You have recently stayed with an old friend for a few days after not seeing each other for a long time. Write a letter to this friend. In your letter: - say how you felt about the visit - refer to something enjoyable that you did while staying with him/her - invite your friend to visit you
Sample Response
Dear John, Hope you are doing great. Thank you for having me at your house last week and it was really great to meet you after a long. The experience was amazing and I had the time of my life when we hopped to different places during the time. I regret that it is over! I am hoping you would come and stay at my house during your next vacation. As you know I am an ardent football fan and I still cannot get the wonderful memories of that football match that we enjoyed together at the Emirates Stadium out of my head. I still get chills on my spine when I think about it. Remember those tantalizing final ten minutes of the game when Liverpool FC turned it around by scoring two late goals, and then the entire stadium went berserk with joy. I wish I had a video camera to capture those sensational moments! Anyway, would you fancy dropping by at my place on Sunday afternoon? I am having some high school friends over, and if you could come, that would be simply fantastic as the gathering will turn into our high school reunion. Also, I have not seen some of these guys in ages, so I am pretty sure this is going to be a great experience for all of us. I look forward to seeing you soon. Warm wishes, Sam
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Complete the greeting Original: Hope you are doing great Suggested revision: I hope you are doing well Why it matters: Adding the subject makes the greeting complete while preserving its informal warmth.
- 2. Clarify the stay Original: having me at your house Suggested revision: letting me stay at your house Why it matters: The revision precisely describes the hospitality mentioned in the task.
- 3. Complete the time phrase Original: after a long Suggested revision: after such a long time Why it matters: “After a long” is incomplete, while “after such a long time” is idiomatic.
- 4. Use the right verb Original: hopped to different places Suggested revision: visited different places Why it matters: “Visited” clearly expresses going to several places during the stay.
- 5. Specify the time period Original: during the time Suggested revision: during my stay Why it matters: The replacement links the enjoyable activities directly to the visit described in the task.
- 6. Use natural wording Original: I regret that it is over Suggested revision: I'm sorry the visit is over Why it matters: The revision expresses sadness about the completed visit more naturally in a friendly letter.
- 7. Use the direct invitation Original: I am hoping you would come Suggested revision: I hope you will come Why it matters: “Will” is appropriate for a genuine future invitation rather than a hypothetical request.
- 8. Correct the idiom Original: on Suggested revision: down Why it matters: The standard expression is “chills down my spine”.
- 9. Choose the right adjective Original: tantalizing Suggested revision: thrilling Why it matters: “Thrilling” accurately describes the excitement of the match's final minutes.
- 10. Use the past perfect Original: had a video camera to capture Suggested revision: had had a video camera to capture Why it matters: The regret concerns equipment that was unavailable at a past event, so the past perfect is required.
- 11. Introduce the invitation smoothly Original: Anyway Suggested revision: By the way Why it matters: “By the way” creates a more natural conversational shift to the invitation.
- 12. Use a natural invitation Original: dropping by at my place Suggested revision: coming over to my place Why it matters: “Coming over to my place” is the natural phrase for this planned social visit.
Suggested Rewrites
- Hope you are doing great I hope you are doing well
- having me at your house letting me stay at your house
- after a long after such a long time
- hopped to different places visited different places
- during the time during my stay
- I regret that it is over I'm sorry the visit is over
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter is lively, affectionate, and fully engages with the visit, the memorable football match, and the invitation, using a convincingly friendly voice. Its main weakness is organisation: presenting the entire response as one block obscures the shifts between reflection, shared experience, and invitation, while a few expressions are awkward. The highest-priority improvement is to divide the content into purposeful paragraphs and polish the less natural collocations.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The communicative purpose is fully achieved, all bullet points are developed with specific detail, and the informal tone is consistently suitable for an old friend.
Clarify whether the main invitation is for the next vacation or the Sunday gathering so the requested visit feels completely consistent.
Coherence and Cohesion
The ideas follow a logical sequence and cohesive devices work well, but the lack of paragraph breaks weakens the visible organisation of the letter.
Use separate paragraphs for appreciation of the visit, the football memory, and the invitation to make the progression immediately clear.
Lexical Resource
The response shows a broad and expressive vocabulary, though a few collocations such as 'after a long' and 'chills on my spine' are not natural.
Choose idiomatic combinations such as 'after such a long time' and 'sent chills down my spine' while retaining the lively range.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A variety of complex sentences is handled accurately overall, with only occasional tense, punctuation, and phrasing lapses.
Review hypothetical past references and sentence boundaries, particularly where long sentences contain several linked ideas.
Write this task while it is fresh
Try the same task now. It helps you remember the feedback and write better next time.
IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You have recently stayed with an old friend for a few days after not seeing each other for a long time. Write a letter to this friend. In your letter:
- say how you felt about the visit
- refer to something enjoyable that you did while staying with him/her
- invite your friend to visit you
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.