IELTS by Aamir Mughal in Islamabad, Pakistan

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IELTS exam dates in ISLAMABAD IELTS Speaking General Training Writing Sample Reports Weblink 4 Report Writing Essay: Samples & Topics Transitions/ Connectors Grammar Vocabulary Building Links 4 Over all Improvement A Success Story Change to GT Reading Testimonials Home General Hints for Writing Task 1 2 The Opening Greeting of the Letter Your letter will probably need to be a reasonably informal letter to a friend or a semi-formal letter. The opening of your letter should reflect which one you are writing. A friendly letter will open with Dear followed by a name which should then be followed by a comma, eg: Dear John, A semi-formal letter will also open with Dear and then be followed

by a name, (if you decide that in the situation you would know the name) or by Sir (if it's a man), Madam (if it's a woman) or Sir/Madam if you don't know, eg: Dear Mr. Phillips, Dear Mrs. Phillips, Dear Sir, Dear Madam, Dear Sir/Madam, The question also might specify how you are to begin so follow what it says. 3 The Opening Paragraph of the Letter In a semi-formal letter, I feel it is important to state the reason for the letter straight away. You could use the following to help you: I am writing to ask/ tell//inform you that... I am writing to ask/inquire... I am writing with regard to... I am writing with reference to... I am writing in connection with... I am writing in response to... In reply to your letter, I am writing to... (if the question indicates that you have had a letter) If the letter is a less formal one to a friend then you should open the letter in a friendlier way. EG:

Dear John, Hi there! It's been so long since I've heard from you. I hope you are doing well and I hope all you family are doing fine. I'm pretty good in spite of working hard. Anyway, the reason I'm writing is... 4 The Substance of the Letter I've already gone into detail about answering the question fully and using your imagination to produce a realistic letter fulfilling all functions so I won't repeat that. Through great experience with IELTS, I can say that questions tend to ask you to do certain things. Here I will give you some ideas about some language to use in the substance of the letter which will help you to answer the task well. Asking for Help I would like you to... I would be grateful if you could... I need to ask your advice about... I'd like to ask for information about... What I'm looking for is... Complaining I'm writing to express my dissatisfaction/annoyance/ about... I'm writing to express my anger at...

I am not happy about... ... is not what I expected/was expecting. I want to know what you are going to do about this situation. NB When complaining, don't get too angry. I've had students who really became too heated in their complaints. In a polite semi-formal letter, this should not happen. Also, do not over-exaggerate. If it's a reasonably small and understandable problem, do say that you're not satisfied but show that you understand and stay calm in your expressions. Thanking I'm very grateful for... I'd like to thank you very much for... I very much appreciated... Apologizing I'm very sorry that/about... Please forgive me for... I'd like to apologize about... Please accept my apologies 5 Ending your Letter First of all, in English we often end letters before the sign off with certain phrases. These can be included in most letters and will make your letter seem realistic and polished. For a formal letter, you could use: If you require any further information, please do not

hesitate to contact me. Thanking you in advance for your help, I look forward to hearing from you soon.

For a more informal letter you could use: If you need to know anything else, just get in touch with me as soon as you can. Thanks a lot for your help and I hope to hear from you soon. Be careful though! IELTS examiners quite rightly look for writing that has been memorised and just repeated so, if you use expressions like the ones above, make sure that they fit in with the rest of your letter. Finally you'll need to sign off your letter. For a formal letter use: Yours faithfully, OR Yours sincerely, Remember the commas (it makes a good impression on the examiner if you use good punctuation) and spell "sincerely" correctly (a lot of people don't!).

For an informal letter, love is not always appropriate though English speakers use it a lot. Better would be to use: Regards, Yours, Best wishes,

Sample task 1 for general training module

Yo u will move to a new city for work. You know some people who live there

1. 2. 3.

Ask them for help finding accommodation Tell them where you would like to live Tell them the type of place you are looking for

Dear Sir I wanted to let you know that I am coming to live in (city) and I would like to ask if you can help me with a few things before I arrive and start my new job.

