Welcome to My IELTS Classroom, the podcast where two English experts talk all things IELTS.
I'm Shelley Cornick.
And I'm Nick Long.
And today we are going to examine the letters questions from the new Cambridge IELTS 17.
What are the four questions in the new Cambridge book?
How do Nick and I think you should approach each part of the letter?
And is there anything tricky in the new book?
Good morning Nick.
Good morning.
I feel like today we have returned to our normal recording schedule.
Yes, we are back in the morning on a Monday.
It feels good.
How are you?
How was your weekend?
My weekend was very nice.
We went to a lovely Latvian restaurant on Saturday.
Had some nice traditional food, homemade, and a few beers.
And then on Sunday, it was a very sporty day.
Had Formula One in the morning.
And then we went out for the day.
We went to a palace, which is very similar to the ones in St.
Petersburg.
Yeah.
Same style.
And then we came home and I watched football and then football and then American football.
And I had a great day.
So basically a perfect day.
It was good.
It was good.
It was very nice.
Very good.
I am continuing to recuperate after my operation.
It is so boring.
I always thought I was quite lazy.
I am not lazy at all.
I find it very difficult just to have to sit in the same place.
But I managed to... put up a bit more furniture in my new flat.
So I'm feeling a bit better now.
And I also had a friend come on Saturday who brought over a game.
Have you ever heard of it?
Rummy Cub.
Yes, I have heard of it.
I don't remember how to play it, though.
Oh, it's such a great game.
I used to play it a lot in Australia.
And she's a German girl, my friend, and she came over with this edition of Rummy Cub.
And so we had seven games on Saturday evening.
Unfortunately, I lost 4-3, but it was just really nice just to sit and play a game.
I haven't done that for years.
It was good fun.
We had a lovely evening a few months ago.
Did you?
Yeah, I won.
That's funny.
All right.
So we are all fit and healthy.
We hope that you are as well, if you're listening or you are listening.
What we're going to do today is, I guess, following on from last week's episode where we looked at you know how to write informal letters that are genuinely informal.
Yes.
I thought I would have a look to see if I could find the new Cambridge 17 general training.
And it was interesting because we actually had a message in our private Facebook group in the coffee point from a student who was asking is the new Cambridge 17 available?
Because if you have a look online, it was published in July, which is quite a long time ago, now three or four months.
For some reason, not that Nick and I endorse this, for some reason...
I couldn't see any copies of the book online, which is quite unusual.
So I don't really understand why.
Maybe Cambridge are becoming hot on copyright?
Maybe, yeah.
I don't know.
But I am sure the book's been published.
And what I did find were a couple of websites where people had written, to be honest, quite poor model answers for the letters in Cambridge 17.
But they both had the same wording for the letters.
So I am going to hope that what we look at today really are the letters in the Cambridge 17 book okay.
But like always, until we can actually get our hands on a real copy, I can't be 100% sure.
However...
Even if these are not the actual questions in Cambridge 17, they are for, I think, quite genuine looking IELTS prompts.
And it will still give us an opportunity to analyse the questions.
Talk about what the student should include, think about language.
And basically just have a lesson where we analyse some letters.
So I think we can all agree that it's going to be a worthwhile lesson, even if in the future we discover that these are not the questions from Cambridge 17.
And if they're not, I'll apologise, but we'll do this again with the real questions.
Yeah.
So...
I will put these questions on our blog.
You can go and find them at blog.myieltsclassroom.com.
You may want now, before Nick and I go through these prompts, to have a look at them yourself.
Think about what your ideas would be.
You know, like any letters prompt, think about what bullets you're going to need to pay special attention to.
If there's anything that looks difficult, why don't you?
Just, you know, go and do that now, analyze these yourself, come up with your own own ideas, and And then come back and listen to Nick, and I do that.
Because if you do, I think you'll get more out of this episode than just passively listening to Nick, and I do all the work.
So go and do that now.
Go on.
Go on.
Go on, just do it.
And hopefully now you've come back with your own ideas.
And Nick, we can begin.
