Travel and tourism: Writing
The GCSE writing task for Theme 2, 'Travel and tourism', covers holidays, transport, accommodation and past or future trips. Examiners test whether a student can describe travel preferences in the present tense, narrate a past holiday in the perfect and imperfect tenses, and set out future travel plans in the near future, simple future or conditional, while giving a justified opinion on a type of holiday, using a subordinate clause, a range of connectives and an impersonal structure, and keeping verb endings, agreement and accents accurate.
Before you start
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Method
- Underline what each bullet requires (a holiday preference, a past trip, an opinion, a future plan) before planning any sentences.
- Assign a tense per bullet: present tense for general preferences (je préfère, j'aime), perfect tense for what happened on a specific past holiday (je suis allé(e), j'ai visité), imperfect tense for describing the weather or how things were (il faisait beau, c'était), and near future/simple future/conditional for a future trip (je vais partir, j'irai, j'aimerais visiter).
- Give an opinion on a type of holiday with je préfère ... parce que or à mon avis, e.g. 'à mon avis, les vacances à la montagne sont plus reposantes que les vacances à la plage.'
- Add a subordinate clause with qui, que or où, e.g. 'nous avons visité une ville où il y avait beaucoup de monuments.'
- Vary connectives (mais, donc, ensuite, puis, cependant) to sequence a holiday narrative and to contrast opinions.
- Include one impersonal structure such as il y avait, il faut or il vaut mieux plus an infinitive to comment on travel in general.
- Check the agreement of past participles with être verbs of movement (aller, partir, arriver), the imperfect endings (-ais, -ait, -ions), and accents on words like séjour, étranger and hôtel before the final draft.
Worked example
Write about a holiday in French. Mention: where you usually go on holiday and why; where you went last year and what it was like; a problem that happened during a holiday; where you would like to go in the future. Write approximately 40 words.
- Plan: bullet 1 = present tense with opinion; bullet 2 = perfect tense plus imperfect for description; bullet 3 = perfect tense for a single past event; bullet 4 = conditional.
- Build bullet 1: 'D'habitude, je préfère aller à la plage parce que j'adore nager dans la mer.' - present tense, opinion, justification.
- Build bullet 2: 'L'été dernier, je suis allé(e) en Espagne avec ma famille, et il faisait très chaud.' - perfect tense for the event, imperfect for the weather description.
- Build bullet 3: 'Un jour, nous avons raté le train, ce qui était très stressant.' - perfect tense for a single completed action, subordinate clause with ce qui.
- Build bullet 4: 'À l'avenir, j'aimerais visiter le Japon parce que la culture m'intéresse beaucoup.' - conditional, justification.
- Check accuracy: allé/allée agrees with the writer's gender, faisait keeps the correct imperfect ending -ait, and accents on été, très and à l'avenir are all present before the final version.
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1Give the imperfect tense of 'faire' for 'il' (weather).Show answer
Answer: il faisait (e.g. 'il faisait beau').
Q2Translate into French: 'We stayed in a hotel near the beach.'Show answer
Answer: Nous sommes resté(e)s dans un hôtel près de la plage.
Q3Give one connective meaning 'then' used to sequence a holiday story.Show answer
Answer: ensuite (or puis).
Q4Fill the gap: 'L'année prochaine, je ___ (aller) en France.'Show answer
Answer: vais aller (near future, aller plus infinitive) or irai (simple future).
Q5Correct the agreement: 'Mes parents sont allé en Italie.'Show answer
Answer: Mes parents sont allés en Italie - the past participle allés must agree with the plural subject and keep its accent.
Q6Give a French word for 'delayed' (as in a delayed flight).Show answer
Answer: en retard (e.g. 'le vol était en retard').
Q7Write one sentence giving your opinion on package holidays, with a reason.Show answer
Answer: Je pense que les vacances organisées sont pratiques parce qu'on n'a pas besoin de tout planifier soi-même.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE French exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Write about holidays in French. Mention: where you like to go on holiday and why; a holiday you went on last year; a problem you had while travelling; where you would like to go on holiday in the future. Write approximately 40 words in French.
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Write an article for a travel blog about your holiday experiences. Mention: the type of holiday you usually prefer and why; a detailed account of a memorable holiday, including what it was like; a problem that occurred and how it was solved; your opinion on travelling abroad compared to staying in your own country; your plans for your next holiday. Write approximately 90 words in French.
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Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
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See real GCSE French past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the travel and tourism: writing worksheet pack - 6 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
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