Do you think you could give me a hand finding somewhere to live? Ideally I would like to live close to where I am going to be working, or in the downtown district. If possible I would like to be near some shops, like a supermarket and a DVD rental place. As I really love sports it would be great to be near a park too.

Im not too worried about the place itself. Obviously I will be looking for a flat, rather than a house, as it is just going to be me and I wont be able to afford too much. So, a place with one bedroom is fine, but I would like to have a private bathroom (not shared), a kitchen and some kind of living room. It doesnt matter if the kitchen is small, but it would nice to have one. I would prefer to live somewhere new, so anything in a modern apartment block would be great.

Thanks for your help (206 words)

Yours truly,

Your car is hired from a company and while you are driving on holiday, you have a small accident. You will have to write a report to the company to explain it. You need to explain the following: 1. When and where you hired it? 2. Describe how the accident happened? 3. What kind of action did you take after the accident?

Dear Sir I am a recent customer of your rental company having I rented a car from your downtown outlet in Detroit. The car hired was an economy model vehicle which I rented from March 21st to the present. I would

like to commend your company on their professionalism and the service offered, and as such I am sure you will handle my incident with these qualities.

Unfortunately, I had an unavoidable accident involving the aforementioned vehicle and another party. The accident was caused by the other car failing to stop at the red light of the intersection I was passing through, and as such the second party collided into the driver's side of my automobile. The police were informed in situ, whereupon they recorded information regarding the accident and the other drivers insurance details.

The police established the other driver's responsibility for the accident, and the second party's insurance company has been informed. I would like to request that a replacement vehicle be offered while my current vehicle is incapacitated. Once again, I would like to commend your company's

professional attitude.

Yours sincerely (184 words

You cannot go to a company where you got an offer. Write a letter to the HR supervisor to 1. Explain the reason why you decline the offer 2. Express you gratitude 3. Explain you like your current job very much. Dear Sir I was a potential employee to whom you made a job offer. I would like to extend my thanks for such an offer, especially at such a company as yours. It is, however, with deepest regret that I must decline your generous invitation and apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused.

I appreciate immensely the interview organized by your company and the extensive effort made by all the staff involved. Their attitude was impressive and highly commendable. As such I must pass my sincerest apologies for any difficulties related to the extra work that must have been involved, and the time wasted on your behalf. Although the offer was substantial, it wasnt enough to encourage me to sever the bonds with my current employer. During my time at my present company my superiors supported me and fostered my career. In short, they made me the employee I am today.

I would like to keep the lines of communication open between our two parties, and look forward to further correspondence.

Yours sincerely

(174 words)

You have just spent a weekend at a friends house. When you returned home, you discovered you have left a coat containing some belongings in his house. Write a letter to your friend telling him that you left the coat. Tell him what the coat looks like, where you think you left it and what was inside it. Make some suggestions about how to get it back.

Dear John, I am back at home now after that great weekend at your house. Thanks very much for putting me up. I hope you will be able to come and stay with me some time soon as well.

Unfortunately I left my new coat at your house. Do you remember

the dark brown one that I wore when we went walking on Saturday afternoon? It is a New Look coat that goes down to midthigh level. It has a black collar, dark brown buttons and large pockets on both sides. I think I left it on the hooks behind your front door. Do you remember we hung up our coats there when we got back from our walk? It s quite important for me as I have my wallet in the inside breast pocket and my diary in the right outside pocket. I have a friend who is driving through your town on Thursday and he will be quite near your office. Could he please collect it from there? I have given him your office phone number and he will call you on Thursday morning. Give me a call if this is not possible.

Anyway, thanks again for a great weekend and I hope to see you soon.

Regards, (208 words)

You have been offered a job, asking you to start next week. You want the job very much but, because of a previous commitment, you want to delay the start for another two weeks. Write to the Manager, accepting the job, but explaining your situation and asking for the change to your start date.

model answer (with some errors): Dear Sir or Madam I am writing to request putting off the job which you have offered. I really want the job but I have a important previous commitment. So, I cannot start to work next week.

