Your best friend just had her first baby. You are currently overseas but will be returning to your hometown in a week. Write to your friend. In your letter: - congratulate your friend - tell her when you will be returning home - ask when you could drop in to meet her and the baby
Sample Response
Dear Jessica, Hope this letter finds you in great health and spirit after going through a critical but one of the most wonderful moments of your life. Well, you wanted your firstborn to be a girl, and you have indeed been blessed with a baby girl! So, many congratulations to you, and your first baby who has just arrived in this world! By the way, I am really sorry that I couldn’t be by your side to witness this wonderful but critical moment of your life since I needed to get out of town for a week to address an urgent matter in my office. Besides, I was told that you were not due until after another two weeks or so. But, whatever is the case, please know that you have always been in my prayer and you will always be. Anyway, I am trying to finish my work as soon as I can and return to the city in the next couple of days, and I just can’t wait to put my eyes on your little angel. So, please let me know when it is a good time to visit you. Warm wishes, Linda Grace
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Remove the filler Original: Well, Suggested revision: Delete Why it matters: The congratulatory message begins more directly without this conversational filler.
- 2. Use concise wording Original: arrived in this world Suggested revision: been born Why it matters: “Been born” expresses the baby's arrival simply and naturally.
- 3. Use warm wording Original: really Suggested revision: so Why it matters: “So sorry” sounds more natural and heartfelt in a letter to a close friend.
- 4. Choose a positive description Original: this wonderful but critical moment Suggested revision: this wonderful milestone Why it matters: “Milestone” celebrates the birth without the unintended suggestion of a medical crisis.
- 5. Match the overseas context Original: get out of town Suggested revision: travel overseas Why it matters: The task states that the writer is overseas, so this phrase identifies the situation accurately.
- 6. Use natural wording Original: an urgent matter in my office Suggested revision: an urgent matter at work Why it matters: “At work” is the natural expression for a professional matter requiring attention.
- 7. Correct the due-date phrase Original: after Suggested revision: for Why it matters: “Not due for another two weeks” is the standard expression for the remaining time.
- 8. Use a smooth transition Original: But, whatever is the case Suggested revision: Still, in any case Why it matters: The revision creates a natural transition from the unexpected timing to continued support.
- 9. Use the plural expression Original: prayer Suggested revision: prayers Why it matters: The established expression is “in my prayers”.
- 10. Use concise emphasis Original: and you will always be Suggested revision: and always will be Why it matters: The revision avoids repeating the full future construction while preserving the emphasis.
- 11. Shift topics warmly Original: Anyway Suggested revision: On a happier note Why it matters: This transition moves naturally from the apology to the upcoming return and visit.
- 12. Clarify the purpose Original: as soon as I can and return Suggested revision: as soon as I can so that I can return Why it matters: “So that” correctly shows that finishing the work enables the return.
Suggested Rewrites
- Well, Delete
- arrived in this world been born
- really so
- this wonderful but critical moment this wonderful milestone
- get out of town travel overseas
- an urgent matter in my office an urgent matter at work
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter’s strongest feature is its warm personal voice and clear coverage of congratulating the friend, explaining the return, and asking to visit. Its main limitation is that frequent awkward expressions and loosely connected discourse markers make the message sound less natural than intended. The highest-priority improvement is to use simpler, idiomatic language and organise the congratulations, travel timing, and visit request into clearer stages.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The response covers all three bullet points and sustains a friendly tone, although the return timing is less precise than the one-week context in the prompt.
State the exact return day or date and make the proposed visit arrangement more concrete.
Coherence and Cohesion
The message follows a broadly logical sequence, but repeated conversational linkers and the single dense paragraph weaken the sense of controlled progression.
Separate the congratulations, explanation of absence and return, and visit request into short paragraphs with fewer opening linkers.
Lexical Resource
The vocabulary conveys warmth and affection, but several expressions, including 'critical moment', 'in my prayer', and 'put my eyes on', are unnatural in context.
Choose familiar idiomatic phrases such as 'special time', 'in my prayers', and 'meet your little one'.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
The response uses varied complex structures with mostly clear meaning, though punctuation, agreement, and phrasing errors recur.
Edit long sentences into cleaner units and check noun number and coordination, especially around 'congratulations to you' and 'in my prayers'.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Your best friend just had her first baby. You are currently overseas but will be returning to your hometown in a week. Write to your friend. In your letter:
- congratulate your friend
- tell her when you will be returning home
- ask when you could drop in to meet her and the baby
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.