The answer below has been rated based on the public IELTS descriptors. Click the word or words in red to see the correction, and scroll to the bottom of the page to read our comments on the letter.
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
A family member is coming to stay with you. He/she will be arriving by train in the morning, but you won’t be home until the evening. Write a letter to your relative. In your letter:
- explain arrangements you have made for them to have keys and get into the house
- tell your relative how to get from the train station to your house
- say when you will be home and suggest what you could do together that evening
Write at least 150 words.
You do NOT need to write any addresses.
Begin your letter as follows:
Dear………………………
Dear John,
I am very glad you are coming to visit me. Unfortunately, I will be busy until the evening on the day you arrive, but dont [‘don’t’] worry, I left [‘will leave’] the keys to my house under the door math [‘mat’] so you can get in and make yourself at home until I get there.
Now, once you get out of [‘off’] the train go directly to the bus station and wait for the number 45 route bus that will take you to my house. It is a twenty minute bus trip that makes a nice tour through town. When the bus reaches the old church at Winchester Avenue get off the bus [delete this (repetition)] and walk one block down to get to my house. The full adress is 357 Winchester Avenue.
I will be arriving [this is slightly too formal for a letter to a friend – ‘get back’ suits better] around 7:00 p.m. which is a perfect time for us to have some italian dinner on a nice restaurant downtown. [‘dinner at a great Italian restaurant downtown’]
Yours sincerely, [again, this is a little too formal – could say ‘all the best’ or ‘looking forward to seeing you’]
David
(158 words)
Comments:
This is a well written letter that covers all sections of the question. There are a few issues with punctuation (‘italian’), but overall the vocabulary and grammar are well controlled.
The ending of the letter (‘yours sincerely’) doesn’t suit a letter to a family member, but apart from that the register is appropriate.