Last month you had a holiday overseas where you stayed with some friends. They have just sent you some photos of your holiday. Write a letter to your friends. In your letter: - thank them for the photos and for the holiday - explain why you didn't - write earlier - invite them to come and stay with you
Sample Response
Dear Phillip, It is so great to hear from you guys! Hope you all are doing fine. Just so you know, I am so happy and glad that you have sent me all those fabulous pictures from our short-lived but precious holidays that we enjoyed in your country last month. No doubt, your country, Italy, is way more exotic and beautiful than I initially expected. The food, lakes, coastline, colosseums, Venice canals, streets, shopping mall – all were so amazingly gorgeous! By the way, I would also like to especially thank you for organizing the trip to Venice canals for me because I thought that I was too tired to visit that exceptionally dreamy place. You all look so great in those pictures! However, I am so sorry that I could not write to you earlier as I got insanely busy with my works, emails and papers which I needed to take care of immediately after coming back from that holiday. But, I surely would like for all of you to come and visit me in the next month when my office will remain closed for a few days. Yours sincerely, Roger Stone
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Add the subject Original: Hope you all are doing fine Suggested revision: I hope you are all doing fine Why it matters: Adding 'I' completes the sentence and places 'all' naturally.
- 2. Use a purposeful lead-in Original: Just so you know, Suggested revision: I wanted to say that Why it matters: This connects the opening directly to the writer's thanks.
- 3. Avoid redundant adjectives Original: so happy and glad Suggested revision: delighted Why it matters: 'Happy' and 'glad' repeat the same meaning.
- 4. Use the task term Original: pictures Suggested revision: photos Why it matters: 'Photos' is the more precise term for the images the friends sent.
- 5. Use the singular holiday Original: short-lived but precious holidays Suggested revision: short but memorable holiday Why it matters: The task describes one holiday, and 'short-lived' usually suggests an untimely ending.
- 6. Use a measured comparison Original: way more exotic Suggested revision: far more fascinating Why it matters: This retains the friendly enthusiasm while avoiding an imprecise intensifier.
- 7. Name the landmark correctly Original: colosseums Suggested revision: the Colosseum Why it matters: The well-known Roman landmark is a singular proper name.
- 8. Match the plural list Original: mall Suggested revision: malls Why it matters: The item should be plural to match the other general attractions in the list.
- 9. Reduce stacked intensifiers Original: so amazingly gorgeous Suggested revision: absolutely beautiful Why it matters: The original combines several emphatic words unnecessarily.
- 10. Streamline the thanks Original: also like to especially thank Suggested revision: especially want to thank Why it matters: This removes redundant adverbs while preserving the warm tone.
- 11. Add the possessive form Original: Venice Suggested revision: Venice's Why it matters: The canals belong to or are located in Venice, so a possessive construction is needed.
- 12. Use a clearer intensifier Original: insanely Suggested revision: extremely Why it matters: This conveys the degree of busyness without exaggerated slang.
Suggested Rewrites
- Hope you all are doing fine I hope you are all doing fine
- Just so you know, I wanted to say that
- so happy and glad delighted
- pictures photos
- short-lived but precious holidays short but memorable holiday
- way more exotic far more fascinating
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter is warm and engaging, thanks the friends for the photographs, explains the delayed reply, and extends a clear invitation. Its main limitations are that gratitude for the friends' hospitality and the offer to stay are only implicit, while the single-block structure and heavy use of intensifiers make the message less controlled; prioritise explicitly thanking them for hosting the holiday and inviting them to stay at the writer's home.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three communicative purposes are addressed, but the thanks focus mainly on photographs and one excursion, and the invitation does not explicitly offer accommodation.
Directly thank the friends for hosting the holiday and say that they are invited to stay at the writer's home next month.
Coherence and Cohesion
The message progresses from thanks and holiday memories to the apology and invitation, but it is one dense paragraph with an overextended descriptive list.
Use three short paragraphs aligned with the task bullets and condense the list of Italian attractions.
Lexical Resource
The letter uses lively informal vocabulary, though repeated intensifiers and awkward expressions such as "short-lived holidays" and "my works" reduce naturalness.
Use more restrained wording and natural phrases such as "a short but memorable holiday" and "busy with work."
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Complex sentences are generally clear, but article, noun-form, preposition, and sentence-fragment errors occur repeatedly.
Check uncountable nouns and time phrases, using forms such as "work," "the canals of Venice," and "next month."
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Last month you had a holiday overseas where you stayed with some friends. They have just sent you some photos of your holiday. Write a letter to your friends. In your letter:
- thank them for the photos and for the holiday
- explain why you didn't
- write earlier
- invite them to come and stay with you
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.