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Structure of Task-1 Question

The structure of the question will always be the same:
Part 1 – The topic
Part
2 – The person you must write to
Part 3 – What you should write about (listed as 3 bullet points)

Structure of IELTS Letter

The layout of your letter should essentially follow the structure of the question and consist of four paragraphs with a greeting at the beginning and a sign-off at the end. Here’s the easy to remember 6-part structure.

1)  Greetings
2)  Paragraph 1: Purpose – why you are writing
3)  Paragraph 2: Write about 1st bullet point
4)  Paragraph 3: Write about 2nd bullet point
5)  Paragraph 4: Write about 3rd bullet point
6)  Sign-off 

EXAMPLE QUESTION

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
You have recently taken a two-day course. Write to the course organiser to give your feedback. In your letter:
  •    give details of the course
  •    say what you liked or disliked about it
  •    suggest some improvements to the course.
Write at least 150 words. You DO NOT need to write any addresses. Begin your letter as follows:
Dear Sir or Madam,

EXAMPLE ANSWER

Now, using the letter structure fill in the detail from the question to create a plan for letter.

1)  Dear ….
2)  Paragraph 1: Purpose – to give feedback on the two-day course
3)  Paragraph 2:  give details of the course (bullet point 1)
4)  Paragraph 3: say what you liked or disliked about it (bullet point 2)
5)  Paragraph 4: suggest some improvements to the course (bullet point 3)
6)  Sign-off

1) The Greeting
We are not writing to a friend, so the tone of the letter will be formal. We don’t know the course organiser so we will use ‘sir’ or ‘madam’ as the greeting, i.e. ‘Dear Sir’/’Dear Madam’.

2) The Purpose
To give feedback on the two-day course.
State the reason that you are writing in one simple sentence. Use synonyms of key words used in the question where possible.

Example: 
I am writing to give you an evaluation of the TEFL course I took at Exeter College last weekend.

Now for the 3 main paragraphs, follow the IELTS letter writing structure and these guidelines.

  • Each paragraph should be about 50 words in length.
  • It must fully develop the topic of the bullet point.
  • Write about the bullet points in the order they appear in the question.
  • Use key words from the bullet point or use synonyms that make it clear which one you are writing about.
  • Leave a line between each paragraph to create a clear separation between them.

3) Paragraph 2
Give details of the course (bullet point 1)

Example:
Although there were 10 hours of classes each day, I did not find the days as exhausting as I had feared because there was a good mix of theory and practical sessions. The different styles of teaching from the various tutors also helped to keep everyone engaged and motivated.

4) Paragraph 3
Say what you liked or disliked about it (bullet point 2)

Example:
I particularly enjoyed the group work as I learnt a lot from the other students and had fun doing the activities with them. Changing the groups around each time so that we worked with different people was a great idea. There were also excellent handouts from all the sessions.

5) Paragraph 4:
Suggest some improvements to the course (bullet point 3)

Example:
My only criticism of the course is the lack of time given for the individual teaching practices we had to do each day. I do understand that with 20 people on the course, they did take up a lot of time, but 2 minutes per presentation was not long enough to practice all we had learnt. Addressing this issue would make an excellent course even better.

6) Signoff
Now we just have to sign off and our letter is complete. For a formal letter, there are two options. The correct one will depend on who you are addressing:

  • Dear Sir (name unknown) – Yours faithfully
  • Dear Mr Jones (name known) – Yours sincerely

We don’t know the name of the person we are writing to so we must use ‘Yours faithfully’.

Here are the six parts of letter brought together.

Dear Sir,

I am writing to give you an evaluation of the TEFL course I took at Exeter College last weekend.

Although there were 10 hours of classes each day, I did not find the days as exhausting as I had feared because there was a good mix of theory and practical sessions. The different styles of teaching from the various tutors also helped to keep everyone engaged and motivated.

I particularly enjoyed the group work as I learnt a lot from the other students and had fun doing the activities with them. Changing the groups around each time so that we worked with different people was a great idea. There were also excellent handouts from all the sessions.

My only criticism of the course is the lack of time given for the individual teaching practices we had to do each day. I do understand that with 20 people on the course, they did take up a lot of time, but 2 minutes per presentation was not long enough to practice all we had learnt. Addressing this issue would make an excellent course even better.

Yours faithfully,
John Smith

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