Letter

Band 6+: You recently bought some train tickets for a journey a week in advance. When you went to the station to catch the train, you were told you could not use the tickets and the staff were very unhelpful to you. Write a letter to the train company. In your letter: Describe the problem you had with the tickets Say why were unhappy with the staff Suggest what action the train company should take

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Dear Sir or Madam,

My name is Aastha Patel. I purchased 4 tickets on December 2nd from railways.ca online website for yesterday’s Shatabdi express which operates from Ahmedabad to Surat. The purpose of writing this letter is to update you on the bad experience I had with the company.

When I reached to the station, the train was full and the entire platform was crowded. We were denied to take entry and the staff mentioned that we cannot use the online booked tickets. Thereafter, I contacted the customer service department who told us that the issued tickets from the website were not valid. For that reason, we were not able to board the train.

I was extremely unhappy with the staff’s behaviour. When further asked, they did not have any answers on booking new tickets or issuing a refund for the old ones. And, they simply advised me to wait for a few days to get the next available train.

I would highly appreciate a quick resolution from your end, thanks.

Yours sincerely,

Aastha Patel.

Word Count: 175

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Overall Band Score

(+/- 0.5)

Vocabulary Complexity:
B1 - Intermediate
Using more sophisticated words could be beneficial.

Grammar Mistakes: N/A

Vocabulary Repetition:

tickets: 4

Try using synonyms for the above words

Task Response

The letter addresses the task, but some points are not fully developed. The description of the problem is adequate, but the explanation of why you were unhappy with the staff could be more detailed. The suggestions for actions the train company should take are missing. To improve, elaborate on the staff's unhelpfulness and include specific suggestions for the train company to resolve the issue.

Coherence & Cohesion

The letter is generally coherent, but the organization could be improved for clarity. Consider dedicating a separate paragraph to each of the points mentioned in the task instructions (problem with tickets, unhappiness with staff, and suggested actions). This would enhance the flow and make it easier for the reader to follow your message. For example, the details about contacting customer service could be more logically placed within the description of the problem.

Lexical Resource

The vocabulary used is adequate for the task, but there's room to enhance it with more specific and varied language. For instance, instead of 'bad experience,' you could use phrases like 'disappointing experience' or 'unacceptable situation.' Also, consider using more precise vocabulary related to train travel and customer service to demonstrate a broader range.

Grammatical Range & Accuracy

The letter contains grammatical errors that affect clarity. For example, 'We were denied to take entry' should be 'We were denied entry' or 'We were not allowed to enter.' Also, the sentence 'When further asked, they did not have any answers on booking new tickets or issuing a refund for the old ones' could be rephrased for better clarity and grammatical correctness, such as 'When we inquired further, they could not provide information about booking new tickets or processing a refund for the original ones.' Proofreading carefully for such errors will improve the overall impression.

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