Hello, dear students!
It's Chris from IELTS Daily,
and I'm really excited
to be with you today
because we're talking about writing task one.
We're looking at general training tasks today
and we're going to look at a formal letter.
So, if you're preparing for the general training test,
many of you are,
then this video is just for you.
We're looking at writing task one.
If you're preparing for the academic training,
I still think it's a really great idea
for you to watch this video,
because we're going to be
looking at some language
that you could possibly use
during your speaking test.
So if you're ready, I'm ready.
Let's start this video now.
Now before we start this video,
I should say that you should
come along to the IELTS daily website.
You will see that on the screen now,
because this is where you can
download this sample answer.
We're going to be looking at
a writing task one, a formal letter.
And this is one of the components of your writing task.
You might have three different types of letters,
A former letter would be one of them.
You can download this sample answer
that you will be seeing on the screen very shortly,
and there are other sample answers
that you could possibly read and learn from.
We also have our Facebook page.
Don't forget to come and join us on Facebook.
If you're not already a fan,
we think these videos will be super useful.
Alright.
So coming up on the screen now,
you will see the question
and I'm gonna read
that question to you.
This question says:
You are organizing a trip
for a group of 4 friends.
You have found some accommodation
which you quite like.
Write a letter to the manager of the accommodation.
In the letter,
explain when you want to visit the accommodation.
Tell the manager the reason for your visit,
ask about the facilities of the accommodation.
Immediately,
I can see that this is a formal letter,
because you are asked to write to
a manager whom you don't know.
In the test,
it will tell you to start the letter with:
Dear Sir or Madam,
it's usually better to capitalize Sir and Madam,
so make sure you use a capital S and a capital M.
That's given to you in a test,
you shouldn't have to think about that too much.
Now in the test,
it is crucially important
if we look at the question now that
you have to answer those 3 bullet points.
There's always 3 bullet points In this test,
you should explain when.
Tell the manager the reason and ask about.
There are three things which you need to do.
Normally, I would recommend writing those
three things in three separate paragraphs.
But don't start each paragraph with:
I want to explain, or I want to tell you about,
I want to ask you about.
You have to do it
in a little bit more of a sophisticated way.
So 3 paragraphs in the body section.
But there is a little bit of an extra
paragraph which I would like to introduce
you to, and that's the intent ;
that's the reason for your writing.
So you're gonna write 4,
possibly 5 paragraphs
within the body of your letter,
and that's super important.
Really, really, really important to pay attention to.
Now I've written this sample answer,
which you will be seeing
on the screen very soon,
and I will try to explain to you
how and why I have written it like this,
and how it answers the question,
and how it would hopefully
reach above a band 8 during the test.
Let's see what my sample answer is.
I said:
Dear Sir or Madam,
I recently came across your hotel on the Internet,
and I wanted to write since
I have some questions before I make the booking.
So in this case,
I am writing my intention.
I have some questions,
and that's one of the reasons
why you are writing.
And the question will tell you
that at the very beginning,
you're writing a letter to the manager,
so I want you to briefly explain your intent.
Tell the person why you are writing.
And that's not necessarily answering any
one of those three questions,
the 3 bullet points,
but it is explaining to the reader
just where the letter is going.
So a simple paragraph,
it could be one or two lines.
Just telling the reader
what the intent of the letter is.
It's a very important point.
Then our first body paragraph,
the main one, is going to answer the question.
which was about explaining when.
What did I say?
Now, the first paragraph is:
I would be interested in
making a booking the first week of May next year.
Ideally, from the second to the seventh of May.
The booking will be five people,
three single people and one couple.
Do you have availability during that time?
So I'm asking a question.
So you've explained when;
we've given exact dates
and explained a little bit more
about the requirements.
The next paragraph is going to tell the manager
for the reason for your visit.
The reason I chose your hotel was because
it fits our requirements very well.
We are looking to celebrate my friend's birthday
with some outdoor activities, walking,
light swimming and some mountain climbing.
Your hotel seems perfectly located
for those activities,
for these activities, forgive me.
So we've used some language there
to fit our requirements.
Please also note that I did not contract my words.
For example:
We are, I didn't contract it to we're
because it's a formal letter.
It's always a better idea
To use the full word,
in its full form.
So I've explained why.
I've said that the hotel is perfectly located
because we want to do some activities,
and I gave some examples of activities.
The third paragraph is going to be
asking about the facilities.
So make sure you ask about the facilities
or things which are on-off.
That leads me on to my questions about the accommodation.
Firstly, as we will be coming back
quite wet and muddy,
do you have a drying room and
a place to store wet clothes?
So there's a question.
Secondly, after a long day being active,
I was hoping for some sort of
relaxation area at the hotel.
Do you happen to have this available?
Two questions,
because in the question it says,
ask about the facilities.
You have to ask about more than one facility.
Okay, so be prepared.
If you ask for plural,
you need to address the plural form.
Please let me know about the availability
and also whether you have those things
I have asked about.
Your sincerely, Tim G.
Okay, you could finish it with yours faithfully,
that's also a suitable way to end it.
You don't know this person,
so maybe even yours faithfully might be
a better way to end it,
but yours sincerely is totally appropriate.
You will notice in the sample answer,
which you can download from IELTS daily website,
we've given you some useful language
which you might want to think about, so come across.
I find, I came across, to make a booking,
that's a collocation.
To fit somebody's requirements.
It fits our requirements.
That leads me on to,
so you're using cohesion and cohesive devices
to show progression through your writing,
through your letter.
Wet and muddy is a binomial, it's a collocation.
So lots and lots of high level language there,
I've covered all the main points,
the 3 bullet points in the question.
And I had it in intent,
I kept the tone formal throughout,
I didn't make contractions.
I think this would be overall,
above a band 8.
What do you think?
Do you like this particular sample?
If you do,
please leave your comments and ideas in the section below.
Come back for more writing task one general ideas.
I look forward to seeing you on Facebook or on Youtube.
My name is Chris from IELTS daily,
the best place for you to learn and
practice IELTS every day.
Bye for now.