You are going to visit New Zealand for an 'English and Homestay' program. You have just received details of your homestay host family. Write your first letter to the family. In your letter: - introduce yourself - ask the family some questions to get information that is important to you - tell the family about your arrival date and time
Sample Response
Dear AlbertDear Mr Albert, I am writing to thank you for agreeing to be my English and Homestay host. I would really appreciate some information from you and would like to inform you that I will arrive at your house in New Zealand on 19 August 2025in July. I am Jacques Gordon, Frencha French by nationality, but currently studying for a degree in accountingpursuing my graduation in accounting at the London University in the UK. My parents and siblings live in Paris. I enrolled in the "English and Homestay program" a few months ago and I intendedmy intention was to take the opportunity to improve my Englishlearn the language efficiently. I would be interested to learn more about youI would be glad to know about you - more specifically what you do and how many members you have in your familyhow many members do you have in your family Deleteand so on. I would also like to know about some customs and household rules you followtraditions and formalities you respect in New Zealand. I will be travelling to New Zealand for the first time , so your advice onand hence your suggestion about the etiquette of being a guest would be highly appreciated. I expect to arrive onMy expected arrival date is on 19th August 2025 and the flight is scheduled to arrive at Wellington Airportreach Wellington Airport at 6.00 pm local time. It would be great if you could pick me upfetch me from the airport. If you are unavailableIf you have another schedule, I willwould take a taxi to your homeaddress. I am really looking forward to spending some quality time with you and your family. Please write to me at your convenience. Yours sincerelySincerely, Jacques Gordon
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter is warm, purposeful, and develops all three required areas with relevant personal details, questions, and precise flight information. Its main limitation is the contradiction between arriving in July and the later date of 19 August, compounded by several unnatural expressions and grammatical slips. The highest priority is to make the travel details internally consistent and simplify the questions so they sound natural and accurate.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All bullet points are well developed in a suitably polite letter, but the conflicting July and August arrival information weakens fulfilment of the task.
Give one consistent arrival date and retain the exact time and airport details.
Coherence and Cohesion
The content progresses sensibly from introduction through questions to travel arrangements and closing, despite being presented as one dense paragraph.
Divide the letter into clear paragraphs for personal background, host-family questions, and arrival arrangements.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and polite, but several combinations such as pursuing my graduation and another schedule are unnatural.
Use idiomatic phrases such as studying for a degree, household customs, and other commitments.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The writer attempts varied structures, but errors in embedded questions, articles, prepositions, and conditional forms recur.
Use statement word order in indirect questions and check prepositions in date and study expressions.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You are going to visit New Zealand for an 'English and Homestay' program. You have just received details of your homestay host family. Write your first letter to the family. In your letter:
- introduce yourself
- ask the family some questions to get information that is important to you
- tell the family about your arrival date and time
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.