So would you like to read the first prompt for us?
Yes, for sure.
So the first one says the parents of your Australian friend Chris, have invited you to a surprise birthday party for him or her.
Write a letter to Chris's parents and in your letter say why you think Chris will enjoy the surprise party.
Explain why you won't be able to attend the party and give details of a plan to see Chris at a different time.
Interesting right.
So Nick, I agree, I am not convinced that this is 100 genuine.
It sounds a bit odd, doesn't it?
Well, you I mean your intonation, I think gave it away.
I do think it's strange to specify that your friend is Australian.
Yeah, a little bit.
Usually your friend is just English speaking.
Right.
So it would normally be the parents of an English speaking friend.
It's also strange that they've given the friend a name.
Yeah.
Chris, and well, some students might be thinking, how can it be him or her?
Christine, Christopher.
Yes.
So there's Christine and there's Christopher.
So I mean, let's just put that to one side, because I guess receiving an invitation for an English speaking friend right for a surprise birthday, that does sound like the kind of prompt IELTS might write, because it's a bit strange.
I would say then, if we are writing to the parents of a friend, I guess the first question you always want to ask yourself for any letter is what tone do we want to write this letter in?
Now, usually that answer is pretty easy, right?
If you're writing to a friend, it's informal.
If you're writing to somebody in an official context who you don't know, it's informal.
And if you're writing to someone you do know in an informal or less formal context, it's semi-formal.
How would you approach this question?
I think this is definitely semi-formal.
I think it is as well.
Because it's the parents of your friend, isn't it?
Yes.
So there still needs to be some level of formality there, right?
I mean, we did a great episode quite a few months ago now where we looked at you know, not all semi-formal letters are the same.
Some semi-formal letters can swing to the more formal and some can swing to the informal.
I guess this one...
I guess it is actually like you say.
Maybe I mean, if anything, it's more informal than formal, I guess.
But I think it's almost sort of like in the middle, a classic semi-formal letter.
Do you think?
Yeah, I agree.
I suppose you can be a bit informal, but you also need to be very polite as well.
Yes, because they are of an older generation.
So, you know, for this, I would be using contractions.
I would...
Definitely not be using very formal verbs, but I still think we need to remain polite.
Okay.
So I thought what we do today, we'll go through each part of a letter so we can think about it.
So you know, after you've written the greeting, the first thing we're going to have to do is write our opener.
Okay.
I would say what would be the.
I mean, obviously every opener has to include the purpose of why you're writing.
So I guess, what would the purpose of this letter be?
Well, obviously the purpose of this letter is to say that we can't come to the party.
We're replying to the invitation.
Yes.
So we need to acknowledge the invitation.
So something like dear David and Susan, thank you so much for inviting me to Chris's 18th birthday party at Sydney Opera House.
Crocodile farm.
Yeah.
However, unfortunately, I will be unable to attend the event or something like that.
Exactly.
So you definitely want to say, I think in the opener, that you can't attend, even though one of the bullets is explaining why that's different.
I still think you need to say, don't you?
Like, you know, unfortunately, I won't be able to attend.
And you're absolutely right.
I think the key thing here is that.
Because you've been invited, I think you definitely want to start by acknowledging that invitation.
As you said, you know, thank you for the invite.
However, unfortunately, blah, blah, blah.
Great.
Okay, so that is the acknowledgement.
Now, if we look then, I thought we could look at all of the bullets individually.
So the first bullet, I think, is a bit tricky, really.
Say why you think Chris will enjoy the surprise party.
I think.
To answer this bullet.
Like all letters actually, I really believe a bit.
Like we discussed last week, the devil is in the detail.
Yes.
So if you just... continue to talk throughout your letter about the surprise party.
Everything's going to be quite general and it's going to be quite difficult to explain why he's going to like it or why he's not going to attend it.
I think, if you can just add a few more details, like Nick just did there, naturally you said it was his 18th birthday at the Sydney Opera House, right?
So...
Instead of just talking about the party.
If we invent the details, that maybe the party I don't know it could be at the Sydney Opera House.
