Unemployment: day 53

Today, since my wife traveled for her work and wasn’t at home the evening, my daughter made our dinner. She made mapo-tofu. She fried it more longer than as needed, so the dish was little bit solid. However the dish was delicious enough. We had a pleasant dinner due to my daughter.

Correct version

Today, as my wife was away on a business trip and not at home in the evening, my daughter prepared our dinner. She cooked mapo tofu. She fried it a bit longer than necessary, so the dish was slightly firm. Nevertheless, it was tasty enough, and we enjoyed a pleasant dinner thanks to my daughter.

IELTS Improvement Points

Collocation:

be away on a business trip
　→ More natural than “travelled for her work”. Common collocation in both spoken and written English.

prepare dinner / cook dinner
　→ More idiomatic than “make dinner”. “Prepare” adds a slightly more formal tone, suitable for IELTS writing.

slightly firm
　→ More natural than “a little bit solid”. Used to describe food texture in a polite and precise way.

Template:

[Subject] [verb] a bit longer than necessary, so [result].
　→ A useful cause-effect structure. Example: He studied a bit longer than necessary, so he became tired.

We enjoyed [something] thanks to [someone/something].
　→ Useful to express positive outcomes and attribution. Example: We enjoyed a smooth journey thanks to the clear weather.

Vocabulary:

nevertheless
　→ More academic than “however”. Suitable for IELTS essays to contrast ideas.

tasty
　→ A natural adjective for describing food, less repetitive than always saying “delicious”.

mapo tofu
　→ When writing about non-English foods, it’s best to leave the original name (capitalised as a proper noun). In IELTS, this shows awareness of cultural terminology.