14.4. Writing Enhancement
Assignment 1. Read the following letter and replace the underlined formal phrases with more appropriate informal ones.
Dear Mum,
I felt obliged to write to inform you how everything is going here in Spain since I started university. Please accept my sincere apologies for not writing sooner but I've been so busy I really haven't had a suitable opportunity.
I managed to find a nice place to live, it’s a small flat just around the corner from the university. I'm sharing the flat with a girl called Anita who seems really nice and has been here for a year.
I have become familiar with my surroundings and have been practising my Spanish, which is improving considerably every day.
I hope to return home for Christmas once the examinations are over. It will be wonderful to see everyone again. I do get homesick, you know.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours sincerely,
Maggie
Assignment 2. Write these letters in the appropriate style using 120 -180 words. Make sure to use the active vocabulary properly.
1 You need to buy new furniture for your company. Write an enquiry letter.
2 Write an order letter for the new furniture for your company.
14.5. Speaking Reinforcement
Assignment 1. Speak about your experience in writing personal letters, business letters, emails. Find out how often your group mates do it, what they enjoy doing, what difficulties they have.
Assignment 2. Discuss what you would write in a letter if you happened to find yourself on the desert island, and had a sheet of paper, a pen, and a bottle with a cork.
Active vocabulary Unit 14. Business Correspondence
|
Referring to previous contact |
Thank you for your letter of March 15. Thank you for contacting us. In reply to your request, ... Thank you for your letter regarding ... With reference to our telephone conversation yesterday... Further to our meeting last week ... It was a pleasure meeting you in London last month. I enjoyed having lunch with you last week in Tokyo. I would just like to confirm the main points we discussed on Tuesday. | ||||||||
|
Making a request |
We would appreciate it if you would ... I would be grateful if you could ... Could you please send me ... Could you possibly tell us / let us have ... In addition, I would like to receive ... It would be helpful if you could send us ... I am interested in (obtaining / receiving) ... I would appreciate your immediate attention to this matter. Please let me know what action you propose to take. | ||||||||
|
Offering help |
Would you like us to ...? We would be happy to ... We are quite willing to ... Our company would be pleased to ... | ||||||||
|
Giving good news |
We are pleased to announce that ... I am delighted in inform you that .. You will be pleased to learn that ... | ||||||||
|
Giving bad news |
We regret to inform you that ... I'm afraid it would not be possible to ... Unfortunately we cannot / we are unable to ... After careful consideration we have decided (not) to ... | ||||||||
|
Complaining |
I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with ... I am writing to complain about ... Please note that the goods we ordered on ( date ) have not yet arrived. We regret to inform you that our order n° ----- is now considerably overdue. I would like to query the transport charges which seem unusually high. | ||||||||
| |||||||||