It could be at the Crocodile Farm, as I said.
It could be, yeah.
If you actually think, well, where is this party?
That will naturally, I think, help you answer why he's going to enjoy it.
So I mean I guess, actually I guess a restaurant would be a good thing, because you know, and then again,
What are we going to do?
We're going to add some personal details.
So, you know, I know that Chris absolutely loves burgers.
Yeah, I know he absolutely loves burgers.
Hungry Jack's food.
Hungry Jack's, Hungry Jack's.
That's the thing he loves the most.
Yeah, Hungry Jacks is the Australian name for Burger King, right?
I know that Chris absolutely loves burgers, so I'm sure he'll be thrilled with the party at Hungry Jacks right.
Or you know, I know, that Chris loves music, so i know he'll be thrilled to have his party at the opera house, right something?
Think of a reason why he's going to enjoy the surprise party.
I think the thing to avoid here is to write about why he will enjoy the surprise.
But I don't know.
Is that easy to write about?
That seems difficult to me.
It would be more difficult, I think.
Yeah, I think you should focus on the place where it's going to be.
The place or the type of party.
Maybe the other thing you could focus on would be the guests.
So you know, I'm sure Chris will be thrilled that to you know to have a party with all his old university friends or with all his school friends.
Jane and Sandra are flying from New Zealand specially or something like that.
Oh my God, that would be brilliant.
Or it could be a party on the beach or something.
He'll love that we can all go surfing together.
I mean, we're using every Australian spirit.
Now, so I think, yeah, so I think the key to the first... bullet is sort of adding details, right?
Where is this party?
Who's coming?
Use that for why he's going to enjoy it.
Now, explain why you won't be able to attend the party.
I guess...
I guess here you just need a good reason.
I mean, what are good excuses essentially for not going to a party?
Well, probably something that you can't get out of.
Yes.
So something that definitely can't be changed.
Right.
So maybe you know, sadly we've already used.
Unfortunately sadly, I have my driving test on that day.
Or sadly, we've got an exam at college or I've already agreed to, I don't know.
Or I'm going to be away.
Work that weekend or I'm going to be away on holiday.
Yeah.
I mean again, I think, starting it with you know sadly, I've already agreed or I've already planned something like that.
I think that's probably the easiest of the bullets, why you can't attend.
The last one then, give details of a plan to see Chris at a different time.
I think this one's a bit strange as well, actually.
The wording of that seems a bit strange.
Yeah, it's a little bit odd, isn't it?
Give details of that.
Give details.
I mean, that suggests that you already have a plan, I guess.
That's what I think.
Rather than just saying, I'll catch up with Chris later and I'll meet him at some point.
It's suggesting that you've already sort of prearranged something with him, isn't it?
A little bit.
I think it sounds like you're going to write a sentence that says something like luckily, I've already arranged or I've already agreed to meet Chris I don't know at the end of August, when we I don't know when we have a school, at the school reunion, or when we when I am visiting Sydney next, or something like that.
I don't.
Yeah, I find the wording of that one quite strange, because it I don't think you, it's not like a suggestion, isn't it?
Why don't chris and i meet?
Blah blah, blah?
Because it would be strange to arrange to meet chris with his parents exactly yeah, so i think, like you said, i think you just need to reassure his parents that you've already got plans to see chris.
What about if you said something like i'll get in contact with him over the weekend and make a different arrangement, or something like that?
Yeah, you could do something like that.
Yeah, you could just say You don't have a concrete plan, but you are planning to get in touch with them and arrange something different.
I suppose.
Yeah, I think you can do that.
I guess if you do do that, just give something specific.
So you know I'll call like you said.
Maybe I'll call Chris in the next couple of weeks to see if he would like to come out for dinner instead to celebrate his birthday.
Like actually give a plan because it said give details of a plan.
I will be intrigued to see if that is the real wording, because that one there does not seem quite right to me.
But again.
We are using reported questions, even from the Cambridge book, that is the danger.
In terms of the closer, then do you think in the closer we should, what should we?
