Some people like to spend free time with the friends of the same age. Others like to spend free time with people of different ages. Discuss both views and state your opinion. Write no less than 250 words.
Sample Response
Life of people is filled with sorrows, sufferings, joy, thrill, adventure and so on. In order to reduce stress and relax people often socialise by going to night clubs, mingle with friends or enjoy a beachside walk with their partners. This helps them to feel refreshed and brace them to face everyday life challenges. For few people, spending leisure time with friends of different age group is soothing while others find it comfortable in spending free time with friends of similar age. This essay will analyse both views before presenting an opinion.
People find it comfortable and soothing to enjoy their spare time with friends that grew with them or are of same age. They believe that they have similar interests and this way they can better exchange their thoughts. They feel more comfortable in expressing their opinion on a wide variety of topics including health, education, sports and so on whichever they share in common. Moreover, they don't have to be conscious about their etiquette's. Their physical and intellectual level are more or less same which gives them the opportunity to play similar games, share their clothing and other stuff. For instance, hiking, friends of similar age will enjoy more because they will be climbing at the same pace, thrill and passion, and they don't have to wait for people that are slow due to their growing age and so on. Furthermore, sometimes there are some cultural barriers which do not permit people to make friendship with people of different ages especially in Asian subcontinent where parents assume that their child might fall into bad hands if allowed to spend time with elder children.
On the contrary, people like to enjoy the leisure time with friends of different age group. They say that common interests and similar mindset are more important than similarity in age. They like and enjoy their relationship because they want to learn different things from their experiences and that might be valuable for them in future. For instance, in west, friends in spite of the age differences speak at length on different topics and share their opinion which helps them to enjoy their friendship. Moreover, they say that friendship is due to inspiration from each other and has no age limits.
To recapitulate, the aforementioned provides plausible arguments over both views. However, I personally believe that friendship has no relation with age and it is largely dependent on the common interests and mindset of each other.
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use the possessive form Original: Life of people Suggested revision: People's lives Why it matters: The possessive construction is the natural way to refer to the lives of people.
- 2. Use the natural verb Original: brace Suggested revision: prepare Why it matters: Prepare someone to face challenges is the natural collocation in this context.
- 3. Use some for a group Original: few Suggested revision: some Why it matters: Few means not many and normally requires an article here, while some expresses the intended group neutrally.
- 4. Use plural age groups Original: group Suggested revision: groups Why it matters: The friends belong to multiple age groups, so age groups should be plural.
- 5. Remove the preposition Original: comfortable in spending Suggested revision: comfortable spending Why it matters: Comfortable can be followed directly by a gerund in this construction.
- 6. Use who and up Original: friends that grew with them Suggested revision: friends who grew up with them Why it matters: Who refers to people, and grew up is the correct phrasal verb for maturing together.
- 7. Add the article Original: of Suggested revision: the Why it matters: The fixed comparison is the same age.
- 8. Clarify the connection Original: this way they can better exchange Suggested revision: in this way they can exchange Why it matters: In this way is the complete linking phrase, and better is unnecessary before exchange.
- 9. Remove the preposition Original: comfortable in expressing Suggested revision: comfortable expressing Why it matters: Comfortable is followed directly by the gerund here.
- 10. Use the plural noun Original: opinion Suggested revision: opinions Why it matters: The plural subject they generally expresses multiple opinions.
- 11. Correct phrase and noun Original: conscious about their etiquette's Suggested revision: conscious of their etiquette Why it matters: Conscious takes of, and etiquette is not a possessive form.
- 12. Use matching plurals Original: level Suggested revision: levels Why it matters: Two distinct levels are named, so the noun should be plural.
Suggested Rewrites
- Life of people People's lives
- brace prepare
- few some
- group groups
- comfortable in spending comfortable spending
- friends that grew with them friends who grew up with them
Why this response received Band 6.5
The response discusses both preferences in a clear four-part structure and states a consistent opinion that shared interests matter more than age. The same-age case is developed more convincingly than the different-age case, and frequent awkward collocations, article errors, and agreement problems weaken otherwise clear communication. The highest-priority improvement is to develop the second view with a concrete, well-explained benefit while editing sentences for natural phrasing and grammatical control.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Detailed feedback by IELTS writing criterion after the annotated essay.
Task Response
Both views are addressed and a clear opinion is given, though the case for mixed-age friendships is less fully developed.
Add a specific example showing how interaction with older or younger friends produces useful learning or perspective.
Coherence and Cohesion
Paragraphing and overall progression are clear, but some linking is mechanical and several sentences contain loosely connected lists.
Use more precise logical links within body paragraphs and trim the broad introductory background to reach the main issue sooner.
Lexical Resource
The response shows sufficient range for the topic, but frequent awkward collocations and word-form choices limit precision and naturalness.
Revise expressions such as make friendship, similarity in age, and friendship is due to inspiration into idiomatic academic English.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The writer attempts varied sentence structures, but errors with articles, agreement, possessives, plurals, and clause construction occur frequently.
Check every sentence for article use and subject-verb agreement, then simplify constructions whose clauses do not join cleanly.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people like to spend free time with the friends of the same age. Others like to spend free time with people of different ages. Discuss both views and state your opinion. Write no less than 250 words.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.