You are trying to improve your knowledge of a language that is not your first language. You have a friend who speaks it fluently. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - explain why you want to improve your knowledge of the language - ask for suggestions on how to learn more quickly - propose meeting your friend to talk about it
Sample Response
Dear Olivia,
I hope that you're doing excellent. It's been awfully long since we've last seen each other and spent some quality time together. I really miss those days when we could hang out almost every day.
Anyway, after graduating from university next summer, I'll start looking for a job in a multination company. Besides, I've plans to pursue my Master's degree at a UK university a couple of years later. Considering my plans and expectations, I've started honing my English language skills, which, I believe, will be vital for my further study and career success. In a multinational company, English would be highly essential for communication.
You already know that my command of the English language is not so good. I make many grammatical mistakes and can't express my feelings and ideas effectively in complex situations. As a native speaker of the English language, your skills are enviable. I hope you can suggest how I can improve my skills and learn the language efficiently without making any grammatical mistakes. I also want to learn fast and you're the best person to advise me on that.
If it's not too much to ask, I'd like to meet you in person to discuss everything in detail and have some pleasant time together. We have a lot to catch up with, I believe.
Your suggestions would be quite valuable to me. Hope we can plan our meeting soon.
Yours truly,
Polina
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Use adverb after doing Original: excellent Suggested revision: well Why it matters: Doing requires an adverb describing how Olivia is, rather than the adjective excellent.
- 2. Correct since clause Original: It's been awfully long since we've last seen each other Suggested revision: It's been a very long time since we last saw each other Why it matters: The simple past is the natural tense after since when naming the last meeting.
- 3. Correct adjective form Original: multination Suggested revision: multinational Why it matters: Multinational is the adjective used for a company operating in several countries.
- 4. Use full possessive verb Original: I've plans Suggested revision: I have plans Why it matters: The contraction I've does not naturally express possession in this construction.
- 5. Use plural study noun Original: study Suggested revision: studies Why it matters: Studies is the natural countable form for future academic education.
- 6. Remove redundant intensifier Original: highly essential Suggested revision: essential Why it matters: Essential already expresses an absolute degree of importance.
- 7. Use natural adverb Original: fast Suggested revision: quickly Why it matters: Quickly is the standard adverb for the speed of learning.
- 8. Correct time collocation Original: have Suggested revision: spend Why it matters: English uses spend, rather than have, with this expression of time.
- 9. Correct phrasal verb Original: with Suggested revision: on Why it matters: Catch up on refers to news and events missed since the last meeting.
- 10. Add explicit subject Original: Hope we can plan our meeting soon Suggested revision: I hope we can plan our meeting soon Why it matters: Adding the subject turns the closing thought into a complete sentence.
- 11. Use standard capitalization Original: Master's Suggested revision: master's Why it matters: Degree names are normally lowercase when they are not formal course titles.
- 12. Clarify time reference Original: a couple of years later Suggested revision: a couple of years after that Why it matters: The revision makes clear that the postgraduate plan follows graduation.
Suggested Rewrites
- excellent well
- It's been awfully long since we've last seen each other It's been a very long time since we last saw each other
- multination multinational
- I've plans I have plans
- study studies
- highly essential essential
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter fully covers the reasons for improving English, requests advice on learning faster, and proposes a meeting, all in a warm and convincing tone. Its main limitation is a cluster of non-idiomatic expressions and several grammatical slips despite otherwise flexible language. Prioritise proofreading verb forms and common collocations so phrases such as “doing excellent,” “multination company,” and “have some pleasant time” sound natural.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear, all three bullet points are fully developed, and the friendly tone is consistently suitable for the recipient.
Make the proposed meeting more concrete by suggesting a possible day or time while retaining the informal tone.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas are organised into focused paragraphs that progress naturally from personal context to reasons, advice, and the proposed meeting.
Trim repeated references to improving skills and learning quickly so the request paragraph is more concise.
Lexical Resource
The letter shows good range and flexibility, although several collocations and word choices are noticeably unnatural.
Replace expressions such as “doing excellent,” “multination company,” and “pleasant time” with idiomatic alternatives.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A broad range of sentence forms is used with generally good control, but errors in tense, possession, and clause joining remain.
Correct forms such as “since we last saw each other” and “I have plans,” and check punctuation between independent clauses.
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You are trying to improve your knowledge of a language that is not your first language. You have a friend who speaks it fluently. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
- explain why you want to improve your knowledge of the language
- ask for suggestions on how to learn more quickly
- propose meeting your friend to talk about it
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.