Five months ago, you started renting an apartment on a six-month agreement. You now wish to stay in the apartment for longer than the six months you originally agreed with the owner. Write a letter to the owner of your apartment. In your letter: - Say how long you now want to rent the apartment for - Explain why your plans have changed - Tell the owner about a problem in the apartment
Sample Response
Dear Mr. Keylon,Dear Mr. Keylon!
ApproximatelyApporoximately half a year agohalf of year, I started renting an accommodationaccomodation, with an agreementwith agreement about staying here for six months. At present time I want to explain my current situation and the future of my tenancyfurther fate my living in this place.
At the start I want to emphasize that I would likewant emphasizeI would like to extend my rental agreement, because my exchange standing abroad has been transferredabroud be transferred to the next year, so I need to discussneed discuss with you about an apartment and others not less important things. Firstly, problem with balkony, the floor there isare too ancient, so I'm advising to change it for comforting and mainly safe usesafely using. Moreover, the problem with neighbours still existsexist, they drink a lot,and yell to loud yet. Secondly, the issue with the sink in the kitchen, a clogged drain worried me from time to time, so it will be great if you could hire aif you will involve specialist for it.
In the end, I honestly acknowledgeacnowledge, that would be stay in this apartment for a long time, I look forward to your positive response. Yours sincerely, [Your full name]Thank you for your understanding!
Why this response received Band 5.5
The letter successfully addresses the prompt's core requirements, but the overall impact is weakened by frequent grammatical errors and awkward phrasing. While the reasons for the change in plans and the apartment problems are mentioned, the exact duration of the requested extension remains vague. Prioritizing grammatical accuracy and precise vocabulary will significantly improve the clarity and professionalism of your writing.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All bullet points are addressed, but the response fails to specify a clear, exact duration for the extension, and the tone is occasionally inappropriate, such as using an exclamation mark in the salutation.
Ensure you state a specific timeframe for the rental extension (e.g., 'an additional six months') and maintain a polite, semi-formal tone throughout.
Coherence and Cohesion
The letter has a basic structure, but the main body paragraph is overloaded with different topics, including the extension request, the reasons, and multiple apartment problems.
Organize your letter logically by dedicating one paragraph to the extension request and reasons, and a separate paragraph to the maintenance issues.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is limited, with several spelling mistakes ('Apporoximately', 'accomodation', 'abroud') and awkward word choices ('further fate my living') that affect clarity.
Focus on learning common rental-related vocabulary and double-check your spelling of high-frequency words.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Grammatical errors are frequent and occur in almost every sentence, particularly with verb tenses, prepositions, and sentence structure.
Practice constructing simple and complex sentences accurately, paying close attention to subject-verb agreement and modal verbs.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Five months ago, you started renting an apartment on a six-month agreement. You now wish to stay in the apartment for longer than the six months you originally agreed with the owner. Write a letter to the owner of your apartment. In your letter:
- Say how long you now want to rent the apartment for
- Explain why your plans have changed
- Tell the owner about a problem in the apartment
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.