You know, the closer's purpose is to sort of like summarise why we've written.
I guess.
So do you think here we should summarise that?
That we can't go?
Or what would be a natural way to end this?
I think we could kind of do a couple of bullet points.
We could say, thanks once again for your invitation.
I'm really sorry I can't make it.
Oh, perfect.
Something like that.
Yeah, for me, the natural thing to to end here, to end this letter with, would be a repetition of the thanks for the invite.
Um, and i agree, if you want.
You know, and i'm really sorry i can't make it, that would be perfect.
But i would say, of the two things i think thanking for the invite for some reason the english person in me thinks that is the main thing that should go in, the closer the, The politeness, yeah.
Yeah, for the thanks.
On a scale of one to ten, Nick, how difficult do we think this is?
On a scale of barbecue to didgeridoo, it's didgeridoo.
No, it's quite, I would say it's around a six or a seven.
It's not the easiest, but it's...
I think it's probably not the hardest, but I think the best answers will come with lots of personal details, like we spoke about last week.
I agree.
I think some students might be thrown by, it's a strange thing to write to parents of a friend.
Yeah.
But if you really think about it, all of the bullets are relatively friendly.
And as you said, I think the key is personal details.
And getting the tone right as well, actually.
Yes.
Right.
So I think you want to definitely stay in the semi-formal.
Okay.
So that's our first one.
We think we're not a hundred percent sure.
Let's have a look at the second one then.
All right.
Number two says you have bought some clothing online and are not satisfied with your purchase.
Write an email to the company that you bought the clothing from and in your email, give details of the purchase, describe the problem and explain why you need a replacement urgently.
So again, let's start with the tone.
Clearly, Letter of complaint.
It's a letter of complaint.
It's formal.
Okay.
So that should be pretty easy.
You know.
The main thing for this, I guess, is that you know we are specifically told it's clothing.
So we're going to have to hope that you have some nice vocabulary for clothing, which is what we'll discuss in a moment.
A lot about this on the surface looks like a classic complaint letter.
So it should be quite easy.
But I do think there is something you need to be careful of.
And this is why it's really important that you plan before you write.
Because if you're just a student who's just like OK boom, letter of complaint clothing and you start at the first bullet and you just start writing your letter and you address all three bullets.
The third bullet here, I think, kind of dictates what we're going to have to put for our first two bullets.
Because the third bullet says, explain why you need a replacement urgently.
Why do we need to consider that bullet as we're planning the first two?
Because it's going to suggest that what you've got is some kind of... unfixable problem.
Right.
And it's not just like.
It's not something like the colour is slightly wrong maybe, but it might be like a physical sort of issue with the clothes, or So you're going to have to.
Basically, you definitely need a replacement.
Absolutely, Nick.
And I also think...
You need a replacement urgently.
Well, you know, if you're going to say that you've got a problem with a white T-shirt.
It's not going to be a problem urgently.
You urgently need fixing, isn't it?
Who needs a white t-shirt tomorrow?
Nobody, unless they're playing at Wimbledon, right?
So I guess you know to get everything right and to get the tone right and to get a coherent, the coherence and cohesion of this letter, i guess we want to start with what are occasions when people need an item of clothing tomorrow.
So what's the first things that come to your head, nick?
Wedding is the first thing that comes to my head for a wedding.
That's what I've got.
You're going to a wedding and you need this for the wedding.
It is urgent.
The other thing I came up with was that maybe you're going on holiday.
Yeah, so you don't have time to...
Yeah, you need these shorts because you're going on a cruise and the cruise leaves on Saturday.
So I need them tomorrow.
I mean, apart from, can you think of any other reasons why you'd need an item of clothing?
Maybe, yeah.
An interview?
An interview would be one, a funeral maybe as well.
Oh God, a funeral, that's not good.
To have a really sort of negative tone, serious negative tone.
Absolutely.
Right.
So I think once you've thought about the reason, right?
So you know, if it's a wedding, maybe the item of clothing if you're a woman is going to be a dress.
If it's a man, it's going to be a suit.
