Letter

Band 8+: A friend who lives in a different city has invited you to his/her daughter's 8th birthday. However, you can not accept the invitation due to some personal reasons. Write a letter to this friend. In your letter, thank him/her for the invitation mention why you can not attend the birthday party offer to meet him/her some other day Write at least 150 words. You do NOT need to write any addresses. Begin your letter as follows: Dear ...................,

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Dear Mia,

I hope you and your family are doing well. It has been a long time since we met.

I am writing to inform you that unfortunately, I will not able to attend your daughter’s birthday party on Friday.

Firstly, I am thankful for your warm invitation, and I am very happy that your daughter is getting older and living a good life. Also, a few days ago, I was very excited and told my sister about this birthday party; however, due to some personal reasons, I am unable to join the party.

Unfortunately, yesterday, my mother fractured her right leg, as she fell down from the stairs; therefore, I need to take care of her for a few weeks, as she is not able to walk. In addition, because of this sudden situation, I also need to help my brother for his upcoming exam, as my mother is not able to help him.

Lastly, it would be great if you could visit my home with your daughter next month on Diwali. We will spend some quality time together and also enjoy delicious food. Moreover, we will also go to our favourite ice cream shop for dessert.

I hope you will understand my situation.

See you soon. Best regards to your daughter.

Best wishes,

Dhruvi Patel

Word Count: 217

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Overall Band Score

(+/- 0.5)

Vocabulary Complexity:
B1 - Intermediate
Using more sophisticated words could be beneficial.

Grammar Mistakes: N/A

Vocabulary Repetition:
No noticeable repetition! Great job!

Task Response

The letter fully addresses all parts of the task. The candidate expresses gratitude for the invitation, provides a clear and plausible reason for the absence, and offers a specific alternative to meet in the future. The tone is appropriate for a letter to a friend, and the ideas are developed logically with good cohesion. To maintain this high standard, ensure that grammatical accuracy remains consistent, such as the minor omission in 'I will not able to attend' (should be 'I will not be able to attend').

Coherence & Cohesion

The letter is well-organized and follows a logical progression. Each paragraph addresses a specific bullet point from the task, which makes the message easy to follow. You have used a variety of cohesive devices (e.g., 'Firstly', 'In addition', 'Lastly', 'Moreover') to link your ideas. To reach a higher band, try to use more natural transitions rather than relying on formal discourse markers like 'Firstly' and 'Lastly', which can sometimes feel a bit mechanical in an informal letter to a friend.

Lexical Resource

You have used a good range of vocabulary appropriate for the context, such as 'fractured her right leg', 'quality time', and 'sudden situation'. The language is natural and conveys the intended meaning clearly. To improve, you could incorporate more idiomatic expressions or more sophisticated collocations to demonstrate a higher level of lexical flexibility, which is common in friendly correspondence.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy

The letter demonstrates a good range of sentence structures, including complex and compound sentences. However, there are a few minor grammatical slips that prevent a higher score. For example, 'I will not able to attend' should be 'I will not be able to attend'. Additionally, some phrasing is slightly repetitive (e.g., using 'as' multiple times in one sentence). Focus on ensuring that auxiliary verbs are used correctly and vary your conjunctions to improve the flow.

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Can you help me? I did badly in my exams last year and I would like to be better prepared this time. Do you have any suggestions on how I can avoid the same thing from happening again? Write back soon, Hannah Write your letter.

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