Writing Personal Letters

Objectives

Through this section, you will learn how to write personal letters

Learn about it!

Today we’re going to talk about letter writing. We write letters to friends, strangers, businesses, government departments, and institutions.

The tone of a letter can be formal or informal, depending on who is going to read it. There are several purposes for writing letters:
1.giving or requesting information
2. giving instruction
3. relating an events
4. giving goods or bad news
5. complaining
6. describing
7. applying for a job

Some letters can include several of these purposes at the same time. Here are some examples.

Letters for ‘giving information’ might include: travel plans, arrival details, what to see and do on holidays.

Letter ‘requesting information’ might be for: course information, library hours, timetable information.

Some letters for ‘giving the instruction’ include: how to get to your house, how to operate a machine, how to open an account.

And letter ‘ relating an events’ such as an incident or accident; a wedding, a holiday

‘Giving good or bad new’ such as canceling an appointment, accepting a job offer, informing of the birth of the baby.

The letter ‘complaining’ might include poor service in a restaurant, loud noise in your district, a problem with faulty goods.

the letter ‘describing’ might be about: lost property, friends, or a place.

the letter ‘applying for a job’ is called the application letter.

The formal letter begins with the greeting

Dear and closing with yours sincerely

Between the top and the button is the body if the letter. We write because we have the purpose. The purposes in giving information, you might write

I am writing to advise that ...

Or for requesting information you might write

I am writing to request information about...

In giving instruction you might write

I am writing to explain how to ...

In giving good news, you can write

I am very happy to tell you that ..

Communication could be conducted not only spoken but also written form. Communication in written form could be done by letter or electronic letter or e-mail. There are two kinds of letter, they are formal and informal letter, personal and institutional letter. The purpose of the letter is depend on the category of the letter. By categories, there are some such as

·         Request

·         Complaint

·         Bussiness

·         Friendy

Personal letters are the letter made by someone based on his/her purpose formally or informally. The institutional letter is the letter which made by the institution formally. In this lesson, we will practice making personal letters for requesting as the situation below.

The words choice on the above letter use informal language, here is the difference between Personal and Formal letter.

Not only the choice of the words, the structure also differs

So the generic structure of Personal Letters is

1.      The sender’s Address

2.      Date

3.      Salutation

4.      Opening Paragraph (purpose of the letter)

5.      Body paragraph (detail information)

6.      Closing Paragraph (expectation)

7.      Complimentary Close

8.      Signature/ Initial of written
Personal letters can be sent conventionally or by using email/electronic mail. Here presented the form of letters sending via email.

Have you ever been to your friend’s birthday party? Before going to the party, your friend gave you a letter or card to invite you. Well, this kind of letter is an example of an invitation letter. In this section, we will not only learn about invitation letters, but we will also learn how to write it on your own! Let’s get started!

Today, Hannah gets an invitation letter from her friend, Diana. She is not sure whether she can go or not because the party is on the same day with her drama rehearsal. The invitation letter is in the picture below.

In your opinion, what party is going to be held by Diana? When and where? If Hannah decided not to come, when does she need to tell Diana?

From the picture, we can get plenty information, we know that:

1. Diana invites Hannah to her birthday party
2. The party will be in Mountana Residence on Sunday, 18 July 2015
3. If Hannah cannot go, she should tell Diana before 10th July. Why? It is because, in the invitation, we can find this information RSVP before 10th July. RSVP means that you have to confirm whether you will come or not.

So, from Diana’s invitation letter, we know that it should have the following elements:

So, in an invitation letter, there should be the name of the host, information of the event, time of the event, a place to conduct the event, and confirmation date.

There are two types of confirmation date, RSVP and Regret Only. In RSVP, we have to confirm whether we will come or not. In Regret Only, we need to confirm only when we cannot come. Moreover, an invitation letter is written in the present tense.

Look at the invitation letter below. The following invitation letter is not written well. What is wrong with the letter?

Do you find the mistake? Well, there are some mistakes in the card. You will find illogical and missing information in Marsha’s Invitation.

Look at the picture below:

See, the letter is written in the past tense (were). It is inappropriate because an invitation letter should be in the present tense. Moreover, the confirmation date is 5th July, while the Birthday Party will be held on 19 June 2015. The invitation letter also missed important information, i.e. the place of the party!
So, how is it? Have you understood what to write in an invitation letter? Are you ready to write your own invitation letter? Let’s check in the next section!

Do you understand?

