IELTS General Training: informal and formal

For my first two General Training lessons I wrote examples of an informal and a formal letter.
Today I want to highlight some of the differences between them.

Informal letter:

 Beginning: Dear + first name

 Friendly greeting: I hope this letter finds you well.
 Contractions: I'm, didn't, couldn't, there's...
 Questions: Do you remember...? Why don't you...?
 Exclamation: ...earlier than I thought it was!
 Linking: Well, Anyway, so, and
 Phrases: had a great time, couldn't have asked for, working flat out, back to normal
 Ending: Hope to see you soon + first name

Formal letter:

 Beginning: Dear Sir or Madam

 No greeting necessary
 No contractions: I am, did not...
 Normally avoid direct questions: "I would like" instead of "Can I have?"
 No exclamation marks (!)
 Linking: However, Consequently, and, also
 Phrases and vocabulary: with regard to, appliance, it was installed, the following day, failed to
(meaning "didn't"), procedure, he assured me, report the issue, contacted, under warranty, I
am entitled to, replacement, phone me personally
 Ending: I await your prompt response, Yours faithfully + full name
 Formal and you don’t know the name:

 Dear Sir/Madam

 Yours faithfully

 Formal and you do know the name:

 Dear [Mr(s). Family Name]

 Yours sincerely

 Semi-Formal:

 Dear [First Name]

 Kind regards

 Informal:

 Dear [First Name]

 Best wishes
Planning a Formal Letter
People don’t normally plan letters but in the IELTS test you really
should. In fact, I have met very few students who wrote a band 9 letter
and didn’t make a plan before writing.

As you can see above, all task 1 questions on the General Training
paper follow the same format. They will first tell you the situation (the
reason why you are writing) and then give you three bullet points that
you have to cover. This is good news for us because it means we can
follow the same structure every time.

Here is the formal letter structure I tell all of my General Training IELTS
students to follow.

Dear Sir/Madam

Paragraph 1- Say why you are writing to them. (I am writing with

regard to…)

Paragraph 2- Bullet point 1 and supporting details

Paragraph 3- Bullet point 2 and supporting details

Paragraph 4- Bullet point 3 and supporting details

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully

[Your Full Name]

 Useful Language
Below is a selection of useful language for you to use in a formal
letter. The phrases you choose will depend on the context of
the question.

Beginning
 I am writing this letter with regard to…

 I am writing to bring to your attention…

 I am writing to inform you that…

 I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with…..

Requests and Suggestions

 I would be grateful if you would…

 I would like you to…

 I am entitled to request that you….

 I was wondering if it would be at all possible to….

 I would like to suggest that….

Ending
 I look forward to hearing from you.
 I look forward to receiving your response.

 I await your prompt service.

 I thank you for your consideration.

 Please respond at the earliest convenience.

 Informal Letter Format

Dear [First name only of friend]

Paragraph 1- Say why you are writing to them (I’m just writing to
let you know that….)

Paragraph 2- Bullet point 1 and supporting details

Paragraph 3- Bullet point 2 and supporting details

Paragraph 4- Bullet point 3 and supporting details

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

All the best

[Your first name only]

 Informal Language
Informal language does not mean you can relax and write like you
would in a text message to a friend. Remember that this is an English
test and your grammar and spelling will have to be correct.

Avoid using abbreviations like ‘luv’ or ‘bcuz’. Also, don’t use acronyms
like ‘LOL’ or ‘OMG’ and never use emoticons

It is a good idea to use contractions like ‘I’ve’, ‘I’d’ and ‘I’m’. This is one
of the ways that you can show the examiner that you know how to write
an informal letter.

Below is a range of informal language that you can use in your informal
letters. Which ones you use will depend on the context.

Stating Purpose
I’m just writing to let you know that….

I’m writing to tell you about….

Apologising
I’m very sorry about…..

I’d like to apologise for….

Asking for help

I’d be really grateful if you could…..

I was wondering if you would give me a hand with…..

I was wondering if you would do me a favour.

 Expressing Satisfaction
I was over the moon to hear about….

I was thrilled to find out that/about……

Giving bad news

I’m afraid I’ve a bit of bad news for you.

Ending
All the best.

Keep in touch.
COHERENCE AND COHESION
Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with the washing machine I bought at

your store and the poor customer service I experienced a few days ago.

Last Tuesday, I bought a Prince LS777 washing machine from your store. I
installed it on the same day and it was working fine for the first two days.
However, on the third day, I tried to use it but it would not start.

