Letter Writing: Requesting Information

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Writing Tips

19005
08 Jan 2018
If you are appearing in IELTS General Training, there are two different types of letters you
need to prepare for IELTS Writing Task 1: formal and informal letter. If you find the
question is a formal letter, you need to write in the professional or formal tone. Several
types of letters are there out of which one is the letter where you request
some information.

Before you start writing, you should know what type of letter it is, whether formal
or informal, so that you can form sentences according to the required tone and
style. If you are writing a letter to a manager, employer or any person with whom
you are professionally related, then this letter is formal. However, when you are to
write a letter to your friend with whom you are personally related, then this letter
type is informal.
Types of writing prompts:
The writing prompt can ask you do to any one of the following:
a) request information
b) explain a situation.
In this article, you will know more about how to request
information.
Let’s find out with an example how to write a formal letter requesting information.
Formal Letter – requesting information
Question:

You have decided to set up a business for which you want to avail
the facility of bank loan.
Write a letter to the bank manager requesting for information about the bank loan
and in your letter, write the following:

• Why you are writing the letter

• What is the amount of bank loan you need
• When you are able to repay the loan

In this writing prompt, the examiner is asking you to write a letter to request the
bank manager for some information. As the letter is to the bank manager, it has to
be a formal letter.
Once you know what is asked of you, you should now structure your letter.
Steps to write a formal letter while requesting information:

1. Identify letter – Formal

2. Write salutation (Dear Sir/Mam,)
3. Write purpose of letter
4. Describe the first bullet point (it may be same as step 3)
5. Describe the second bullet point
6. Describe the third bullet point
7. Write finishing statements (I look forward receiving your response at the earliest.)
8. Sign-off (Yours faithfully,)

Sample Answer:

Dear Sir/Mam,
I am writing this letter to request information about availing loan from your bank
for starting a business nearby my home in the next month.
As per the market research, I hope that constructing a restaurant in the proposed
site would be a huge success. Since the area is a home to students studying in the
regional university, it is expected that around 2000 students can be the potential
customers of my business.
For setting up the restaurant, I would require to invest Rs 50 lakh which I seek as
the loan amount from bank. I request you to provide me all the required
information including eligibility criteria and the documents to be submitted along
with the application.
Furthermore, I would like to inform that there is no other restaurant in the area
which would provide a great possibility for the business to grow. And hence, I hope
that I would be able to repay the loan in 3 years or earlier.
Kindly provide me the requested information as soon as possible so that the loan
application can be processed at the earliest.
Yours faithfully,
Ramesh Varma
(189 words)
To improve the quality of your letter, you should include vocabulary from the
glossary below.
Useful vocabulary for formal letter while requesting information

• I would like to request

• I would like to suggest if you can
• I would be grateful if you can
• I would like you to kindly
• I am entitled to request that
• I was wondering if it would be possible for you to
Now, let’s understand with an example how to write an informal letter requesting
information.

Informal Letter – requesting information

Question:
You want to apply for work permit in a city abroad where you had never been to.
Hence, you want to seek information about that city from a friend who is living in
that city.
Write a letter to your friend to request information about the city you are planning
to move to and in your letter, write the following:

• Where and when you want to work

• What type of job it is
• For how long you want to work there

This prompt is asking you to request information about a city, but is an informal
letter as you are asked to write it to your friend.
Now that you know that it is an informal letter, let’s look at its structure.

Steps to write an informal letter while requesting information:

1. Identify letter – Informal

2. Write salutation (Dear Carol,)
3. Write greeting statement (I hope you are doing well.)
4. Describe the first bullet point
5. Describe the second bullet point
6. Describe the third bullet point
7. Write finishing statements (I hope we would meet soon in the next month.)
8. Sign-off (Yours truly,)
Sample Answer:

Dear Suresh,
I hope you are doing well and enjoying your life.
It’s been quite long that I couldn’t write to you as I was planning my visit to your
city, London. I feel lucky enough that my company has selected me for a project in
London and I would be reaching there in the next month.
My London based project is a great opportunity for me where I would be
interacting with some clients for presenting business proposals and further
finalizing the deals. This is a full-time job of day shift but sometimes, I may need to
work in night shifts. As I am new to the city, I need some help from you if you can
give some information such as the rent charges, food prices, availability of public
transport, facility of banking and others. Since you are already in the city, I think
you can be of great help in gaining familiarity to the city.
I would be staying in London for 2 years after which the project ends and I hope
we will have great fun together in London.
Yours truly,
Pratham
(186 words)

To improve the quality of your letter, you should include vocabulary from the
glossary below.
Useful vocabulary for informal letter while requesting information

• Well, you know

• As you know,
• It would be great to see you
• I have got a
• A lovely view
• On the bright side
• It would be nice
• Prices are crazy
• It was quite good
• Hope to see you soon!
• All the best!
• Good bye!
• Take care!
• Keep in touch!
• Contraction words: It’s, It’s been, can’t, haven’t etc.
IELTS Complaint Letter
In this lesson we will look at how to write an IELTS complaint letter.

In this type of letter, you are given a situation that you wish to be resolved in
some way.

Common examples are bad service at a hotel, shop, restaurant or other place
or faulty goods you have bought.

It is common to have to do these two things:

• Explain the problem

• Ask how it will be resolved / Suggest how you want it to be resolved
However, remember that there are always THREE tasks you have to address
in the letter, so check carefully what they are.

