You recently visited a tourist attraction and you were very pleased with the help given to you by the staff. Write a letter to the head of staff at the tourist attraction. In your letter: - give details of the circumstances of your visit - describe the help given to you by the staff - say what you want the head staff to do
Sample Response
Dear Sir or Madam, I am Pham Van Duc, a tourist from Vietnam, recently been to your Illusion 3D Art Museum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and had been overwhelmed both with the collection and courteous staff. I am writing to express my appreciation for the wonderful experience that I had during my visit to your Museum. I took a week-long vacation to Kuala Lumpur with my wife and daughter in August and learned about your Museum from TripAdvisor, a useful website for tourists. After we reached your Museum, the receptionist explained what we can expect once inside and what we can do to enjoy our time. She was very friendly and cooperative. Once we got inside, another staff member greeted us and then escorted us to different worth enjoying 3D collections. My daughter had thoroughly enjoyed her time and we took several pictures to capture the moment. He was with us until the last moment and had been quite cordial. I would like to thank you for a great museum with a fabulous selection and on top of that, gracious staff members who have a genuine smile and a positive mentality to let visitors enjoy their time. Please convey my regards and best wishes to them. Yours faithfully, Pham Van Duc
IELTS Writing Correction
- 1. Lowercase the common noun Original: Museum Suggested revision: museum Why it matters: Museum is a common noun here rather than part of the attraction's full name.
- 2. Use British usage Original: vacation Suggested revision: holiday Why it matters: Holiday is the usual British English term for this trip.
- 3. Lowercase museum here Original: Museum Suggested revision: museum Why it matters: Museum should be lowercase when it is used as a common noun.
- 4. Remove unnecessary explanation Original: , a useful website for tourists Suggested revision: Delete Why it matters: The aside interrupts the account and is not needed to explain the visit.
- 5. Use the arrival collocation Original: reached your Museum Suggested revision: arrived at your museum Why it matters: Arrive at is the natural collocation for reaching a particular attraction.
- 6. Keep the past viewpoint Original: can Suggested revision: could Why it matters: Could is needed because the receptionist's explanation occurred in the past.
- 7. Match the past tense Original: can Suggested revision: could Why it matters: Could maintains the past-time viewpoint established by explained.
- 8. Describe service helpfully Original: cooperative Suggested revision: helpful Why it matters: Helpful describes the receptionist's assistance more directly in this context.
- 9. Use simple past Original: had thoroughly enjoyed Suggested revision: thoroughly enjoyed Why it matters: The simple past is appropriate because the events are narrated in chronological order.
- 10. Use a formal noun Original: pictures Suggested revision: photographs Why it matters: Photographs is slightly more precise in this formal appreciation letter.
- 11. Clarify the staff reference Original: He was with us Suggested revision: The staff member stayed with us Why it matters: The explicit noun phrase removes uncertainty about who He refers to.
- 12. State the duration clearly Original: until the last moment Suggested revision: until the end of our visit Why it matters: The revision specifies the relevant endpoint and avoids the vague phrase last moment.
Suggested Rewrites
- Museum museum
- vacation holiday
- Museum museum
- , a useful website for tourists Delete
- reached your Museum arrived at your museum
- can could
Why this response received Band 7.0
The letter fully explains the family visit, gives specific examples of assistance from the receptionist and guide, and clearly asks the head of staff to pass on appreciation. Its strongest feature is the warm, detailed recognition of staff service, while the main limitation is frequent awkward grammar and phrasing within one dense paragraph. The priority is to organise the circumstances, help received, and requested recognition separately while simplifying tense choices.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Achievement
All three bullet points are clearly developed with relevant visit details, specific staff actions, and an appropriate request to convey thanks.
Make the requested action more concrete by asking the manager to identify and formally commend the receptionist and guide.
Coherence and Cohesion
The letter progresses from the visit context to staff assistance and appreciation, but the single-paragraph format makes the sequence feel dense.
Use separate paragraphs for the circumstances, the receptionist's and guide's help, and the requested recognition.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is varied enough to express appreciation and describe service, though several choices are unnatural or overly elaborate.
Replace phrases such as 'worth enjoying 3D collections', 'positive mentality', and 'until the last moment' with simple, precise service language.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A range of structures is attempted, but missing auxiliaries, inconsistent tenses, agreement, and clause construction create frequent errors.
Use consistent past tense and complete structures such as 'I recently visited', 'the receptionist explained what to expect', and 'my daughter thoroughly enjoyed the visit'.
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IELTS General Training Writing Task 1
You recently visited a tourist attraction and you were very pleased with the help given to you by the staff. Write a letter to the head of staff at the tourist attraction. In your letter:
- give details of the circumstances of your visit
- describe the help given to you by the staff
- say what you want the head staff to do
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.