A'16 .
Writing skills
>A15 Writing a formal letter or email
Formal letters are used in many contexts: REMEMBER
for example, when applyin gfor a )ob (= letter of A formal letter:
application), when com plai n i ng about prod ucts ' has a standardized format with set elements
like addresses of sender and recipient, date,
or service (= letter of complaint), when writing
su bject head ing, salutation, closi ng statement.
to a newspaper in response to an article (= letter . makes use of long forms.
to the editor) or when asl<ing for information , never includes emoticons, double exclamation
marks or question marks.
(= letter of enquiry), etc. . never uses colloquial language or slang.
More info: Context p Skills File 29, 30
Examining a model letter of enquiry
Theresa Mueller
Codramsteiner Strasse '1 45
76829 landau
Cermany
School of Engiish
Ray Carricl<
22 Newbridge Road
Bath BA1 2PP
United l(ingdom
3 Oclober 2015
lnquiry about Business English courses
Dear Mr Carricl<
I am writing to inquire whether your institute offers Business
English courses.
From your website I have only been able to ascertain that you
l
specialize in courses for advanced learners, but I would like to
know if you aiso offer courses suitable for young professionals wlth
agood command of Engiish. I would be very grateful if you might
be able to send me a brochure ofyour 2016 courses.
I look forward very much to receiving your reply.
Yours sincerely,
fheresa tanller
Step 1 Looking at the structure. Usingthe margin on the right, label the places in the textwhere
you can find each of the following:
name and address of person the letter is sent to .
signature . date on which the letter was written . salutation .
opening paragraph containing the reason for writing .
paragraph containing details about request . heading with purpose of letter .
sender's name and address . requestfor reply
I
39
Skills training A
416 . Writing skills
step 2 Looking at language. Look for examples of the
following in the letter and underline them
. long forms instead of shortforms (e.g. I am instead ,1,m,)
of
. formal words (e.g. 'acquire' rather
than ,get,)
. polite forms (e.g. ,t was wondering if
it might be possible to ,)
Examining a bad reply
step 1 ldentifying what is wrong about a repty.
Theresa Muelrer receives the following reply.
Note down your observations on this response
to the original letter in the right column
the underlined parts show you where to look. -
School of English
22 Newbridge Road
BA1 2PP Bath
United I(ingdom
10/11/2015
Thomas Mueller
Codramsteiner Strasse .1 46
76829 Landau
Cermany
A!§welleller
Dear Thomas I
lhallfC for the last letter you sent to my colleague Ray. As Ray is
currently away from office ex-wife as irth to cute
bey 1), l'll be happy to answer your inquiry
l'm really thrilled to tellyou that some
lq{ifiC courses are waiting
.1ust for you. We boast a wide range of courses _ for children,
hig-h
school students and even speciarist courses
for student of Engrish
literature For some of our 2a15 courses plaäare
sti, avairabre!'
I enclose our 2015 general Eng[sh course
catalogue (on our website
you'll find info on how to pAy the 5 pound
catalqgue fee)...
Need help with bool<ing? Cy4e1t
\121, and we,ll get bacl< to you
asap. ..
Hoping to see you soon in sunny Bath -
S. Handerson
step 2 lmproving the reply. Rewrite 5. Handerson's letter
it should have been written.
as
E/
NOW IT'S YOUR TURN
. 5
Write a letter of complaint I am writing to complain about ...
lmagine you are Theresa Mueller. Being . The first issue/problem I would like to draw
dissatisfied with the reply you received, you your attention to is...
decide to write a letter of complaint to Emily . Another concern is ...
Barker, the principal of the School of English. . What is even more irritating is the that ...
Write this letter of complaint. The box on the . This is inconvenient/ not acceptablefact
/ not
right offers some useful phrases that can be exactly what t wanted.
. I would very much appreciate it if you could/
used in formal letters. ff
would .".
. I am looking forward to hearing
from you soon
rt
,.
A Skills training
