IELTS General Writing: formal or informal?

Tomorrow I'll share a video lesson about formal letters for General Writing Task 1. If you're doing the General test, think about the question below.

Would you write a formal or informal letter to the following people?

1. a hotel manager
2. your boss
3. the local council
4. your child's teacher
5. a friend
6. a work colleague
7. a neighbour

Comments

[roshavbg]

1. formal
2. semi-formal
3. formal
4. semi-formal
5. informal
6. semi-formal / informal
7. semi-formal / informal

or

1. formal
2. formal
3. formal
4. formal
5. informal
6. informal
7. informal

[Minhha Hoang]

1. formal
2. formal
3. formal
4. formal
5. ìnformal
6. ìnformal
7. ìnformal

[PK]

formal
formal
formal
informal
informal
informal
informal

[Javidan]

Dear Simon,

I am using kind of mistakes (like below), and i can't change my writing style anyway, i tried.
can it affect my score ? Please answer cause i am worry about that, Many Thanks

InteRnational, or moRe

[Ugiloy]

Dear Simon
I'm not experienced at writing and I should say that I'm disappointed with my results in it. As you can easily suggest I'm going to take an IELTS exam soon. But I decided not to hire a tutor and get ready by myself.
Some of my friends suggested me that the website you created maybe very useful for me. And I see there are a great deal of necessary information including examples and typicals are here. I hope I could find the site I looked for. Thank you very much.
respectfully your Ugiloy

[Ugiloy]

1.formal
2.formal
3.formal
4.formal
5.informal
6.informal
7.informal
actually, it depends on the topic

[Artur]

Hi Simon,

Waiting for the new video for general training.

[Sunlee]

You have recently been employed to work in a foreign country, but you are yet to start. One of your relatives is also interested to go with you and work for the same company. Write a letter to your manager and say

– Tell him/her about yourself and your job.
– Introduce your relative and say what kind of job he/she is interested in.
– Why do you recommend him/her for this job?

[Akbar]

Hi Simon,

Please post model answer for the below task1 topic

You have an extra room in your apartment and would like to rent it out to a student. Write a letter to the university council officer and say:

– Describe your apartment and the facilities available.
– Why do you want to rent out a room?
– What kind of tenant would you prefer?

[tony2811]

Formal
Formal
Formal
Formal
Informal
Informal
Informal

[Vu]

Number 5&6 is informal writing. All another's is formal writing. When you write to a your neighbor, which you should use formal letter too. Because they are not live in your house.

[Simon]

FROM SIMON:

I think the term "semi-formal" is confusing, so I've decided to avoid it. Let's keep things simple by deciding that a letter is either formal or informal. So here are my suggestions:

1. a hotel manager - FORMAL
2. your boss - FORMAL
3. the local council - FORMAL
4. your child's teacher - FORMAL
5. a friend - INFORMAL
6. a work colleague - FORMAL OR INFORMAL
7. a neighbour - FORMAL OR INFORMAL

I think we have a choice with numbers 6 and 7. You might address your work colleague in a formal way (if you don't know him/her) or in an informal way if you are friends. It's the same with a neighbour: if have a problem with an unfriendly neighbour, you would probably write a formal letter, whereas you'd write an informal letter to a friendly neighbour.

Instead of the using term "semi-formal", I think it's easier if we accept that sometimes there is a choice between formal and informal - it depends on the type of relationship that you have with the person (and hopefully this will be indicated in the question).

[Lutfar]

1. formal
2. formal
3. formal
4. semi formal
5. informal
6. semi formal
7. semi formal

[sjm]

There are cultural variations here. In Australia, it would be very strange to write a formal letter to your boss, because your boss is someone you (should) have a friendly relationship with, and writing a formal letter would be considered rude (except in rare occasions such as a resignation letter). We also use small talk when we correspond with our boss, this is not personal, but work related.

[Simon]

Yes, I'd agree with that sjm - both formal and informal letters should be acceptable if we're writing to a boss. I suppose it all depends on the relationship and the purpose of the letter e.g. whether it's your immediate boss or someone much higher up in the company.

Here's a formal letter that I wrote to a boss. I think the slightly formal tone works ok here:

http://ielts-simon.com/ielts-help-and-english-pr/2014/11/ielts-general-writing-time-off-work-letter.html

[Dave]

Hello,

I just took my exam last Saturday, there was a GT question which was quite tough to decide whether it might be a formal or informal. I hope you could help to clarify, thanks

The question:
A couple you know who are in their 60s is going to visit your city
- suggest a place to visit
- tell them what to prepare
- recommend a place to stay

The problem with the question is you are more likely to write a letter to someone you know quite well, the purpose is also not for business or work at all. But their age is a problem here, when you are writing to someone who is much older (around your parents or grandparents' age), you cannot write in a friendly or casual way but you should show them a certain level of respect

Eventually, I decided to write a semi-formal style which began and ended with
======================
Dear Mr and Mrs Brown,

... (formal words) ...

I hope you will have a pleasant trip

(Name)
======================
I'm not entirely sure this may be a good choice, therefore, I hope you can help to explain the suitable tone here for the question

Thank you