Tourism

Writing task: Describe a bar chart

Look at the bar chart. Write a description of the information in the chart (around Useful language
100 words). Useful phrases
• This chart shows…
Use the Useful language and the notes you made in the Engage task to help you
• The numbers are in…
prepare.
• The most popular
country was …, with …
visitors.
• … had the smallest
number of visitors, with
…
• … and … had about …
visitors.
• There were just over /
under … visitors to …
• … wasn’t as popular as
… in 2011.
• Apart from …, … and …
were the most popular.
• However, … was the
Tip  A description of a bar chart uses neutral language. Start by looking carefully at the most popular continent.
title and chart so you understand it. Then plan what you are going to say carefully before
you start writing.
Follow this structure:
• Say what the chart shows.
• Say how the chart gives the numbers (hundreds, thousands, millions).
• Say which country had the highest number of visitors. Say which had the smallest.
• Say which countries had similar numbers of visitors. Say which had very different
numbers.
• Say which countries you can put together into one or more groups.
• Say which continent was the most popular (Asia, Europe, North America).
Check it!  Did you use comparative adjectives and superlative adjectives correctly?
Did you include the correct numbers?

Oxford Online
Skills Program