Immediately, I phoned your shop and spoke with one of your supervisors. He
assured me that he would get back to me after a day or two and tell me what I
could do to get my washing machine replaced. Because I did not receive any call
from him, I called your shop again and was again promised a return call. It has
been more than three days and nobody has called.

This has been a very disappointing experience for me. I would appreciate it if you
could call me back at 6765 1551 as soon as you read this letter and let me know
how I can get my machine replaced.

I await your prompt response.

Yours faithfully,
Rickson Gracie
Your neighbours have recently written to you to complain about the noise from
your house flat.

Write a letter to your neighbours. In your letter

 Explain the reasons for the noise

 Apologise
 Describe what action you will take

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Jones,

I am writing to sincerely apologize for the loud noise you heard yesterday during
my birthday party.

The reason for the noise is that I was celebrating my 40th birthday party. I have
not had a birthday celebration for over 15 years and therefore I planned a huge
party yesterday. I invited over 50 of my friends and I guess the fun and laughter
resulted in the high level of noise.

Please accept my apologies for the disruption of your sleep during the night. I did
not realize that the noise was heard in your flat until you mentioned it to me this
morning. It was not my intention to cause so much trouble to you.

Because of this incident, I promise to refrain from holding big parties at my flat
in future. I will also ensure that any events held at my place will not produce so
much noise.

Once again, I apologize for the inconvenience caused.

Yours sincerely,
Jackson Lee
Last month you had a holiday overseas where you stayed with some friends. They
have just sent you some photos of your holiday.

Write a letter to your friends. In your letter

• thank them for the photos and for the holiday

• explain why you didn’t write earlier
• invite them to come and stay with you

Dear Jason, John and Jack,

How are you guys doing? I hope you all are doing great in your studies! Exams
are coming right?
Firstly, I’d like to thank you for the photos you sent me. I just received them
yesterday and it was a pleasant surprise. All the pictures also remind me of the
great fun we had together, especially at the beach! Thanks so much for having me
over and planning the whole trip.

I’m sorry that I couldn’t write to you all earlier. I just finished my final exams. As
you know, this is my final year and I had to work extra hard in order to do well.
My results for the first three years in college were awful so I had to make up for it
this year. I hope everything goes well.

Since I’m free now and don’t need to study, I’d like to invite you all to come over
here. I think your exams will be over in one month’s time right? Let me know if
you all are able to visit me for a few days. You guys can stay in my guest room
and I will plan everything for all of you.

I look forward to your positive response.

Best Regards,
Mike
On a recent holiday you lost a valuable item. Fortunately, you
have travel insurance to cover the cost of anything lost.

Write a letter to the manager of your insurance company. In your

letter

 describe the item you lost

 explain how you lost it
 tell the insurance company what you would like them to do

Dear Sir/Madam

I am writing to inform you that I recently lost my digital camera while

on holiday in Vietnam.

The camera is a black Canon 70d and cost $1550 when I bought it
new last month. It has a resolution of 20 megapixels, a Canon 67
millimetre lens and was in a brown leather case with my name on it.

I lost it when I was having coffee with my husband in the backpacker

area of Ho Chi Minh City. I believe the coffee shop was called
Highlands Coffee and it was on Pham Ngu Lao Street. We had been at
the coffee shop for around 45 minutes when I noticed it was missing.

I am entitled to make a claim for the value of the above mentioned

item and request that you send me details on what I need to do in
order to proceed.

I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours faithfully

John Smith
You have recently started work in a new company.

Write a letter to an English-speaking friend. In your letter

 explain why you changed jobs

 describe your new job
 tell him/her your other news

Dear Tom

I’m just writing to let you know I quit my old job and found
something new.

I was really fed up with being a brain surgeon because it wasn’t really
much of a challenge anymore. You know me; if I’m not learning new
tricks, I get bored too easily and have to find something new.

I’m now teaching English as a foreign language in Vietnam and it

suits me down to the ground. I teach two adult classes and a
kindergarten class, which is not only challenging but also rewarding
too. Can you believe it?

I also have some other amazing news- I’m getting married. She was
one of my first ever students and I guess it was love at first sight for
both of us. Make sure you keep the first weekend in July free, so you
can come and celebrate with us.

Keep in touch

Chris
A friend of yours is going on holiday soon and has asked you to
recommend a destination.

Write a letter to your friend and recommend a good place for a

holiday that you have visited before.

 Say where you went,

 Where you stayed,
 What you can do there and
 What the food was like.

