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IELTS COURSES --> IELTS Lesson --> General training writing

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Opening and Closing A Letter

Objective: To learn how to open and close a letter for IELTS General Training Task 1.

There are three types of letter that you may come across in this task:

Formal
Semi-formal
Informal

Each of these open and close in a different way.

Opening and Closing a Formal Letter

A formal letter will usually be to some kind of company.

For example:

Bank
Insurance Company
Airline

This means that you are usually writing to someone you do not know.

Opening the Letter

Dear + ?

· Sir = you know it is a man

· Madam = you know it is a woman

· Sir / Madam = you don’t know

Closing the Letter

The way you open it determines how you close it. You gave it a formal opening, and therefore it needs a formal closing.

If you have opened a letter as above, then this is how you close it:

· Yours faithfully,

Semi-formal Letter

A semi-formal letter will usually be to someone you know, or at least you know their name.

For example:

Landlord
Employer
Librarian
Doctor
School Counsellor

Opening the Letter

To open the letter, you use the family or surname (not the first or full name). They differ depending on whether it is to a man or a woman.

Example 1: To a man

Paul Jones = You know his name and it’s a man.

· Dear Mr Jones,

Example 2: To a woman

Julie Smith – You know it’s a woman but is she married or not?

· Dear Miss Smith, = You know she is unmarried or single.

· Dear Mrs Smith, = You know she is married or a widow (married when her husband died).

· Dear Ms Smith, = Neutral i.e. you don’t know if she’s married or not (best for IELTS as you will not know).

Closing the Letter

· Yours sincerely,

Informal

An informal letter is to someone you know every well, like a friend or family.

Opening

· Dear John,

· Dear Mary,

Closing

· Best wishes,

· Best regards,

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

You live in a room in college which you share with another student. However, there are many problems with this arrangement and you find it very difficult to work.

Write a letter to the accommodation officer at the college. In the letter,

• describe the situation

• explain your problems and why it is difficult to work

• say what kind of accommodation you would prefer

Write at least 150 words.

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Count: 0 word(s)

Sample:

Band 7 sample

Accommodation Officer

13, Kings Road

Edinburgh

Dear Sir,

I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with my roommate and request for another accommodation next term.

My main problem is that I cannot study in my room because my room-mate always has friends visiting. He also has parties, which usually ends early in the morning, several times a week. Furthermore, he often borrows my things without asking me. I cannot accept this situation any longer. Especially because I have very important exams next term and I really must study hard. This is why I would be very grateful if I could have another room next term. It would be most convenient for me not having to share my room with somebody else.

I am looking forward to hear from you soon.

Yours faithfully,

ABC

Examiner comment

This answer is also short. Although ideas are often provided in the task rubric, candidates are at liberty to include some of their own ideas in their answers. In this case, the candidate has attempted to incorporate some original material. The answer reads quite fluently, is well organised and there is good use of conjunctions to link points. There are some grammatical errors but these do not affect the reader greatly and there is evidence of some more complex sentence

structures.

Band 5 sample

5^th, March 2013

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with my room-mate. As you know, we share one room, I can not study in the room at all if I stay there.

She always has friend visiting and has parties in the room. They make lots of noise and switch on the radio very loudly, for me this environment is very difficult to study and I need a quiet room. Even borrows my things without asking, it is very impolite.

I request you can give me a new room next term because I have been asked her has parties in other place many times they still have parties in the room. I really can not stay in the same room with her.

I would be grateful if you could change me a single room.

Your faithfully,

Catherine

Examiner comment

The answer is below the word limit and there is some repetition of the task rubric. (Length is a common problem in General Training scripts.) Answers that are short lose marks because of inadequate content and may also lose marks because there is insufficient material in the answer for the examiner to give credit for accuracy and coherence. Despite these problems, the introduction to the letter is appropriate and the purpose of the writer is clear. The points are not always linked together well and punctuation is sometimes faulty. The sentences are kept quite simple and mistakes occur as soon as more complex structures are attempted.

Total: 42 page(s)

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