If you're going on holiday, it might be shorts.
A funeral, it could be something black.
I mean...
That's the third bullet.
But if you haven't looked at that third bullet and then you've given a description of I don't know like a black leather jacket,
Yeah.
Unless you're going to like a motorbike convention.
It's going to be hard to think of a reason why you need to replace that urgently.
So always consider all of the bullets and read all of the bullets before you start planning, because you've got to make sure that whatever you choose links to everything.
So once you've done that, I guess, then it is just you know.
The first bullet says give details of the purchase.
So I guess, first of all, to give details, we're going to have to say.
We're going to have to go into detail.
Yes, of, in particular.
And the key word to remember here is that you bought the clothing online.
So I would say, if you give details of the purchase you might want to say you know when did you make that purchase?
From the net, you might want to give a name of the website.
Odd number, the order number.
So yeah, so something like I ordered a pink dress from your website wwwpinkdresscom on, and then give the date it arrived.
It arrived after three days however, and then you can start describing the problem.
But you know again, remember for all of this the examiner, the more details you can give, you know, relevant details you can give, the higher your score is going to be.
So you know if we go back to a black jacket.
If you just said I bought a black jacket from your website, that's fine.
But black jackets, not really.
Could go into more detail there, couldn't you?
You could.
So you could say a black leather jacket, or even, like you know, a black suit jacket.
Yeah, a black leather, double-breasted jacket or something you know.
Just if you've got clothing vocabulary, use it, use it.
You know.
You could talk about the mid-length.
It's got a hood, whatever it is.
Just give details, the type of pattern that it's got.
Um, It's the same with the problem, isn't it?
I mean, as you said, Nick, the problem needs to be a reason to actually get a replacement.
So what could good problems with clothing be in terms of vocabulary?
So you could describe various issues like maybe the cuffs are too big.
Maybe there is a button missing or something like that.
Or maybe they've set the wrong size.
Oh, that's good.
Yeah, they've set the wrong size would be good.
Yeah, again, right.
So Nick just said like the cuffs.
I mean, cuff, topic specific vocabulary.
If you don't know, that's where you've got at the end of the arm or the sleeve, that bit of material that goes the other way.
That's a cuff right.
Um, you know, you could say something like i said.
You could say there is a small hole.
But you could also say something like you know the lining is coming undone at the seams.
I mean lining undone seams boom boom, boom.
Three very topic, specific phrases yes, Do your best.
Just scan your brain.
Like, what vocabulary do I know about problems with clothes?
And choose the one which is the most specific.
And I do just think for those first two, details of the purchase, describe the problem.
You're just trying to write naturally...
Or show the examiner naturally any good topic-specific vocabulary you've got for clothing.
And then for the last bullet, which I think is maybe the one which has got the most scope for expansion, is explaining why do you need this replacement.
Are you going to a wedding?
Going on a cruise?
When are you leaving?
You can't get this anywhere else.
Go into detail for why you need a replacement.
I'm going on holiday this weekend.
The cruise leaves on Saturday at 10 a.m.
I would therefore need a replacement by Friday at the very latest.
What about asking questions in this final paragraph?
Like would it be possible to arrange to collect a smaller jacket from your warehouse on Mulberry Lane or something like that?
Definitely.
I mean, you could definitely explain why you need it urgently and then offer a way of getting that.
Yeah, that's great.
Like I mean, it would be great if you could send me one, but I'm also happy to go and collect one from your local shop.
Remember, letters of complaint don't need to be the most terrible thing in the world.
No, you don't want to be like, I cannot believe this.
Like, no, you want the replacement.
Help them give you the replacement.
As you said Nick, I think it would be very natural to say, if possible, I could come and collect it in person from a store.
If there is a store.
Yes.
Just make sure you explain why.
Before you do that.
But that would make your letter like adding those personal comments last week.
Yeah.
Having a suggestion of how you can help them solve your problem would make your letter sound very natural.
Brilliant.
Yeah.
So for that one, where would we put that on a scale of one to ten for difficulty?
It's not difficult.