Dear Annie

I hope you’re well. I’ve got a great place for you to visit when you get
some time off work.

I went to Shanghai in China a fortnight ago and it was just perfect. It

only takes about 3 hours from where you live.

We stayed in a little boutique hotel called the Dragon Inn. It wasn’t

the biggest hotel, or the most expensive, but I really loved the
personal service and the family who run it were so hospitable.

There are loads of things to do, but my favourite has to be the Bund.
You can stroll along there in the evening and admire the view or
grab a coffee and watch the world go by.

I also have to mention the delicious cuisine. You really should try the
dim sum if you go there; it was the best I’ve ever had.

Anyway, let me know if you have any questions about your trip.

Best wishes

Chris
The letter question

You are staying in rented accommodation. You recently held a party to

celebrate your birthday. Several neighbours have complained about the
noise to your landlord.
Write a letter to your landlord. In your letter:

 apologise for the disturbance

 explain the situation
 say how you will remedy the situation

Dear Mr Jones

I am writing to apologise for the incident last week when some of my

neighbours complained to you. I am most embarrassed about this,
because I am normally a quiet person and I do respect the privacy of my
neighbours.

The reason for the excessive noise was that it was my 30th birthday party
and my girlfriend threw a surprise party for me. She had invited around 20
of my friends to help me celebrate the big day and perhaps she did not
realise how much noise would be made by the travelling disco she had
hired. I would also explain that after I had got over the shock, I did knock
on the door of my immediate neighbours to ask if they wanted to come
round and offering to turn the music down after 11 o’clock. Unfortunately,
I did not think of inviting the other residents of the block.

Once again, please accept my apologies and rest assured that this
situation will not be repeated. I have since personally apologised to my
neighbours, who were all very understanding.

Yours sincerely
You are not happy with the course you are doing at college and would like to change
to a different course. Write a letter to the college director requesting to change your
course. You should include details about:

 what course are you doing now

 why you are not satisfied with that course
 what course would you like to change to

Dear Mr Jones

I am writing to ask whether it is possible to change my course. I am

currently studying on a general English programme and I would like
to enrol on an academic IELTS course instead.

The principal reason why I would like to change my course is that I do not
believe the general English course is relevant to me because it is
intended for students who wish to improve their social English. My
circumstances are that I require a band 7.0 in order to be accepted on the
masters programme at Aston University. Unless I obtain this score by the
beginning of the next academic year, I will lose my place on the
course and will need to return to my country. This being the case, I
believe that it is essential that I get tuition in academic writing and IELTS
skills.

I understand that it may be difficult to change my course mid-semester,

but this is an urgent priority for me. If it would help, I would be delighted to
discuss this with you in person.

Yours sincerely
Khaled Abdullah
Your friend is an expert in international food and is going to publish a
book soon. Write a letter to him describing a special dish from your
country. In your letter you should

 describe a special dish from your country

 explain what season people prefer to eat it in
 say why your friend should include this dish in his book

You should understand from this question that you need to write a more
informal letter as you are writing to a friend.

Dear Joe

It seems like ages since I’ve heard from you. I understand from Bill that
you’re writing a book on international cuisine.

Can I suggest you include a recipe for roast beef and Yorkshire pudding
in the UK chapter? It really is the ultimate British dish as it’s not just the
meal we traditionally have for Sunday lunch, but it’s what most people
think of when they think of British cooking. While I suppose the beef is
simple enough, the Yorkshire pudding is quite something and a real local
delicacy and your book wouldn’t be complete without it. It’s so traditional
we eat it all year round, although I suppose it’s really a winter meal to be
eaten in front of a good log fire.

Anyway, I hope you don’t get too stressed by the book and that it gets
published on time. When it does come out, I hope you’ll remember your
old friend and send me a copy.

Hope to hear from you soon,

George
A friend who lives in another country has invited to you come and stay
with him/her on your next holiday. You are too busy to accept the
invitation. Write a letter to your friend.

In your letter

 Thank him/her for the invitation

 Explain why you cannot come
 Give him/her your other news

Dear Rashid,

It was great to hear from you and I’m really glad that things are working
out for you down under. It sounds as if you have landed on your feet!

Many thanks for your kind invitation to come and stay with you and
Maybe line in Perth, but I’m going to have to turn you down this time.
The problem is that I’m just too busy studying for my IELTS exam and
I don’t have enough time in the day as it is. Perhaps I can take you up
on your offer sometime next year, when I hope that I’ll have got that
magic band score 8.0.

