How to write an IELTS letter

Taking the General Training module in the International English Language Test System means that your writing examination Task 1 would require that you write a letter. There are generally two kinds of letters in the IELTS – formal, which you write for people who you are not quite familiar with, and informal or friendly letter. In order to successfully complete your Task 1, you must write a minimum of 150 words for 20 minutes.

Here are other tips that you should consider when writing your IELTS GT Writing Task 1:
1.       Answer all of the questions in the task. Make sure that you answer all of the questions in Task 1. Usually, there are three (3). Be creative. Add details and be realistic with them. Make sure that if you are asked to narrate something that your story is logical and chronological. However, do not go overboard with details. Remember your time limit.

2.       Be simple but not simplistic. The examiners would appreciate a touch of sophistication. Sprinkle sophisticated words into your writing. Subtlety is important when emphasizing that you are good in English. Do not dump your entire lexical pool into it. Try and avoid redundancy as well. Even if you have to complete the 150-word requirement, remember that the lexical resource component of marking your test demands that you use words correctly and efficiently.

3.       Stick with formal writing style. Letters will mostly be formal, and this style should manifest in your writing. This means no abbreviations, contractions, and slang. Stay away from literary writing. It may be pretty, but it has no place in formal writing.

4.       Do the full-block style. This means that all of your sentences should be flushed to the left. This is the easiest format of writing formal letters so you can never go wrong with it.

5.       Write legibly, because if your handwriting is unreadable, then you either get marked down for it, or your examiner will just mark your exam without reading it. If your handwriting is difficult to understand, your perfect Grammar and flawless use of words shall have very little bearing to your exam results.

Since IELTS Writing Task 1 for GT is much easier than its Academic counterpart and it gives 33.33% of the total score in IELTS Writing Exam, having a well-written letter would contribute a great deal to getting the score you want.


Good luck. 

No comments:

Post a Comment