No.
But it's very difficult potentially to get a high score.
Yes.
I think if you're missing that topic specific clothing vocabulary, I think you could struggle.
I think it's easy to address these three points and probably write a fairly good letter.
But it is going that extra mile demands higher vocabulary.
And also, as Nick said, the way you could go wrong there and I think you're completely right is going too angry, too over the top.
Letters of complaint don't have to be aggressive.
Yeah.
Definitely.
OK, great.
So, Nick, why don't you read this third one?
All right.
Number three, then.
We have got your English speaking friend who lives in your town has asked for your advice about learning a new sport.
Write an email to your friend and in your email recommend a new sport that would be suitable for your friend to learn.
Explain how your friend could learn this sport. and suggest that you both learn this sport together.
Brilliant.
So, first of all, then, tone, Nick.
Obviously, this one is... A nice informal letter to a friend.
An informal letter to a friend.
And this sounds more like a genuine prompt because it says your English speaking friends, not your Welsh friend David.
Very honest.
Yeah.
So.
I guess, a bit similar though to the first informal letter or the first letter sorry where you were writing to your friend's parents.
I guess in this one, in the opener, again, your friend has asked you for advice.
So I guess in the opener, it's going to be important that we acknowledge that.
That we've received a letter from them essentially asking for advice.
I would usually do this in the second sentence or the third sentence of the opener though.
So, like as the final sentence where you make your purpose clear, you can just say something like you know anyway, I'd love to give you advice about taking up a new sport, or something like that.
After some chit chat, as long as the chit chat is good.
But we know that the key to writing a good letter here, if you've listened to our episode last week.
It is going to be adding those personal comments.
And I think we've got a lot of scope here to add personal comments, haven't we?
So in that first one, recommend a new sport that would be suitable for your friend to learn.
How could we use some of the techniques that we looked at last week?
We talked about the history of our relationship.
Yeah.
Exactly.
So, you know, I might say something like, I know that you love swimming.
So why not think about taking up diving or something?
Right.
Or I know that you like watching football.
So how about actually playing it?
Can you think of any other ways that you could sort of add personal comments apart from that?
I know that one.
Maybe you could talk about something like, I remember that you used to play tennis at university.
Or if I remember right.
Yes.
Make it a conditional sentence.
So why not take up squash or badminton?
Yes, like another racket sport.
Another racket sport.
Yeah, good.
But again, I think...
To make this sound genuine.
You can't just start by saying I think you would like horse riding, if you don't give a reason why you think they would like horse riding.
Right.
You know, if you add just something like, I know that you love being outdoors.
So have you thought about horse riding now that actually feels natural?
Otherwise, it just sounds really strange.
In terms of explaining how your friend could learn this sport.
I guess there's a limited number of answers.
How can somebody learn any sport?
I guess you have to go to a club or something, don't you?
Or a trainer or something like that.
That's what I would think.
Right.
So again, be specific.
So this is where specific details are going to help us.
The club on Meadow Lane.
Yes.
I know that there's a great club here.
I've heard good things about them.
Or my friend's daughter learned to ride a horse here.
Blah, blah, blah.
I think yeah, it's about being specific for that one, because there's a limited number of ways that you could learn the sport now.
Just like the previous question, I actually think this third bullet suggests that you both learn this sport together again might dictate what you write for the first two bullets.
Yes, Because it could.
If you don't read that or think about that third bullet at the beginning, you may make the mistake of pretending that you're an expert in judo in the first bullet and say you know, I mean, why don't you come and do judo with me?
You know, I've been doing it for years and I think you'd love it too.
Well, then you'd be in trouble in the third bullet because it says you've got to suggest that you both learn this sport together and if you already know this sport, you're not learning this sport, You're not learning the sports.
You've got to make sure that you recommend a sport that you also haven't played.
And then, yeah, I mean, I think suggest that you learn it together.
I mean, I think a sentence like, you know, in fact, I've always wanted to... rock climb as well.
Why don't we join together?
I don't know what it's going to be.
But yeah, again, this is why you have to plan.
