IELTS General Task 1?

To succeed in any exam, candidates need to have required understanding of the exam pattern, and of course, positivity and some preparation.

IELTS General may look simple but in reality it is not. It needs a lot of preparation. You need to understand what the examiners want from you. Deliver precisely what is needed and you become successful.

Never take anything for granted

To be honest, for many people, writing a letter can be a simple task. In IELTS general writing test, there will be majorly three kinds of letters. Formal Semi-informal and Informal Letter.

You may have to write a formal letter or an informal letter.

The writing task aims at judging your communication skills, how good you are at communicating some common practical problems, issues or situations.

Within 20 minutes, you are expected to complete this task. You will write a letter to your friend, your family member or to a company, or institution.

This part of the writing test worth exactly 30% of your writing score

This will be graded separately from your second writing task in your within test.

Identify what you need to write

First focus on what the type of letter it is. As said, it can be formal or informal. Or sometimes, semi-formal too.

Based on the purpose of the letter, it can easily be identified. Take a look at a few examples.

Formal

Write a letter to the administrative department of your company, requesting for three-day leave from work owing to your parent’s ill health.

Write a letter to apply for the following job.

Write a letter to complain about the hotel services that you have received at the Marriott Den in London.

Write a letter of recommendation for your students who want to go for higher studies in Canada.

Semi-formal

Write a letter requesting your landlord to give you 20 days’ time for depositing the rent for the current month.

Write a letter to your neighbor explaining more about the problems occurring in the neighborhood.

Write a letter to your hostel management complaining about the food services at the hostel canteen.

Write a letter to your school principal asking for three days leave owing to your elder brother’s marriage.

Informal

Write a letter of invitation to your loved one, for your sister’s marriage.

Write a letter thanking your friend for throwing a wonderful birthday party for you.

Write a letter apologizing for the behaviour.

For a formal letter you can begin like this Dear Sir/Madam, and end as Yours faithfully,

But for informal and semi-informal letters, you can use the name of the person such as Dear Martha, Dear Jannet etc.

And you can end in one of the following ways: With love, Best Regards, Warm Wishes, Your Lovingly etc.

How many words shall you write?

The body of the letter shall have at least 150 words. However, an increase of 20-30 or even 40-50 words is acceptable but it is not recommended. Keep the letter as price as you can otherwise, irrelevant information that has creeped into your letter will lower down your score.

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