You have received an important document that needs to be translated. Write a letter to your friend and ask him/her to translate this important document for you. In your letter explain: - why it is important for you - how fast you need it back - why you need his/her expertise
Sample Response
Dear Lee, Hope you and your parents are doing excellent. I am sorry that I have not been in touch with you for the pastlast couple of weeks. Although I have not writtenEven if I have not written to you for a while, you are always in my thoughts and prayersprayer. I am writing to you today because I need your expertise to translate some important documents for me. You would be glad to know that my application has been accepted by Wuhan Universitythe Wuhan University in China and if things go as planned, I will join the university next summer for my master'sMaster's degree. They have sent me some documents written in Chinesesome documents which are in the Chinese language and I need your help translating themI need your help with that. You are the best person to assist me and this is really crucial for me to get admitted to this University. Without the accurateproper translation of the documents, I will not be able to respond to them accuratelyrespond precisely to them. I am sending photocopiesxerox copies of these documents, three documents comprising seven pages in totalthree documents with 7 pages in total, and would really appreciate it if you could return the translations before 10 Decemberif you can send them before 10th December. I could use Google Translate to translate the documentsinterpret the texts but you know this technology can be unreliablethere are always glitches in this technology as some meanings are lost in translation! Your excellent skills in English and Chinese makemakes you the most suitable person to translate those documents for me. I owe you a big one. Take care and write back to mewrite me back whenever possible. Warm wishes, Kyle
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter has a clear request, develops every required point with convincing detail, and sustains an appropriately warm, informal relationship with the friend. The main weakness is presentation as one dense paragraph, accompanied by several agreement and word-choice slips; dividing the message into purposeful paragraphs and proofreading grammatical endings would make the response easier to follow and more polished.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response fully explains the document’s importance, gives a precise deadline, and establishes why the friend’s language expertise is needed.
Clarify briefly why further documents need translation even though the university application has already been accepted.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ideas follow a logical sequence and linking is generally natural, but the entire letter is presented as one dense paragraph.
Separate the greeting, background, request and deadline, reason for choosing the friend, and closing into clear paragraphs.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied and well suited to the situation, with effective phrases about translation, expertise, and admission, despite occasional imprecision.
Refine choices such as ‘doing excellent’, ‘interpret the texts’, and ‘xerox copies’ to more natural expressions.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The letter uses a good variety of complex structures with generally secure control, though several agreement and form errors remain.
Proofread subject-verb agreement and fixed structures, especially ‘skills ... make’ and ‘would appreciate it if you could’.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have received an important document that needs to be translated. Write a letter to your friend and ask him/her to translate this important document for you. In your letter explain:
- why it is important for you
- how fast you need it back
- why you need his/her expertise
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.