You have recently moved to a different house. Write a letter to an English speaking Friend. In your letter: - Explain why you have moved - Describe the new apartment - Invite him to pay a visit.
Sample Response
Dear Kola, Trust you are good, hope you have settled down at work. I am writing you to inform you that I have finally moved from my old house. As mentioned to you in my last letter to you, My Landlady wanted to renovate the house hence she gave her tenants six months notice to move out of the house. I was lucky, I got an apartment not to far from my son's school and my place of work. The apartment cost less and it is way bigger than my previous apartment. I particularly like this apartment because its has a big kitchen with an in-built dish washer and a lovely terrace where my son can play with his friends. I am confident that you will love my new home. I hope you and your daughter, Dara will come to visit us soon. Looking forward to seeing you. Mojisola
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Remove extra pronoun Original: writing you to inform you Suggested revision: writing to inform you Why it matters: The verb pattern is ‘write to inform someone,’ so the first ‘you’ is unnecessary.
- 2. Fix capitalization Original: My Landlady Suggested revision: my landlady Why it matters: These common nouns should not be capitalized within the sentence.
- 3. Add possessive apostrophe Original: six months notice Suggested revision: six months’ notice Why it matters: Apostrophe possession is needed in the time expression before ‘notice.’
- 4. Match present tense Original: cost Suggested revision: costs Why it matters: The singular subject ‘The apartment’ requires ‘costs’ in this present-tense description.
- 5. Use neutral wording Original: way bigger Suggested revision: much larger Why it matters: ‘Much larger’ is a more natural neutral comparison in a descriptive letter.
- 6. Correct pronoun form Original: its Suggested revision: it Why it matters: The subject pronoun ‘it,’ rather than the possessive ‘its,’ is required before ‘has.’
- 7. Add friendly sign-off Original: Mojisola Suggested revision: Best wishes, Mojisola Why it matters: A friendly closing before the name would complete the informal letter appropriately.
- 8. Use phrasal verb Original: have finally moved from Suggested revision: have finally moved out of Why it matters: ‘Move out of’ is the correct phrasal verb for leaving a former home.
- 9. Remove repetition Original: last letter to you Suggested revision: last letter Why it matters: The recipient is already clear, so the second ‘to you’ is repetitive.
- 10. Use natural connector Original: hence Suggested revision: so Why it matters: ‘So’ links the cause and result more naturally in this informal letter.
- 11. Use descriptive adjective Original: big Suggested revision: spacious Why it matters: ‘Spacious’ describes the positive feature more precisely than ‘big.’
- 12. Fix compound term Original: in-built dish washer Suggested revision: built-in dishwasher Why it matters: ‘Built-in dishwasher’ uses the standard adjective order and spelling for the appliance.
Suggested Rewrites
- writing you to inform you writing to inform you
- My Landlady my landlady
- six months notice six months’ notice
- cost costs
- way bigger much larger
- its it
Why this response received Band 6.5
The letter communicates its purpose clearly, covers all three requested points, and creates a warm, personal tone with relevant details about the move and new apartment. Its main limitation is recurring grammatical and punctuation inaccuracy, compounded by the absence of clear paragraph breaks. The highest priority is to proofread sentence boundaries, verb forms, possessives, and small word-choice errors while organising the message into distinct sections.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose is clear, all bullet points are addressed with relevant detail, and the friendly tone suits the recipient.
Develop the invitation slightly by suggesting a possible time or activity for the visit.
Coherence and Cohesion
The message follows a sensible sequence, but comma splices and the lack of paragraph breaks weaken its organisation.
Separate the reason for moving, the apartment description, and the invitation into clear paragraphs with complete sentence boundaries.
Lexical Resource
The letter uses a good range of relevant vocabulary, including natural details about housing, work, and family life.
Proofread small lexical and spelling choices such as 'too far' and 'dishwasher' to improve precision.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A mix of simple and complex structures conveys meaning clearly, although recurring errors reduce grammatical control.
Correct verb forms, possessives, capitalisation, and run-on sentences, especially in phrases such as 'it has' and 'six months’ notice'.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have recently moved to a different house. Write a letter to an English speaking Friend. In your letter:
- Explain why you have moved
- Describe the new apartment
- Invite him to pay a visit.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.