Practical letter

Practical Writing :Formal Letters
Formal Letters
Objectives:
To identify types of English letters; To define parts of English letters; To understand forms of English letters ; To master how to write good English letters; To understand steps of English letters writing;
Types of English Letters
English letters may be classified into three types according to functions and uses.
Personal correspondence/Letter Business correspondence/Letter Social correspondence/Letter
Example:
Mr. James West, Director American Rain Company 9115 Charles Avenue Lee, CA 93451 USA
The Salutation
• The salutation or the greeting is located doublespaced below the inside address and flush with the left-hand margin. It is always followed by a colon, but it maybe also followed by a comma in informal or personal letters. • In formal or business letters, individuals are usually greeted by “Dear Mr.____,” if you know his or her surnames. Otherwise, “ Dear Sir” or “Dear Madam” may be used.
Forms of English Letters
The indented form
It has each line in the heading and the inside address indented 2 or 3 letters. Besides , the beginning of each paragraph is indented 5 letters.
Parts of English letters
• The complimentary close: to say bye. • The signature: hand-written and the typed one. • The enclosure: to indicates the envelope contains additional material. • The postscript: to refer to your afterthoughts.
The Enclosure
• If the envelop contains additional material, the enclosure line is added double-spaced below the signature. The line may start either with “Enclosure:” or the abbreviation “Enc:” or “Encl:” you may place the name of the enclosure after the colon, such as “Enc: resume”.
The Complimentary Close
• The complimentary close is double-spaced below the body of the letter.
The Signature
• The signature is double-spaced directly below and aligned vertically with the complimentary close.
Be yourself
Specific Steps of English Letter Writing • The Heading
• The Heading includes the return of the sender and the date of the letter. Business letters are often written on printed stationery with the letter head, which already contains the name and address of the company. In this case, only the date needs to be added.
Forms of English Letters
The Modified form
It is a combination of the modified blocked form and the indented form. It takes the same form as the blocked form in the heading and the inside address, the complimentary close and the signature. And it is the same as the indented form in the body of the letter.
Forms of English Letters
The blocked form
The full-blocked form: All the letter’s elements flush against the left-hand margin, and the first line of each paragraph is not indented.
How to Write Good English Letters
• The content planning
• Why are you writing? • What facts support your reason for writing? • What would you like the reader to do?
Example:
Room 131, Building 6-2 Xi’an University of Science and Technology Xi’an, Shaanxi 710062 P.R. China March 12,2012
The inside Address
• Readers of business letters are sensitive about their names, titles and firms, so special care should be paid here. The inside address includes the full name and business address of the person written to. • Mr.-----used before men in general; • Mrs.------used before married women; • Miss------used befபைடு நூலகம்re unmarried women; • Ms.--------used before a female of uncertain marriage status;
The Body
• The body of the letter contains the message you intend to send to the addressee, so it is the most important part of the letter. • Writing purpose ( make it clear in the first paragraph of the letter). • Supporting facts • Expected response
P.S. I am enclosing my visiting card for your reference.
The Postscript
• If a postscript is added, you should place it double space between everything else in the letter. The postscript may be used as a device to add something that is worth mentioning but not really related to the main message of the letter, or lay emphasis on something of special importance.
How to Write Good English Letters
• General Rules of English Letter Writing The physical appearance: Proper margin: about 1-inch on all sides of a letter; appearing in the middle of the page and not on the side. Proper spacing: each of the inside parts is single-spaced. Double-spaced quadral-spaced is used between the parts and between the paragraphs.