A friend has agreed to look after your house and pet while you are on holiday. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter Give contact details for when you are away Give instructions about how to care for your pet Describe other household duties you would like your friend to undertake When giving contact details, you do NOT need to write any addresses; something like the name of a friend you are staying with or a holiday destination is fine. The format for this IELTS Writing task is simple. Just begin your letter as follows: Dear .....................,

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Dear Jaspreet, I hope you are doing well. Thank you so much for agreeing to look after my house and my dog, Jordan,
while
Linking Words
I am away on holiday. I really appreciate your help. I will be staying at the Seaside Resort in Vancouver for two weeks. If you need to contact me, you can call or message me on my mobile at any time. If I am unavailable, please contact my brother, Harman, who will be able to help you with anything urgent. As for Jordan, please feed him twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. His food is kept in the cupboard beside the refrigerator, and one small bowl should be enough for each meal. Please
also
Linking Words
make sure that he has fresh water at all times. He usually enjoys playing with his toys in the evening, so I would be grateful if you could spend a little time playing with him each day, as he gets quite irritated
otherwise
Linking Words
. His litter box should
also
Linking Words
be cleaned every two days. Apart from taking care of Jordan, I would appreciate it if you could collect the mail and water the plants every three days.
Also
Linking Words
, don't forget to put the garbage bins outside on Thursday evening and bring them back in the following morning. There is no need to do any major cleaning, but please ensure that all doors and windows are locked properly whenever you go out. Thanks again for your help. I hope everything goes smoothly, and I’ll bring you a little gift from Vancouver as a thank-you! Best wishes, Vishally

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task response
Score: 8. Add a little more contact detail, such as when you may not answer your phone. This would make the plan even more clear.
coherence and cohesion
Score: 8. The letter is easy to read. You could make it even smoother by putting all Jordan jobs in short list-like lines or by using “First”, “Then”, and “Finally”.
task response
You answer all parts: contact plans, pet care, and home jobs.
task response
The letter is warm and polite. It fits a letter to a friend.
coherence and cohesion
Your ideas are in a clear order, with one main job in each part.
coherence and cohesion
Words such as “As for Jordan”, “Apart from”, and “Also” help the reader follow your letter.
Use cohesive linking words accurately and appropriately

Linking words are very important in your essay.

To score effectively on your IELTS exam, you should make an effort to implement short concise sentences coupled with linking words.

Almost every sentence in your essay should have a linking word of some sort.

In fact, the only sentences that can omit linking words are your background sentence and thesis.

Linking word examples:

  • firstly
  • secondly
  • thirdly
  • in additional
  • moreover
  • also
  • for example
  • for instance
  • therefore
  • however
  • although
  • even though
  • despite
Topic Vocabulary:
  • I am writing to
  • I wanted to thank you
  • In case of any emergencies
  • Please make sure to
  • Feed
  • Walk
  • Clean
  • Water
  • Take care of
  • Other household duties
  • Maintain
  • Keep an eye on
  • Collect
  • Water the plants
  • Mow the lawn
  • Sort the mail
  • Keep the house clean and tidy
  • Take any necessary actions
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