As you know, there are three types of letters and you have to be able to identify each letter type.
When writing task number one.
So in this lecture, I'm going to explain to you exactly how to do that and give you an opportunity
to do an exercise that requires you to read a letter or read a a task and then identify which letter
type you have to do.
So first of all, let's review the different question types.
We have the formal letter type, and this is written to an unknown person.
Formal letters.
Formal letters are sent to a group or an organization, not an individual person at a group or organization.
So, for example, it might be a school, a business corporation, a the local government, local council.
So on the right you can see an example of what it would read like.
You recently read an advertisement about the equipment you bought a few days ago.
However, the information in the advertisement was wrong.
Write a letter to the manufacturer and say.
What was the advertisement you read?
What information was wrong?
What should the manufacturer do about this problem?
This is a formal letter.
Because we're writing to the manufacturer.
We're not writing to a specific administrator or a specific manager.
We're writing to a global organization, a global manufacturer.
We have no idea who we're going to write to or who we're going to address in a formal letter.
There's no slang or colloquial language.
You want to use a very direct, serious tone.
And here we're going to use our higher vocabulary and grammar.
Try not to use a lot of B verbs or other weak verbs.
Make sure you're not using a lot of basic level vocabulary because really with a formal letter, it's
like an educated person talking to another educated person that they don't know.
So you're really trying to show your level of credibility so that somebody will take you seriously.
Next, we have the semi-formal letter.
And here you're writing to a known person, but you don't know them very well.
It could be a business or professional relationship.
Landlord, colleague, teacher, boss, manager, administrator.
You're using a polite, respectful tone.
You have a neutral style is somewhat similar to ordinary speech is not as formal as the formal letter
is definitely not an informal letter.
There's no slang.
There's no there are no colloquialisms.
You want to avoid any of that type of tone.
Here you can see an example.
You live in a room in college which you share with another student.
However, there are many problems with this arrangement and you find it very difficult to work.
Write a letter to the accommodation officer at the college so you know who you're going to write to.
You're writing to the accommodation officer.
Now, of course, in your letter you're going to call him or her Mr. Williams or Mrs. Williams.
But you're writing to a specific person.
You're not just writing to the accommodation office, you're writing to the accommodation officer.
If you were writing to the accommodation office, it would be formal letter.
But we're writing to a specific officer.
Then we have the informal letter here.
We're writing to a close person relative, family member.
Neighbor colleague.
Here's an example.
Write a letter to a friend.
You can always tell these because they'll say a friend.
It'll say a family member.
You'll say a neighbor.
Now, depending on.
Depending on the letter, I suppose a neighbour could fall under semi-formal depending on if you're
writing the neighbour to invite him to a party, then it would probably it would probably be more informal.
If you're writing a neighbour to complain about him not cutting down a tree or him not picking up his
trash, then that will probably be more of a semi-formal letter.
So you have to really be able to look at the letter itself and the conditions of the letter to know
which tone you're going to use.
So let's talk about recognizing proper tone.
If it is a complaint letter.
These are normally very formal in nature.
They could be semi-formal.
Invitations will be personal or semi-formal.
It could be actually invitation.
It could be all of them.
It's most likely going to be personal, formal or semi-formal.
Applications and resignations are formal or semi-formal.
If you're writing a resignation letter to the company is formal.
If you're writing a resignation to a specific manager, then it will be semi-formal.
And a lot of that deals with when you're talking about differences between formal and semi-formal,
you're dealing with sometimes you speak to somebody a little bit differently when you know they're a
person as opposed to really an organization.
A request can be any type.
Making arrangements can be formal, informal, semi-formal, informative letters fall under any type.
Explanations are normally informal, but it could appear in the other formats, and then an apology
could fall under any format.
But really they tend to be informal or semi formal, but really more informal.
Okay.
So now we're going to work on a question ID exercise.
So this is what I want you to do.
Take out a piece of paper.
Or you could use your phone.
Make a list of 1 to 10 on your paper.
When the question appears on your screen, I want you to write down on paper if the question should
be formal, semi-formal or informal, formal, semi-formal or informal.
Now, if you want to, you can write A, B, C or you can spell out the words.
But the question or that the writing task is going to appear on the screen, and then you're going to
have roughly about 10 seconds, 10 to 15 seconds to decide.
