggested revision: Ask for the seminar registration fee and what that fee includes, separately from hotel and travel costs. Why it matters: The letter asks about hotel prices but does not cover the task's required seminar cost.
Suggested Rewrites
- partake participate
- you are going to organise you are organising
- I am hoping to get I hope to receive
- finalise confirm
- I am Raj Muthuraman, working as I am Raj Muthuraman and work as
- the invitation I received for the event the event invitation I received
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter clearly establishes the writer's professional relevance and asks useful questions about dates, the agenda, nearby hotels, and accommodation prices in an appropriately formal tone. Its main limitation is incomplete treatment of cost because it requests hotel rates without asking about the seminar fee or what registration includes. The priority is to request an itemised breakdown of seminar and accommodation costs while presenting each enquiry in a separate paragraph.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The dates, programme, and accommodation requests are clear and relevant, but the seminar's own cost is not directly requested.
Ask for the registration fee, what it includes, any payment deadline, and estimated hotel prices so the full cost bullet is covered.
Coherence and Cohesion
The purpose and questions progress logically, but the single-paragraph format compresses professional background and four separate enquiries together.
Use one brief context paragraph followed by grouped questions about schedule and programme, then accommodation and all associated costs.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is flexible and suitably professional, though a few phrases such as 'partake', 'indicative cost', and the seminar title are awkward.
Use natural expressions such as 'attend the seminar', 'estimated room rates', 'registration fee', and 'detailed programme'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex sentences and polite questions are generally well controlled, with occasional punctuation and phrase-structure problems.
Add punctuation around 'at your earliest convenience' and simplify the sentence describing the research project and seminar relevance.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You would like to participate in a work-related seminar in another country. Write a letter to the person in charge of the seminar. In your letter:
- ask for information about the seminar dates
- ask for details of the programme
- ask about accommodation
- ask about the cost
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.