You recently visited a friend’s home and had a wonderful time there. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter: - Thank them for inviting you. - Mention what you enjoyed most about your visit. - Suggest a way to return the favor.
Sample Response
Dear Anna,
I hope this lettermessage finds you well. I’m writing to thank you for inviting me and for the wonderful timesay thank you for the wonderful time I had at your house last weekend. Everything, from the delicious dinner to the cozy atmosphere, was perfect. I truly appreciated the effort you put into making me feel at home.
It was such a pleasure to catch up with you and your family. Our conversationsThe conversations we had brought back so many lovely memories. I especially enjoyed our walk in the garden—it was so peaceful and refreshing!
I hope we can get together againdo this again soon. Next time, you must let me return the favor and invite you over to my place. Please give my best to your parentsPlease give my best regards to your parents, and let’s keep in touch!
Take care, Emily
Why this response received Band 7.5
The letter’s warm, natural tone and clear progression make the appreciation and enjoyment easy to follow, while vocabulary and grammar are consistently strong. Its main limitation is that it falls noticeably short of the required length, leaving the return invitation and some details only briefly developed; the highest-priority improvement is to add specific arrangements for hosting Anna and expand one or two personal details.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
The purpose and all three bullet points are clear, but the 127-word response develops the proposed return invitation only briefly.
Reach at least 150 words by adding concrete details about when Anna could visit and what you would do together.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress smoothly through thanks, the visit highlight, and the return invitation, with natural paragraphing and cohesive links.
Strengthen the final transition by connecting the proposed invitation more explicitly to the enjoyable visit.
Lexical Resource
The letter uses a flexible and precise range of informal vocabulary, including natural phrases such as “catch up” and “return the favor.”
Add a few more specific words about the planned return visit while maintaining the same natural register.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A varied range of sentence forms is handled accurately, and punctuation supports clear, fluent communication.
Maintain this strong control while extending the letter with one or two additional complex sentences.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You recently visited a friend’s home and had a wonderful time there. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter:
- Thank them for inviting you.
- Mention what you enjoyed most about your visit.
- Suggest a way to return the favor.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.