How to Write an Informal Letter in IELTS General Writing Task 1

Sayantani Barman

Jul 23, 2022

How to Write an Informal Letter in IELTS General Writing Task 1. The letter contains three model answers that have three paragraphs namely the introduction, body, and conclusion. The letter must be clear and to the point.
IELTS General Writing Task 1 includes letter writing. It might be in formal, informal, or semi-formal patterns. Candidates need to complete the task within 20 minutes. IELTS Writing Practice Papers can be considered for the students' writing section preparation and enhance their writing skills effectively. IELTS writing score is marked based on band scores. The band scores range from 0 to 9.

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Overview of an IELTS Informal Letter

Informal letters are meant to address someone with whom you share a personal relationship. The students appearing for IELTS are asked to write letters in the IELTS General Writing Task

  1. Informal letters are addressed to your family, friends, or relatives or in other words, to someone with whom you share a personal relationship. Below is an example of a sample IELTS question on the informal letter.

You have recently gone on a trip with your classmates and after returning you wish to share your experiences.
Write a letter to your best friend about the experiences of the trip. In the letter,

  • Describe the place you went to
  • Describe all the sights and adventures
  • Describe how you felt after the trip.

Key Points in Informal Letters

Before jumping into the format of the informal letter, let us first take into consideration some key points to be remembered during the IELTS General Writing Task 1 for letters:

  • Make sure to use an appropriate tone in your letters
  • Write a clear and concise message in your letters
  • Opening or closing of the letters must be appropriate
  • Make sure you address all the bullet points in the letter
  • The language used in the letters must depend on the context of the situation given in the letter.
  • Right usage of vocabulary in IELTS writing

Format of The Informal Letter

The format for every letter writing question in the IELTS General Writing Task 1 is the same for every letter be it formal, informal, or semi-formal. In the question, the context is explained and with that, the question mentions to whom the letter is addressed. Given in the three bullet points which the candidate needs to address. The candidates have to make sure that they address all the three bullet points mentioned in the article.

Taking into account the example given above, in the question, the context of the letter is that you have gone on a trip with your classmates. Here the letter is addressed to your best friend, hence the person to whom the letter is addressed is your close acquaintance. Next, there are three bullet points that the candidates are required to address. This might include sharing about the place he visited, all the adventures and the sights of the place, and how he felt after returning from the trip.

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How to Plan for IELTS Informal Letter

It is important to plan before writing the letter because usually the candidates get lost in the middle of their writing due to a lack of clarity and vision. Planning will help you in getting clarity about what you are going to write, how you are going to write. Additionally it will help you in writing an organized letter with all the bullet points and ideas addressed in a chronology. Make sure to write a letter reflecting clear thoughts and organized properly this will help you in saving your time and the evaluator’s time.

You can plan the informal letter for the IELTS in the following way:

Dear ______(mention the name of the person to whom the letter is addressed)
Paragraph 1- describe the reason for writing this letter in the first paragraph. For example, I am writing this letter to let you know that, ______
Paragraph 2- address bullet point 1 and explain it in details
Paragraph 3- address bullet point 2 and explain it in details
Paragraph 4- address bullet point 3 and explain it in details
Closing sentence (for example, give my love to family; hoping to meet you soon; etc.)
Closing salutation (for example, all the best; etc.)
(Your first name)

This format will help in every informal letter you write. You don’t need to change the format of the letter. The only thing you need to do is choose the content for the letter you need to write to address all the three bullet points of the IELTS informal letter.

Use of The Informal Language in IELTS Informal Letter

Since it is an informal letter, it does not mean that you can write anything, like social media slang or casual messages. Remember that you are writing for the IELTS General Writing, where you will check for the format and the IELTS grammar used in the letter. Do not use abbreviations or slang like BRO, OMG, LOL, etc. Also, in these informal letters never use emoticons as you use in real life. The right usage of IELTS abbreviations can help you get a better score. Instead, when you are writing an informal letter you can use, I’m, I’ve, etc. some of the examples are given below:

When you are stating a purpose,

  • I’m writing this letter to let you know……….
  • I’m writing this letter to tell you………….

When you are asking for help,

  • I was thinking if you could help me with………
  • If you don’t mind, can I ask you to………….

When you are apologizing,

  • I’m sorry if you felt this way.
  • I’d like to apologize for …………

IELTS Informal Letter Checklist

Here are some of the important points that you must remember while writing an informal letter.

  • Read all the instructions mentioned carefully
  • Make sure the letter is an informal letter before IELTS Writing
  • Devise a proper plan before writing
  • Write the reason for writing the letter and address all the three bullet points
  • Add relevant information with the bullet points
  • Make sure to use the informal tone
  • Make proper paragraphs
  • Write a clear letter easy to understand
  • Check for grammar and spelling mistakes
*The article might have information for the previous academic years, please refer the official website of the exam.

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