Hannah is going to perform a drama. Now, she is going to write an invitation letter to invite people to watch her Drama Show but she is confused about what to write. Would you help her? She just wrote some information in her notebook. Here they are:
1. Name of the Drama Show: Sangkuriang
2. Conducted by Teater Bumi
3. Place: Adam Malik Hall, Aceh Street No. 21
4. Time: Monday, 20 August 2015, 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Now, try to write an invitation letter to help Hannah. Write it in the template below.

Have you completed the letter above? Now let's compare to the right answer. Here is the complete invitation letter for Hannah.

Keypoints

In this section, you have learned how to write personal letter letters.

the generic structure of Personal Letter is

1.      The sender’s Address

2.      Date

3.      Salutation

4.      Opening Paragraph (purpose of the letter)

5.      Body paragraph (detail information)

6.      Closing Paragraph (expectation)

7.      Complimentary Close

8.      Signature/ Initial of written

In writing an invitation letter, you have to include some information. They are:

1. Name of the Event
2. Name of the Host
3. Time of the Event
4. Place
5. Date of confirmation

There are two kinds of confirmation. They are RSVP and Regret Only. Besides that, remember, the invitation letter should be in the present tense.

Grammar Review: Conjunctions and Linking Words (Curiosity, Arguments, and Possibilities)

Objectives

1. Comprehend the use of conjunctions and linking words by identifying them in a text.
2. Able to use conjunctions and linking words in expressing curiosity, arguments, and possibilities in daily contextual use.

Learn about it!

In this lesson, you are going to learn about conjunctions and linking words. Conjunctions and linking words basically have the same function. They exist to connect thoughts or ideas. So, what is the difference? You will find it in the following explanation.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are the words that join parts of a sentence. It joins words or phrases together in one sentence, for instance:

1. Tantri wants to play for the regional competition, but she has trouble meeting the academic requirements.
2. The snow melted because the sun came out.

Coordinating Conjunctions
Coordinating conjunctions are used to join two words or clauses in a sentence, that are grammatically equal. The words that belong to coordinating conjunctions are ‘and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet.’ It may help you to remember that coordinating conjunctions are usually shorter than four words. To make it easier, just remember coordinating conjunctions as

FANBOYS (For And Nor But Or Yet So).

Example:

• How do you manage your time between work and family?
• People complain loudly about the traffic jam, yet they drive their own car every day.
• He thinks he will be promoted as a general manager, for his father is on the company’s board of directors.

Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions have the function to join the dependent clause to the main clause. This will allow the writer to emphasis on the idea that is more important. Subordinating conjunctions will show you which idea is more important and which is less important, for instance:

• The tension between China and the USA began to ease after the two parties signed the agreement.
• I could study in Europe if I got the scholarship.

The underlined clause, the clause with the subordinating conjunction, is called the subordinate clause. This clause is dependent on the main clause, which is the clause without the subordinating conjunction, and this is the less important one. The more important idea is shown in the main clause or the independent clause. So, in the examples above, which clause is more important?

c. Correlative Conjunctions
This type of conjunctions should combine themselves with other words. They should always be together to join various parts of a sentence. The following table is the list of correlative conjunctions.

Example:
- It doesn’t matter whether you win this competition or lose it, as long as you do your best.
- The smoke of the cigarette endangers not only yourself, but also those around you.

EXPRESSING CONTRAST (however, but, nevertheless, still, whereas and yet)

Learn About It!

Today we will practice using ‘hyphens’ in words, and talk about showing contras using the word ‘despite’, ‘although’ and ‘but’

Let’s read the text below!

685 kilometers north of Adelaide on the Oodnadatta Track is Marree. When the old Ghan railway closed in the 1980s it just about vanished off the map.

But despite the isolation and the population dwindling to just 80, and out-of-towner is now making a million-dollar investment.

Robynne Taylor bought the 120-year-old pub three years ago and is about to build a two-storey guesthouse next door.

Let's focus on this sentence

Despite the isolation and population dwindling to just 80, and out-of-towner is no making a million-dollar investment.

Despite is one of expression to show contrast, the others are however, nevertheless, still,yet, whereas, although,though, event if, even though, in spite of and despite. How to use these expression will be explained in this order.

Do You Understand?

EXPRESSING CONTRAST: however, but, nevertheless, still, whereas and yet These sentence connectors are used to emphasize the fact that the second point contradicts the first.

HOWEVER : Katty couldn't cash her paycheck However, she managed to buy a new TV set. 
BUT: Oscar had a ticket, but he didn´t go to the game

NEVERTHELESS: There was little chance of success; nevertheless, they decided to perform the surgery.

STILL He is rich. Still, he leads a miserable life.