Make sure...
All of the information in your letter is cohesive by, you know, don't contradict yourself.
You can't be an expert when you recommend and a novice... When you're starting to do it.
Yeah.
I think, though, I mean, again, scale of 1 to 10, a 4 maybe?
Yeah, it's not too difficult.
But again, I think, yeah, as we said, if you really think about the details...
If someone doesn't think about the details, they're not going to have a good time with this letter.
And well, like always, you can end up with a letter that addresses the bullets but doesn't actually feel like a letter to a friend.
Yes.
So you know you could say you could be quite mean and say I know that you're not very sporty and you really hate all aerobic activities.
So why not?
Why not take up dance?
I know that you like drinking alcohol, so why not drink tarts?
Yeah.
I mean, you can have a bit of fun with this letter, but add those personal comments.
Be specific and just make sure that you're not talking from a point of expertise for the first couple of bullets.
Yeah.
Yeah, I think that's probably the easiest of all of them, actually.
Okay.
So far, I think.
Let's have a look at the final one then.
Okay, the last one then.
It says, you recently booked a part-time course at a college.
You now need to cancel your booking.
Write a letter to the college administrator and in your letter say which part-time course you booked.
Explain why you need to cancel your booking.
And ask about booking a different course.
Letter of request, right?
Would that be?
Well, I suppose you're requesting to cancel.
I mean, I guess so.
It's not really a complaint, is it?
No, it's not a complaint.
Oh, it's definitely not a complaint.
I guess it's a letter of arrangement maybe or...
Yeah, it's an interesting one actually, because it doesn't necessarily fall into any of the neat categories.
I'm trying to think of the 18 categories of letters that I teach.
I can't remember now.
It's not inquiry.
I guess it's a type of request.
Yeah.
Because you're requesting a cancellation, essentially.
And requesting to do a...
No, asking about a different car.
Okay.
Yeah.
So it's a request and an inquiry.
That's what it is.
And I guess the thing is, it is a request because I guess that there's no guarantee that they will definitely cancel your booking.
So you need to be quite polite, I guess, because they may say they may have a policy.
Yeah.
So you need to be quite polite.
So, again, I think if we have a look at these three bullets in terms of the tone.
Definitely.
Definitely formal, isn't it?
I mean, you haven't been to the college yet.
You don't know these people.
Definitely formal.
Again, I think there's one bullet here that may dictate what you write for the other bullets.
So we've got to say which course you booked, why you want to cancel and ask about booking a different course.
Which of those bullets do we want to make sure doesn't contradict anything?
I would say probably the course and the explanation.
Well, all three of them really because, if you like, Maybe you could have a language and you want to change it for a different language.
And the reason why could be, I just decided I hate French.
Yes, you could.
Exactly.
Exactly.
So, I mean, I think it's the why you need to cancel is important, right?
If you said I can't afford the course now.
Then you can't afford another one.
Yeah, unless that one is free.
So then you'd have to think well, I have to make sure that I only book a different course which is free.
So, you know, same about dates.
If you say you know I'm going on holiday now in June, you can't book a different course which is also in June, unless you say I'd like to book on the next course or
A different course.
So just make sure everything is consistent.
We are writing a real letter.
So then.
In terms of the opener, we're just going to say you know, you're probably just exactly what it's telling you to do.
Hello, my name is blah, blah, blah.
Yes.
I recently applied for a course and unfortunately I need to cancel or something like that.
Yes.
Exactly.
So, you know, the course you've chosen, again, it doesn't matter.
It is a college course, though.
Yeah.
So it's probably going to be something practical.
Like you said, it might be a language course.
It might be a photography course.
It's not going to be molecular biology.
No, exactly.
My brain surgery course or something.
Yeah.
So it's going to be something a bit more practical.
What would be good reasons to cancel a booking?
Something reasonable.
So, yeah, like maybe it's going to be like. um you have been offered this course or you needed this course for your job but now you don't oh that's good for example or maybe you've got family coming to visit you when the course begins or yes maybe you have taken on extra hours at work and you can no longer attend every session Great.