I'm going to read the question, and then you have to decide and write down on paper what kind of letter
what kind of letter do you have to write?
All right.
Let's take a look at example number one.
I'm going to read the requirement of the letter and then you want to quickly respond.
Should it be formal, informal or semi-formal?
So write a letter to the city council complaining about a road near you.
In your letter, introduce yourself and say where you live.
Explain the problem.
Say what you want.
What kind of letter do you have to write?
This is a formal question.
We know this because we're going to right to a governmental body.
We don't know who to address.
Example two.
You have participated in a party at your friend's home last week.
You may have forgotten your watch there.
Write a letter to your friend and say thank him or her for the party.
Ask to look for the watch.
Suggest what he should do about it.
What kind of letter do you have to write?
This, of course, is informal.
Whenever we see we're writing to a friend 99% of the time it will be informal.
I don't like to say 100% because I can't think of a situation where it wouldn't be.
But.
The majority of the time is going to be informal.
We're writing to a friend.
We know them very well.
We're going to use a lot of colloquial language.
A lot of informal language is almost like a spoken conversation.
Example three.
Your manager has asked you to do a presentation at the upcoming training session.
Write a letter to your manager and say, What is the topic of the presentation?
What is the benefit of conducting a session on that topic?
What are your requirements for conducting this presentation?
What kind of letter do you have to write?
Here.
We have a semi-formal question.
We know this because we have an individual that we will be addressing.
We're requesting their assistance.
Is not personal.
We may not know this person very well, their manager.
So we're going to use a semi-formal tone which is used for communicating with people that we do not
know very well or who are outside of our regular working relationships is very similar to a business
letter.
Everybody.
Example four There is a musical instrument class available in the classified ad section of the newspaper.
Write a letter to the Music Academy in your letter.
Say that you're interested in attending the class.
Ask about the days and times the class is available.
Explain that you have some previous experience.
What kind of letter?
This is a formal question because you're writing to an academic institution.
Example five You want to improve your knowledge of foreign language.
Write a letter to a foreign language teacher and say, Where did you hear about the teacher?
Why do you want to learn the foreign language?
Ask them questions about the course.
What kind of letter do you have to write?
This is a semi formal question.
We know this because we're addressing a teacher.
We know who the teacher is.
Mr. Williams, Mr. Canada, Mr. Bogota.
Whatever the person's name is, we're going to use a semi formal style.
Example six.
You did a bus tour with other people.
However, you were not satisfied with the bus service.
Write a letter to the bus company about your journey and say what the problem was with your tour.
While you were not satisfied.
Suggest how the bus company can improve.
What kind of letter are you going to write for Mole?
We're writing to a transportation company.
Okay.
Example number seven.
One of your friends had a birthday celebration, but you missed it.
And you forgot to tell your friend that you couldn't attend.
You should say apologize for missing the birthday celebration.
Explain why you missed it and didn't tell your friend.
Say what you would like to do to say you're sorry.
What kind of question?
Informal, everybody.
Number eight, you and your family.
Now, this one could be tricky, you might think, from the very beginning.
Oh, oh, oh.
This is going to be an informal question, but pay attention.
You and your family are moving to another country and have decided to contact a property agent for assistance.
We're going to contact a property agent.
So what kind of letter is this going to be semi-formal?
Because this is somebody that we know, but we don't know them well.
We're going to use a semi-formal tone.
Number nine, write a letter to your friend about your plans to go out with him or her and another friend
for a small picnic.
Include the following in your letter where you plan to go.
What arrangements have you made?
What help you need from your friends?
This, of course, is what kind of letter in formal writing to a friend.
And then number ten, write a letter to your manager about a computer system problem that you have encountered
and say, describe the problem.
How is it affecting your work?
What needs to be done about it?
We're writing a letter to our manager.
So this is what semi-formal question.
All right.
So I hope right now you have a better understanding of letter type identification because you have to
make sure you use the proper tone.
You want to be able to identify what kind of question you have to write.
All right.
So coming up next, we're going to be outlining letters and then we're going to go through the letter
writing process.
Thank you so much for joining me.
I'm really happy to be with you on this journey of learning how to write the general letter.
I'll talk to you soon.