Letter Writing Basics

Warm-up: Your first letter, planned in a minute

2 warm-up questions

• When did you last write a letter or a formal email in English? Who was it to — and was it easy to choose the right tone?
• First try: 'Your neighbour's dog barks all night. Write a letter to your neighbour.' Take two minutes and talk your plan through out loud — how would you open, what would you say, how would you close?

Reading: What the examiner is judging

Read a 221-word text about What the examiner is judging

What the examiner is judging Task 1 of IELTS General Training gives you 20 minutes to write a letter of at least 150 words. The examiner marks four things equally: Task Achievement (all three bullet points, in the right tone), Coherence (clear paragraphs that flow), Vocabulary and Grammar. The letter type is the first decision — and the recipient decides it for you. Three letter types. Informal for friends and family — Dear Anna, / Hi Anna,, contractions, warm language. Semi-formal for people you know slightly — a landlord, a neighbour, a colleague — Dear Mr Lee,, polite but human. Formal for strangers and organisations — Dear Sir or Madam,, no contractions at all. Where the bands divide. At Band 6, the examiner sees a letter that covers the bullet points but slips between formal and informal phrases, with ideas mentioned rather than developed. At Band 7, the purpose is clear from the first sentence, the tone is consistent from greeting to sign-off, and every bullet point gets its own developed sentences — not a passing mention. The trap that costs the most marks: rushing one of the three bullet points. The examiner is literally counting them. A beautiful letter that develops two of three bullets cannot score well on Task Achievement — aim for one paragraph per bullet, every time.

Vocabulary: Letter Vocabulary

6 items

Framework: The GREET Framework

GREET, 5 steps

GREET: A 5-step framework for structuring any IELTS letter. GREET ensures you cover all the requirements and use the right format.

Reading: The finished Band 7 letter

Read a 266-word text about The finished Band 7 letter

The finished Band 7 letter Remember your two-minute plan from the warm-up? Here is that task finished: a complete semi-formal letter of about 160 words. The GREET moves are bold — greet, reason, elaborate, end, thanks and close. The letter Dear Mr Okafor, I hope you don't mind me writing — I wanted to get in touch about your dog, Rex, who has been barking most nights recently, usually between midnight and two in the morning. Firstly, I should say that Rex is no trouble at all during the day. At night, however, the barking carries directly into our bedroom, and over the past two weeks my wife and I have hardly slept. I'm starting work exhausted, and I'm sure you would want to know about it before it became a bigger problem. Would it be possible to keep Rex inside the house at night, at least on weekdays? Some friends of mine had the same issue with their dog and found that this solved it completely. Thank you for understanding — I'm sure we can sort this out easily. Do let me know if you'd like to talk it over. Best regards, Daniel Novak Why this scores on Task Achievement and Tone All three bullet points get their own developed sentences: the problem (when and how often Rex barks), the effect (two weeks of lost sleep, exhausted at work), and a specific suggestion (inside at night, on weekdays). And the tone holds steady from Dear Mr Okafor to Best regards — friendly, never aggressive, and without a single phrase you would send to a company.

Discussion: Plan it like the examiner reads it

3 discussion questions

• Mission: plan and write the opening and first body paragraph of this task: 'You recently moved to a new city. Write a letter to your English-speaking friend: explain why you moved, describe the new city, invite your friend to visit.' First tell your tutor the type and register, then write. (Success = correct informal register + a fully developed first bullet point. Tutor: give them 5 minutes, then check the tone word by word.)
• Second take: same task, but the letter now goes to a former colleague you respect but don't know well. What changes in your greeting, your tone and your sign-off?
• Callback: look at your two-minute plan for the barking-dog letter from the warm-up. Using GREET, what would you do differently now — and which bullet point had you forgotten?