I think Nick, in all three of those options there, which are all great, their scope.
I guess the thing is, something has changed, hasn't there?
You made the booking, but since then, circumstances have changed.
What they are. like you said, maybe it could just be, I can't get childcare now in the evenings.
Unfortunately, I like your one.
Like if you choose a course which is a work related course, like introduction to a bookkeeping or accountancy or something.
And then you, you know, you don't need that anymore.
That's great.
Um, And I actually think that could.
Like you said, Nick could actually then feed into the third one, ask about booking a different course.
Because you might just say it could be something completely different.
So maybe you were going to do I don't know Indian cooking, but now you're going to do Asian cooking or something.
Something like that, something a bit broader.
Yeah.
Or maybe you know I don't know you were going to do a work course, but you've noticed that they also have photography courses.
It could be something, you know, I don't think it really matters.
But what you want to do there is you want to inquire.
So you probably want to, as always, add details.
You know, I see in your brochure that you offer courses on photography.
Photography.
Would are there still spaces on the course that begins in June?
You know, basically, you want to be asking a question.
Is it possible to join that course?
Maybe, as you said Nick, something extra like?
Would you be able to send me some more details or could I speak to the tutor?
It doesn't really matter.
Right.
You just want to add details, I think, and just make sure that that there's a logical reason for you booking a different course.
It could also be that you've noticed that the course is too easy, like i've booked on to an introduction yeah, but i actually would like something a bit more advanced.
Yeah, can i book on to the um improvers course or something?
Yeah good, i don't think there's anything again.
I mean, in terms of one to ten, how difficult?
Are we looking here again, i think we're looking at around a four or five there.
I don't think there's.
I think as long as you're consistent in each bullet point and you don't contradict yourself like with the other letters, then yeah, it shouldn't be terribly difficult that one, and because it's formal, then just focus on the details, like the specific details, like you know.
Focus on the times, the dates, the type of course that you need to do and stuff like that.
I agree.
Like always, the more details you can add, the more realistic your letter will feel, the higher or the better the chance you've got of scoring well for task achievement.
Yeah.
And that writing to a college is really common, isn't it?
Like counselling a course is really common, giving feedback for a course.
This is something you should have done in your practice to be able to do it.
So those are, we think, the questions from the new Cambridge 17.
If you actually have purchased that book and these are not the questions, please send me photos of the real questions.
And Nick and I can do this again in a few weeks.
In any case, it's still a useful practice.
I think what we've learned from this one is make sure your answers are consistent in the bullet.
So read all the bullets before you start brainstorming, so that everything matches up, and then you've got that unity.
Yeah.
Coherence and cohesion.
Yeah, but nothing as tricky as that.
Do you remember from Cambridge 16 that letter to Mrs Barrett, the woman who's looking for a part-time worker in her house?
Do you remember that?
I don't think I remember that.
I remember the one about childcare in Australia.
Yeah.
Or something like that.
That was a tricky one, wasn't it?
Yeah, that was a tricky one.
It was indeed.
Okay, so that was our letters.
I hope you have a lovely week.
Next week, I'm planning to have a podcast about adverbs, Nick.
So something a bit different, a bit of a grammar focus next week.
So yeah, so if you're interested in adverbs...
And why wouldn't we all be?
Come back next week.
But yeah, have a lovely week until then.
Bye.
Bye-bye.
My IELTS Classroom Podcast is a production of My IELTS Classroom Limited.
Nick and I do not represent IELTS, and everything you heard in this episode is our own personal opinion.
You can find the show notes and transcript for this episode on our blog.
That's blog.myiosclassroom.com.
And if you're looking for our video courses, speaking lessons and marking service, You can find that at wwwmyiotsclassroomcom.
If you have a question or query or just want to chat, you can email Nick and I at hello at myiotsclassroomcom.
Our theme music is by Heartbeat and our artwork is produced by David Brown.
Have a great week.
Study hard.
And remember, this is my IELTS classroom.
Thanks for listening.
We'll see you next week.