YET: Edison dropped out of school at an early age, yet he became a famous inventor

WHEREAS. Tom thinks we´re ready to begin whereas Lisa thinks we have to wait

EXPRESSING CONTRAST: although, though even if and even though We use them to connect contrasting ideas introducing a dependent clause

ALTHOUGH : Although it rained a lot, we enjoyed our vacation

THOUGH Maria didn´t receive a scholarship though she is an excellent student

EVEN IF: Even if you take a taxi, you'll still miss your train

EVEN THOUGH: Even though the weather was bad, the ship departed

EXPRESSING CONTRAST: despite, in spite of We use them to contrast ideas. They must be followed by a noun phrase or an –ing form

IN SPITE OF: In spite of being a millionaire, he is very mean

DESPITE: Despite the doctor´s advice, he played football last week.

Key Points

In conclusion, we can say that linking words exist to connect the ideas between sentences or paragraphs. Some conjunctions can function as linking words as well. You can use the following list to help you.

Conjunctions: contrasting

Learn about it! 

The conjunctions but and although/though connect ideas that contrast. Whereas is also used but it is not as common:

The new city hall is amazing but it’s going to cost a lot.

He’s quite short, whereas his sister is tall.

But

But is a coordinating conjunction used to connect ideas that contrast. Coordinating conjunctions connect items which are the same grammatical type.

main idea		contrast
The meal was good I want to lose weight Lara cooked roast beef for me Edinburgh is an interesting place	but	expensive. I hate diets. I don’t eat meat. it takes a long time to get there.

Warning:

We can’t use however as a conjunction instead of but to connect words and phrases:

My teacher is very nice but a bit strict.

Not: My teacher is very nice however a bit strict.

Although/though

Although/though can be used to contrast ideas. Although/though are subordinating conjunctions used to connect a subordinate clause to a main clause, like after, as, before, if, since, that, even though, even if.

main idea	although though	contrast
Grace is an excellent athlete		she injured her leg recently.
Harry is a great friend		we don’t see each other often.

The although/though clause can come first.

Although Though	contrast	main idea
	the car was destroyed,	no one was injured in the crash.
	people say it’s dangerous,	I think it’s an amazing country.

But or although?

But cannot be used in the same way as although/though. We use but to connect items which are the same grammatical type (coordinating conjunction).

Warning:

The order of clauses connected by coordinating conjunctions cannot be reversed:

Although it rained a lot, we’ve still enjoyed our holiday.

We’ve still enjoyed our holiday, although it rained a lot.

It rained a lot but we’ve still enjoyed our holiday.

Not: But it rained a lot, we’ve still enjoyed our holiday.

Although can sound more formal than but. Though is much more common in speaking than in writing. Although is much more common in writing than in speaking.

Even though, even if

Even though and even if are also used as subordinating conjunctions in the same way as although/though. Even though is similar to although but it makes a stronger contrast:

Even though I cycle to work, I don’t feel very fit.

Even if means ‘whether or not’:

Even if you run, you’ll still be late. (You’ll be late whether you run or not.)

I feel tired even if I go to bed early. (I feel tired whether I go to bed early or not.)

Conjunctions: typical errors

·         We use and to connect words in a list and to connect phrases and clauses in a sentence:

He loves cycling, hiking and ball games.

Not: He loves cycling, hiking, ball games.

·         After conjunctions referring to time, such as when, once and as soon as, we use the present simple when we refer to the future:

It will be summer when we see you again.

Not: … when we will see you again.

They’ll leave once the lecture finishes.

Not: … once the lecture will finish.

As soon as I hear any news, I’ll call you.

Not: As soon as I’ll hear any news …

·         During is a preposition, not a conjunction, so it must be followed by a noun or a pronoun:

She studies while she is on the train.

Not: She studies during she is on the train.

·         When we use a so-clause to connect a cause/reason to a result, the so-clause must come second:

I bought a new computer game so I have no money left.

Not: So I have no money left I bought a new computer game.

·         We use although/though, not but, to connect a subordinate clause to a main clause:

Although I’m tall, I’m not as tall as Bill.

Not: But I’m tall, I’m not as tall as Bill.

·         When as well as or in addition to are followed by clauses, the verb is in the -ing form:

[from a brochure advertising an English course in London]

As well as living with a family, you practise your English.

Not: As well as you live with a family …

In addition to being a wonderful seafood restaurant, it had an amazing view.

Not: In addition to it was a wonderful seafood restaurant …

See also:

·         We cannot use however to connect words and phrases:

The area around Cannes has small but nice beaches.

Not: … has small however nice beaches.

·         We only use one conjunction to connect words or phrases:

Since she had the day off work, she went out for lunch with some friends.

Not: Since she had the day off work, so she went out for lunch …