Style : Because of this, the letter should be in a formal
style . The Governor may be a contact, but is
not a friend; he/she is probably older than you, and certainly higher in authority.
Because this is a formal
style letter, and you know the name of the
recipient , you should begin ‘Dear
Mr Smith’ or ‘Dear Mrs Smith’ or ‘Dear Ms Smith.’
In this situation, you would certainly not begin ‘Dear Sir or Madam,’ because it would be rude
not to
know the Governor’s surname.
Content : The Task is asking you to create
content for: complaining, explaining and suggesting.
(Complaining about the noise, explaining the problem, and suggesting ways to reduce it.)
It is
not asking you to apologise for anything, or to request anything.
That was an example of how you should think about
recipient, style and
content in GT Task 1
before you start writing. You should do this in two or three minutes when you are in the exam.
There are three very important points to highlight at this stage:
1. Only create
content that the Task asks you to create!
In this example Task, you shouldn’t try to
request more information (for example, about noise
regulations), or
apologise for contacting the Governor. The IELTS examiner will think you have not
understood or analysed the task, and you will lose marks.
2. Remember that the instructions in the exam will not say directly ‘use a personal or formal
style .’
You need to decide this, based on the given situation and the
recipient .
3. Also, the instructions may not use the exact
content words ‘complaining, requesting,
explaining/apologising, suggesting.’ For example, they may say ‘protesting about, asking for,
describing/saying sorry, proposing’ or use other synonyms. You need to think about this as you read
the Task. Ask yourself, ‘
Why am I writing this letter? What combination of content do I need to create?’ This book will explain all of these points in more detail, with examples to help you.
But now, let’s look at the Band 9 model letter for this Task about the ‘campus noise problem.’
