IELTS General Writing Task 1 Tips
IELTS General Task is a letter on which you should spend 20 minutes. Many candidates find it difficult and confusing because of it types as they don’t understand which letter stands in which category. So, in this article we will discuss IELTS General Writing Task 1 Tips which will help you to score more in the exam.
10 Ways to achieve good scores in IELTS Letter Writing Task
1. Be familiar with each type: 3 types of letters are there which you are being asked to write-formal, semi-formal or informal letter. Make sure that you are able to identify the letter by type .Your entire writing style is based on this. Adjust your style and choice of words according to the type of letter you have been asked to write.
2. Use appropriate expressions / phrases to start and end letter: Remember that each type of letter requires a different opening and closing. The chart below will assist you to remember this:
| Style | Characteristics | Opening | Ending |
| Formal | To someone whom you have not met, whose name you don’t know | Dear Sir / Madam | Yours faithfully |
| Semi- formal | To someone you may or may not have met, whose last name you know & can use it in your letter | Dear Mr. Watson Dear Ms .Harris | Yours sincerely |
| Informal | To someone you know very well, whose first name you know and use ( your friends or someone who is very close to you) | Dear Johnson Dear Amisha | Best regards Warm wishes |
3. Start a formal and semi-formal letter with a formal sentence: In such type of letters, you don’t have to be friendly, since you do not know the person you are writing to. Get right down to business and mention the reason of writing, as shown below:
Dear Sir / Madam,
I am writing to inquire about / I am writing in connection with…
Dear Mr
I am writing to inform you … / I am writing in connection with .
4. Initiate writing an informal letter with a general, friendly paragraph: To friends whom we know, we care about the whole person, this informal letter is written. We have a good relationship in the context of which this communication is taking place. Thus, it is excellent acknowledge that friendship first, before getting down to the reason for your letter. In fact, the first paragraph could be purely friendly small talk, unrelated to the main reason for your writing. Here is an example below:
Dear Johnson
I hope you and your family are all well!. It was such a pleasure to see you again last summer. We sure had a great time catching up with each other after so many years. You have always been a cherished friend, no matter how much of a gap there has been since we met.
Anyway, the reason I’m writing is that I have some good news – I am getting married this summer…
5. Understand the main purpose of the letter: Are you asking for help, apologizing, inviting someone, complaining or thanking someone? Gain knowledge about appropriate and polite expressions that will support what you need to say.
6. Make sure to learn and use standard written phrases: Students, sometimes, struggle to finish their writing in time. This happens when you are trying to write every sentence from scratch. The fact is, in conventional letter writing in English, a number of standard expressions and phrases could be used and add on to them the specific information that you wish to communicate. By learning how to use these expressions, you will find the letter writing task much easier and will never have to fight for time.
7. Write at least 150 words: Don’t forget to practice writing letters till you come to know what 150 words feels like and looks like. You will lose scores if you write less. You will not lose marks if you write more than 180 words; the only restriction on writing more is in terms of time, not the number of words.
8. Learn the appropriate spelling of words that are commonly used: It is surprising how many IELTS students make mistakes when spelling words such as “sincerely”, “faithfully”, “in connection with” and so on. You can prevent yourself from losing marks by learning the correct spelling of these words and expressions which you are highly likely to use on your exam.
9. Don’t go off topic: For completing your letter within 20 minutes or less, practice writing letters where you stick to the pointer the demand of question. The General IELTS Task 1 does require you to make up a bit of a story to complete your letter; however ,don’t make your story so complicated that you run out of time / don’t write unnecessary things.
10. Write about all three bulleted points of the question:. If you forget to write on even one of the points given to you in the question prompt, you will lose valuable marks. Practice writing letters that include the three points and go back and check that you have written about each practice exercise you do.