In this case the third task in the IELTS complaint letter is introducing yourself.

Take a look at the question:

You have bought a new camera but when you got it home you found it had
some problems. You returned the camera and spoke to the company
representative a week ago but the camera has still not been repaired.

Write a letter to the company.

In your letter:

• Introduce yourself
• Explain the situation
• Say what action you would like the company to take

It is essential that you address the three points you are given. If you do not, you
will lose marks for Task Achievement, and your band score may be reduced.

You need to make sure you think of some extra details to support the points.

You don't necessarily have to write the same amount on each point.

You should make sure you give plenty of detail for the second two points, but in
this IELTS complaint letter, it is likely you would write less on the first point as
there are limits to what you can say if you introduce yourself.

You should write your letter in the same order as the bullet points.

_________________________________
Register
You must also get the register right in a letter.

This basically means using an appropriate tone to match the purpose of the
letter and the person you are writing to.

The register or tone will depend on how formal or informal the letter is. It can be
tricky and take some skill to get this right.

A letter of complaint will be a formal letter and so you would use different
language and phrases than if you were writing to a good friend for example.

Getting the tone right is important because this can affect your score for Task
Achievement.

_________________________________

Common Phrases for an IELTS Complaint Letter

These are some common phrases you can use in an IELTS complaint letter that
will help you to get the right tone:

Reason for writing:

• I am writing in order to complain about

• I am writing to complain about
• I am writing regarding
• I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with
Introducing the complaint:

• Topic sentence stating the positive point. + However, + problem….

Example:
We thoroughly enjoyed the first week of the holiday. However, after that we
experienced a number of problems.
• I am (extremely) dissatified / dissapointed with the service / goods that I received /
bought because
First complaint:

• Firstly
• First of all
• The first problem is / was
• My first complaint is
• My first concern is
• The first thing I would like to draw your attention to is
Further complaints:
• Secondly
• Also
• In addition
• In addition to this
• Added to this
• …… is / was also unsatisfactory / unacceptable
• Not only ……, but also
• To make matters worse,
• Furthermore
Mentioning negative consequences:

• I'm afraid that…

• Unfortunately,
Expressing Dissatisfaction:

• It is not acceptable to / that

• I am not at all pleased that
• I am disappointed because
Demanding action:

• I suggest that you replace the item

• I therefore suggest that I be given a full refund
• I would be grateful if my money was refunded
• I would be grateful if you could give me a full refund
• I would like to request that
• To resolve the problem, I would appreciate it if you could
Ending the letter:

• I look forward to hearing from you

• I look forward to receiving a full refund
• I look forward to receiving a replacement
• I look forward to receiving your explanation
• I look forward to your reply and a resolution to my problem
You will need to practice these to make sure you know how to fit them in correctly to
your letter as they may all vary slightly depending on the particular context.

_________________________________

IELTS Complaint Letter Model Answer

Now, take a look at the model answer. Note some of the phrases above which are in
bold / red.

You have bought a new camera but when you got it home you found it had some
problems. You returned the camera and spoke to the company representative a
week ago but the camera has still not been repaired.

Write a letter to the company.

In your letter:

• Introduce yourself
• Explain the situation
• Say what action you would like the company to take

Write at least 150 words

You do NOT need to write any addresses

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear……..,

Dear Sir / Madam,

My name is Mark Roberts and I am writing to you regarding a Nokia camera that I
bought at your department store on Sunhill Road, Dewsbury, on the 5th September.

The camera seemed to work fine in the shop. However, upon returning home, it
became clear that the shutter mechanism was not functioning properly. In addition to
this, there was a small scratch on the lens.

I therefore returned to the shop the following day, on the 6th September, and spoke to a
company representative about the issue. I left the camera with the assistant and they
assured me that they would look into the problem with a view to repairing the camera
and get back to me a few days later.

However, it has now been one week and when I contacted the shop again they said that
the camera has still not been fixed and they do not know how long it will be.

As I am sure you will understand, it is not acceptable to be waiting for such a long time
for it to be repaired. I would therefore like to request that I be given a full refund
should I not receive the repaired camera by the end of this week.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully
Mark Roberts

_________________________________

Comments
This IELTS complaint letter would achieve a high band score for the following reasons:

Task Achievement
The letter meets all the requirements of the task. The three points have been covered,
each point has been extended with further appropriate and relevant information, and the
tone is consistent throughout the letter.

Coherence and Cohesion

Paragraphing has been used appropriately, ideas have been organised logically, and
cohesion within / between sentences and paragraphs is appropriate.

Lexical Resource (Vocabulary)

Word forms and spellings are all correct. There is a range of vocabulary and the
writer collocates well.

Here are some examples of good vocabulary / phrases / collocations for this letter:

• upon returning
• shutter mechanism
• functioning properly
• assured me
• with a view to
• company representative
• not acceptable to
Grammatical Range and Accuracy

In the IELTS complaint letter, there is a mix of simple and complex sentences, and
excellent control of grammar and punctuation.

Here are some examples of complexity:

• ...Nokia camera that I bought...

• ...upon returning home, it became clear that...
• ...when I contacted the shop again they said that…
• As I am sure you will understand, it is...
• ...request that I be given a full refund should I not…
The past tense has been used correctly to discuss completed actions in the past.