Your former homestay family is coming to see you in your home country and stay from January 31st to February 10th. Write them a letter. In your letter: - make plans to meet them at a convenient location - specify a time and date - suggest some activities you may all participate in during their visit
Sample Response
Dear Mr Shawn, I must tell you how excited I am after hearinglearning the news that you will be visiting my country from January 31st to February 10th. In fact, right after reading your letter, I started to check the information on all the good hotels in my country in case you are not surein case if you are not too sure where to staywhere to stay or what kind of hotels to choose. It seems like I have not seen you in ages, and so I do not want to waste any time before meeting youI do not like to waste any time meeting you as soon as you arrive at the airportas soon as you come to the airport. I will meet you at 5:00 pm on 31 JanuaryJust let me know the exact time when you willwould arrive at the airport, and I will pick you up thereI will pick you up from there. But, if you do not want me to receive you at the airport, I can meet you at the famous “Cherry Shopping Mall” in our capital city on 31 Januaryon the 10th of January at around 5:00 pm. During your stay,By the way, I have already made some plans to do a few activities togethertake part in some activities, such as visiting the largest botanical garden in my country as well as enjoying a panoramic viewenjoying the complete view of our capital city at night from the tallest tower. Have a safe flight. See you soon. Yours sincerely, Chris Reid
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter has a warm, welcoming tone and offers both a meeting option and enjoyable activities for the visit. Its main weakness is the contradictory 10 January date, which falls before the stated stay, while the airport pickup remains conditional rather than a firm arrangement. Prioritise a definite time and place within the visit dates, then organise the plan in clear paragraphs and polish awkward travel expressions.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The letter is friendly and suggests a meeting place and activities, but there is a serious date problem: it suggests meeting on 10 January even though the visitors arrive from 31 January to 10 February. The airport pickup plan is also conditional rather than a clear specified time.
Give a definite meeting plan within the visit dates, for example 31 January at the airport, and keep the mall option consistent with those dates.
Coherence and Cohesion
The message is generally easy to follow, but it is one paragraph and includes unnecessary hotel information before the meeting arrangements. Some ideas are linked loosely rather than clearly sequenced.
Organise the letter into greeting, meeting plan, and activities, with the time and place easy to find.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is adequate and friendly, with some useful phrases about travel and activities. Several expressions are awkward, such as "in case if", "the information on all the good hotels", and "take part in some activities".
Use natural travel collocations such as "looked up hotels", "pick you up", and "visit" rather than heavier phrases.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
Meaning is mostly clear, and there is some range in clauses and conditionals. Errors with tense, prepositions, conditionals, and date consistency reduce control.
Check conditionals and date references carefully, especially when the task provides fixed dates.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
Your former homestay family is coming to see you in your home country and stay from January 31st to February 10th. Write them a letter. In your letter:
- make plans to meet them at a convenient location
- specify a time and date
- suggest some activities you may all participate in during their visit
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.