General Writing Sample Task 1 #83
Opening and closing a letter
How you begin and end your letter depends on the person it is written to and how well you know them. Letters can be formal or informal and we begin and end each type of letter in a different way. Formal letters are for official or commercial situations, written to people you do not know well, or have never met. Informal letters are generally to friends or relatives.
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
You are planning to go and study English at a school overseas. You would like some information about their courses.
Write a letter to the school. In your letter
- ask about the school
- say what kind of accommodation you want
- mention any special requests you have (for example diet).
Write at least 150 words.
Model answer
Dear Sir/Madam,
My name is Renata Pereira from Sao Paolo in Brazil. I have recently registered as a student at your college to follow a four-week course in Advanced Computer Programming starting at the end of November this year.
I am writing to you to try to decide on my accommodation while I'm in Manchester. Ideally, I would like to stay with a host family because I think that this will also help me to improve my English. If possible, I would like to stay very close to the College so I don't heed to spend a lot of time travelling. Last year, I studied on a Business English course in San Diego, USA and stayed with a host family and really enjoyed it very much. I am hoping for the same experience in Manchester.
I'd really appreciate it if you could send me any information you have regarding the different accumulation options (particularly host families). In particular, I'd like to know where the accommodation is and how much it costs.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours faithfully,
Renata Pereira
(183 words)