You live in a city in a foreign country, and a friend from your home country is coming to the city for several days. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - ask him/her to bring some things from home that you need - explain why you need them - arrange to meet your friend
Sample Response
Dear Bijoy,
I can't express how excited I amhow excited I really am to learn that you'll come to Vienna in just a weekjust a week later. It seems ages since we last saw each other or talkedwe last saw or talked to each other, and there is a lot we need to catch up onwith. I'm looking forward to meeting you soon, and I also have a favour to ask.
I'd like you to meet my parents before you pack your bagsluggage because my parents will give youas my parents are going to give you some things for me. Don't worry, they are just a couple of small items, and I hope they won'twouldn't cause you much trouble or add much weight to your luggage. The first thing is a photo album that contains some of our family pictures. This has sentimental value forto me as it contains some photos from my childhood when my grandparents were alive. The second and final item is a jar of homemade cookies that my mother made for me. She makes those cookies just before my birthday each year. SinceAfter I came to Austria, she has done the same for the past two yearsdid the same for the last two years but could not send themthose to me. I’ve told some of my classmates here how delicious the cookies are, and they're very keen to try them! I'm sureAnd I'm sure my mother would be delightedwould be very delighted if she could send them to meif she can send it to me.
I do hope that it's manageable for you, and won't cause you much trouble. I’m very excited to meet you soon. I can meet you on any Sunday eveningin the evening on any Sunday. Just let me know when you're free. You have my mobile numberYou've my mobile number, so just call me or send me a text.
Yours truly,
Anil
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter’s strongest feature is its warm, natural tone and detailed explanation of the two requested items, including their sentimental and social value. Its main limitation is that the meeting arrangement remains vague, with no definite Sunday, time, or place; the highest-priority improvement is to propose a concrete plan while correcting a few conditional and pronoun errors.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are addressed with well-developed reasons and an appropriate friendly tone, although the meeting plan is not fully specified.
Offer a particular Sunday, time, and meeting place, then ask the friend to confirm whether that arrangement works.
Coherence and Cohesion
Clear paragraphs move naturally from the greeting to the requested items, their reasons, and the meeting arrangement, with only minor repetition.
Condense the repeated reassurance about inconvenience and use that space for a precise meeting plan.
Lexical Resource
The letter uses varied, natural vocabulary for feelings, practical requests, and personal memories, with a few slightly awkward collocations.
Refine phrases such as “pack your luggage” to “pack” and “sent those to me” to “sent them to me.”
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A broad range of structures is used successfully, though errors in conditionals, pronoun reference, and contraction choice occur occasionally.
Use consistent present and future forms, such as “I hope they won’t,” “if she can send them,” and “You have my number.”
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You live in a city in a foreign country, and a friend from your home country is coming to the city for several days. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
- ask him/her to bring some things from home that you need
- explain why you need them
- arrange to meet your friend
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.