Letter Writing“Meeting and talking in person on the phone is very helpful, but letter writing helps put something concrete in hand that helps you iron out a position or reinforce something you may have talked about.”

NV LANGAUNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG

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Learning Outcomes:At the end of the learning sessions I should be able to: Write a formal letter and an informal

letter. Know the different language used in

letter writing. Use Microsoft Word to type my letters.

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Definition of formal and informal letters:

• A formal letter is a letter written to a business, a college, or any professional that are not considered friends or family.

• An informal letter is a letter you would write to a friend or family. You can use contractions such as can’t, I’m, won’t, you’re and so on.

• For examination, DO NOT use slang like, “Hey, Wassup.” , “gonna” , “kinda”, “wanna”

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Authentic Task 1: In Pairs: (To be completed in 20 minutes)

1. Find a partner in class.

2. Analyze these two types of different letters and underline the differences that you can spot. (Each individual should analyze a different letter with the help of the other)

3. With your partner decide which letter is formal or informal. You are not allowed to use the internet for this class because it tests your previous knowledge of the structure of letters.

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At the completion of the previous task one of the following should have occurred:

• Notice that the different letters address distinct individuals

• The language usage in both the letters in different

• The level of respect with regards to addressing the individual being written to is different.

• The structures are also dissimilar.

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The following steps and rules provide you with guidance to writing a formal letter. Learners need to now rectify any mistakes they made in the previous task.

Steps to writing a formal English letter:

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Step 1:

Addresses:

• 1) Your AddressThe return address should be written in the top right-hand corner of the letter.

• 2) The Address of the person you are writing toThe inside address should be written on the left, starting below your address.

Date:

• Different people put the date on different sides of the page. You can write this on the right or the left on the line after the address you are writing to. Write the month as a word.

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Step 2

Salutation

1) Dear Sir or Madam,If you do not know the name of the person you are writing to, use this. It is always advisable to try to find out a name.

2) Dear Mr Jenkins,If you know the name, use the title (Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms, Dr, etc.) and the surname only. If you are writing to a woman and do not know if she uses Mrs or Miss, you can use Ms, which is for married and single women.

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Step 3:• First paragraph

The first paragraph should be short and state the purpose of the letter- to make an enquiry, complain, request something, etc.

• The middle paragraph/s

The paragraph or paragraphs in the middle of the letter should contain the relevant information behind the writing of the letter. Most letters in English are not very long, so keep the information to the essentials and concentrate on organizing it in a clear and logical manner rather than expanding too much.

• The last paragraph

The last paragraph of a formal letter should state what action you expect the recipient to take- to refund, send you information, etc.

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Step 4

Ending a letter:

1) Yours faithfullyIf you do not know the name of the person, end the letter this way.

2) Yours sincerelyIf you know the name of the person, end the letter this way.

3) Your signatureSign your name, then print it underneath the signature. If you think the person you are writing to might not know whether you are male of female, put you title in brackets after your name.

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Authentic Task 2

1. Using the provided guidelines, make use of any magazine or newspaper and write a formal letter to the editor regarding a certain article you have read.(Write the rough draft only)

2. The letter should be put inside an envelop along with the article that you have cut out from the magazine or newspaper. NB. (do not seal the envelop until you have brought the letter to class to be assessed by your peer and the teacher)

3. The letter will then need to be typed out neatly after it has been assessed.

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What will be assessed:

• The structure of the letter

• Necessary information mentioned in the letter

• The relevance of the letter

• Language usage

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Guidelines To Writing An Informal LetterThe following steps outline the basics to writing out an informal letter

STEP 1

Greeting

Dear ..

Hi/Hello ...

With an informal letter you can mention the name of the person you are writing to and you can also be informal in terms of referring to them with a pat name of some sort.

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Step 2Paragraph 1

• Say why you are writing to them (I’m just writing to let you know that….)

Paragraph 2

• Bullet point 1 and supporting details

Paragraph 3

• Bullet point 2 and supporting details

 Paragraph 4

• Bullet point 3 and supporting details

Closing sentence

• Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

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Step 3Signing Off:

• If you are writing to your parents, you can sign of using:

• Your loving daughter,

•   Yours lovingly,

• Yours affectionately 

• If you are writing to friends or relatives, you can sign off using:

•   Your friend,

•   Yours sincerely,

•   Yours faithfully,

•   Your niece / nephew

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Authentic task 3

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1. Write an informal letter to your parents/guardian explaining to them the lesson we had previously on writing a formal letter

2. In your letter you should not be formal meaning it should not be a lesson being retold but the experience you had while the lesson was happening.

3. The letter can be handwritten and should be brought to class as soon as your parents have read it and given you a response.

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What will be assessed:

• The learner’s ability to write out an informal letter and following the necessary guidelines

• The language usage

• Necessary information also provided on the letter

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The resources used on the slides can be accessed through

• https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B3wZNzFsxsmYekpTeEwxcDRZZkU

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