IELTS Letter Writing Samples
In this video we're going to look at tips, some of the tasks and just basically a quick
tutorial, and some help regarding IELTS Task 1.
"General" by the way, general letter writing.
Hello there.
My name is Ben Worthington.
And in this video we're goint to look at IELTS Academic Task 1 (the general one).
And we're going to look at some phrases, I'm going to look at the structure of the actual...
How you do your writing.
And then we're going to look at some IELTS Writing Task 1 samples, at the end.
I'll give you a link for the samples at the end.
Regarding the structure, this is probably the easiest part.
And if you're doing IELTS Task 1 general, then you're in luck because I think (personally)
this is the easiest part of the writing exam.
So much easier than the academic.
And the reason why is because you've got...
Basically, you've got the structure already laid out for you.
If you've got 3 bullet points for example:
"Write a letter of complaint to X-company..."
"Write what you're not happy with."
"Write what happened."
"Write what upset you."
"Write what you expect to be done."
For example.
Those are your three bullet points.
Now what you do is you structure your essay just using these.
Structure your letter using these bullet points.
Really simple.
Just go write 3 or 4 sentences about the first bullet point, do the same for the 2nd, do
the same for the 3rd.
Okay?
Easy.
So your structure is there in front of you.
Piece of cake.
Now second part.
Second reason why it's quite easy is because formal letter writing (and to a certain extent
"infromal letter writing") has its unique language.
Its unique set of phrases and sentences that are expected.
So if you use them, you're not going to lose points.
In fact, you're going to get gain points by using these expressions.
And the good thing is if you learn the expressions correctly, then you don't have to worry about
the grammar when you use it.
Because it's just a case of copy-pasting and adapting them.
So it's really simple.
Now, what I'll do is I'll go through and I'll give some of these terms that you should write
down.
So grab a pen, write them down.
This will help you memorize them and help you learn them a little bit better.
And then you've got your list and you can start using them.
Use them today in the letters that you're writing.
Okay?
So let's first look at the formal ones.
Alright, the formal ones.
If you've got a question and it says:
"Write a letter to Mr. Jones, the managing director of X-company."
Then use the name.
Say:
"Dear Mr. Jones, I'm writing..."
If you don't have the names, do not use them.
Don't invent them.
You can just say:
"Dear Sir/Madam,"
And then you'll go into what you're writing in the letter.
In this case, you should use a very clear, sort of like opening sentence which explains
exactly what you're going to do.
So "I'm writing with regards to a recent product I bought."
"I'm writing on behalf of my employee."
"I'm writing to..."
And then after that, stick in what's necessary.
If you're asking for help, you could just say:
"Could you please..."
or "I would like it if you could..."
What the important thing is there, is to use the model verbs.
If you're asking for information, we can use the sentence:
"I'm writing to inquire about..."
If you're apologizing you could say:
"I am sorry that..."
Or if you're writing on behalf of the company you could say:
"We deeply regret...
your experience..."
Set phrases.
If you're writing for a job advertisement, if you want to respond to a job advertisement,
you could say:
"I'm writing in relation to a job advertised on Johnson&Johnson website, 23rd of May."
And these are just set phrases that you must use, okay?
You'll pick up points not only for using the appropriate language but it's also grammatically
perfect.
Okay, let's carry on...
If you're writing a complaint letter, lots of complaint, you should say:
"I am not happy about..."
or
"I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with..."
And then you introduce what you're not happy about, obviously.
Now, to close the letter, once again, same language.
"If you require further information..."
You could say:
"If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me."
Or
"I am looking forward to your reply."
"I'm looking forward to your comments on the matter."
Once again, get a list of all these phrases (hopefully you've got your own list in front
of you) write them all down, memorize them.
Start using them and you'll see that Writing Task 1 General, General Writing Task 1 is
not difficult.
Now, I'll give you some tips regarding writing formal letters and the informal letters.
And then I'll give you a link of examples.
So first of all, if you are writing a formal essay, formal letter, remember to use "will"
and not "going to."
This is important because "going to" is used more in your spoken English.
Whereas "will" is more formal and you'll see it more especially in business like this.
So use "will."
Point No. 2: Do not use contractions.
Contractions are more for your spoken English as well.
And be careful.
Once you finish writing, go back through your essay and just check that you haven't used
a contraction.
Go through and if you have, then separate it into two separate words.
This is really important.
Because it's very easy to be unconscious of the fact that you have written it down.
Because what you're basically doing is putting words which are in your mind.
And in your mind, you've probably think with contractions.
It's kind of strange.
But you need ot go back and correct those errors.
Now, the final points, I've down on it briefly before, is use the model verbs if you're asking
for help.
Or asking for information, or asking for advice.
And model verbs are more polite.
So for example, if you could not, you do not say:
"I want information regarding product x,y,z."
No.
"I would like some information regarding product x,y,z."
Now, the final point is:
If you are writing an informal essay, an informal letter, make sure you do not use that vocabulary
in the language that I just gave you.
What you need to do is make it very familiar.
So for example:
If you get the task "Write a letter to your friend asking for information about a used
university course at the city, or being offered at the local university."
In this case, lots of familiarity.
Lots of contractions.
Use different tenses.
Use "going to" for example.
And just jump in there with two feet, more or less.
So you could say:
"Hey, Maria!
How's things at your end?"
A little bit of an expression there.
"How's things at your end?
Hope all's good."
Lots of contractions there.
"Hope all is good."
No, "Hope all's good."
"Hope all's good with the family and your boyfriend."
Whatever.
Full stop.
"I'm planning to come up to Avedine next year and I was wondering if you've got any information
about the university course xxx."
And basically, you're going to write it as thought you're having a conversation with
the person in front of you.
So don't worry about the contractions, and when you're closing the letter just put something
like:
"Keep in touch!
All the best, Ben" or whatever.
And you can even put the P.S.
"P.S.
Say "hi" to Barry for me."
or whatever.
Well just to show the examiner that you know how to write an informal letter and you are
comfortable using sort of like native English expressions.
You basically know the language to use.
Now, if you want the samples, you can sign in to ieltspodcast.com and you'll find a big
PDF there.
Lots of letter writing samples, examples, and lists of phrases, and very useful.
Also, remember to subscribe to the YouTube channel and you'll get updates.
Lots more videos to come.
Take care and have a good day.
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