My other news is that Acme have offered me a promotion and soon I

should be the senior accounts manager. Obviously that means more
money but the downside is that I’m almost certainly going to have to
work much longer hours too. There’s a cloud to every silver lining!

Anyway, I must get down to work again. So thanks once more for your
kind invitation and I do hope that we can get together sometime in the
not too distant future.

All the best

Dominic
You arranged to visit a friend in England but an important event at home
now means that you must change the dates of the visit.

Write a letter to your friend. In your letter

 Explain the important event

 Apologise for the situation
 Suggest a new arrangement

Dear Peter

It was a shame that we missed each other on Skype, so I decided to

write a letter to you instead. There’s some good and bad news I need to
tell you.

The good news is that my cousin Ravindra has finally managed to

persuade Shilpa to marry him. As you know they’ve been going out
together for over 5 years now and the family, especially Auntie Geetha,
had begun to despair that they would ever tie the knot. I’m sure that you
can imagine the celebrations being planned for the reception.

The bad news is that the wedding is just when I was due to come and
visit you in England. I do apologise for this but I’m sure that you’ll
understand that I can’t miss my cousin’s big day.

I’d still love to visit you in England, if that’s still possible. It’s not just that
I’m dying to see you again, but I’m also longing to see the dreaming
spires of Oxford you’ve told me about so often. Would sometime in
November suit you? If not, just let me know when is best for you.

All the best

Amy
You won a competition and received a vacation for two as a prize. Write
a letter to ask them to go on holiday with you.

In the letter, you should:

 Tell him/her about the competition you won,

 State what kind of vacation it is,
 Explain why you would like him/her to go on holiday with you

My model answer

Dear Pablo,

I’ve got some really exciting news to share with you. Guess
what? I’ve won a holiday for two people in a competition. I do hope that
you can come with me.

All I had to do to win the competition was write a slogan for a local travel
agency. My winning submission was “Fly LTC and see the world”. As I
said, my prize is a holiday and it is a cruise around the Mediterranean
for a fortnight. The ship is the latest luxury liner and has all sorts of
entertainment facilities including a swimming pool, a cinema complex
and onboard tennis courts. It sounds as if it should be great fun.
I really hope that you are available sometime this summer. I’d love it if
you could come with me, as it sounds just your cup of tea and you could
always act as an interpreter for me when we get to Spain!

I need to book the cruise quite soon, so just drop me a line if you are
free.

All the best

Your company sent you on a training course in another country and at
the end of the training you got a certificate which you have lost.

Write a letter to the course organiser and tell him/her:

 How you lost your certificate.

 Why you need the certificate now.
 What you need him to do for you.

Dear Sirs

I attended your course in Marketing Strategies for the Ice Cream

Industry which was held in the Jubilee Centre in Brisbane in November.
I am writing to ask if it would be possible to send me a certificate
confirming that I attended the course for all four days.

I lost the original on my flight back to Canterbury. I had put in my

briefcase along with all the course notes and foolishly I left the briefcase
on the plane. Qantas were unable to find the case when I contacted
them and I suspect that a fellow passenger probably took the case by
mistake.

Please could you send me the replacement certificate by post.

Unfortunately, my company will not accept a scanned copy as an email
attachment.
I would appreciate it if you would treat this as a matter of urgency
because I am in the process of applying for a promotion and I need to
have all my certificates for this process.

Thank you for your help.

Yours faithfully
Dear Mr Smith

I am writing to let you know about the arrangements for Patrick’s

leaving party.

It has not been easy to settle on a time and date that is convenient for
everyone as the school holidays are coming up and several members
of staff have already booked time off. I’d suggest, however, that 7.30
on Friday July 13th is the best option available as it is Patrick’s last
day.

I have looked at a number of different venues and it would appear that

Giorgio’s has the best package. The catering there is slightly cheaper
than the Armani Palace and it has the added benefit of being right next
to the Piccadilly Underground station.

Another benefit of choosing Giorgio’s is that they lay on a buffet with a

good selection of dishes with both vegan and vegetarian options. We
could hire a DJ for the night too, but I think the free Karaoke machine is
likely to be more popular.

Please let me know what you think about these suggestions.

Your sincerely

Arnaud
You have a full-time job and are also doing a part-time evening
course. You now find that you cannot continue the course. Write a
letter to the course tutor. In your letter

 describe the situation

 explain why you cannot continue at this time
 say what action you would like to take
Dear Peter,
''