I was offered the job yesterday, which wanted me to start next week. Thank you so much for offering the job. I really want to work at your company. However, I cannot start next week because I have a previous commitment which is my sister's wedding. It is next weekend, besides. She lives in Korea and she want me to prepare her wedding with my parents. So I have to go to Korea next Monday. After the wedding I will travel a few days with my parents who wanted me to travel because I have lived for 4 years far from home.

That is why I cannot start the work next week. I will come back to Sydney two weeks later. I would like to delay the start for another two weeks. Could you delay the start date for me?

Once again, thank you very much for offering it. I look

forward to hearing from you as soon as possible. Yours faithfully Comment: This letter shows fluency, and includes some variety in vocabulary and expressions. However, there is also some repetition and some errors in grammar, such as the following: 1) Choice of the type of article when the following word begins with a vowel sound (line 1) 2) Verb tense (line 2) 3) Incorrect linkage (replace relative clause) (line 3) 4) Incorrect use of vocabulary (line 5) 5) Missing preposition (line 7) 6) Word order (line 7) 7) Incorrect vocabulary (line 8) 8) Incorrect time expressions (line 8) 9) Agreement: linking of it to related singular noun (line 1)

List of Gen Tr Task 1 Topics Here is the list of letters that will help you prepare for the General Training Task 1. 1. You bought an iron from a local shop, yesterday. When you got it home, you found that it does not work properly. In addition, the water container also leaks. Write a letter to the shop manager and request another iron. You would prefer another brand. Explain the reasons why do you want the replacement?

2.

You share a room of a hostel. You are not happy with this arrangement. You find it very difficult to get along with this roommate. Write a letter to the Accommodation Officer and explain the situation. Suggest a new arrangement. You are planning to open a restaurant in a newly constructed shopping mall. The management of the mall has offered you a place in the mall. Write a letter to the manager of the mall and request for the details. Your child wants to go on a school excursion to a town about twenty miles away. The children will sleep overnight at a youth hostel. Write a letter to the principal of the school about the facilities at youth hostel, how the children will be supervised, and whether they will need to bring their own bed linen. You traveled from London to Houston last month and lost a suitcase during the flight. You talked to the manager luggage but still have not received any response, in this regard. Write a letter to him and explain the whole situation. Describe your suitcase precisely and tell him what was in it. You have a neighbor who regularly cooks food on a very smoky outdoor barbecue. The smoke directly blows into your home. You have already complained to your neighbor but he refused to clean the barbecue. Request him to stop this exercise as it is creating continuous nuisance. You are organizing a school trip to a place of interest, a days drive from the school. You have planned to stay in the youth hostel. Write a letter to the hostel warden and enquire of the available facilities, such as, food and entertainment. Also gather information about the dress code and the type of accommodation they offer.

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The local car garage has sent you a $400 bill for the repair of your car. You know that you only/ requested for tuning and rear wheel alignment only which does not cost too much. Write a letter to the manager of the garage explaining the whole situation. Try to clarify your situation. You borrowed some books from the college library and were unable to return because you had to travel to another city to see one of your close relatives who is hospitalized after a road accident. Write a letter to the librarian and explain what happened.

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10. Write a letter to a bus company saying you have left something valuable on the bus. Request them to look into this matter. 11. Your neighbours have recently written to you to complain about the noise from your flat. Write a letter to your neighbours. In your letter: explain the reasons for the noise; apologise; and describe what action you will take. 12. You are the secretary of your college debating society. A local politician has been in the news recently for his/her views on the banning of blood sports. Your members have suggested he/she might make a good guest speaker at a debate on hunting. Write to the politician inviting him/her to speak at a debate. Include details of venue, time, other speakers and refreshments. 13. Your children are frequent users of a local public swimming pool. Recently they have been unwilling to go to the pool and you suspect they may have been bullied by older children there. Write a letter to the Pool Superintendent. 14. You have a full time job and are also doing a part time evening course. You now find that you can not continue the course. Write a letter to your course tutor. In your letter, describe the situation,

explain why you can not continue at this time, and say what action you would like to take.

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