Now it's time to get into the meat and potatoes of this course section.
In this lecture, I'm going to teach you exactly how to go ahead and write an introduction.
Writing the introduction for the general letter is generally straightforward.
However, you must meet the requirements, and that requirement involves stating the purpose of the
lecture.
So now I'm going to show you how to do that when you are writing an introduction, there are a couple
of points I want to mention before we get into the actual writing process.
Your job is to state the letter purpose.
They always tell you exactly why you are writing that letter.
Now you want to state that purpose in your introduction sentence.
The key thing is to say it in your own words.
Don't copy the information they give you.
Try your best as best as you can.
Try to paraphrase that information.
Next, I want you to pay attention to your sentence structure.
Sentence structure is really important.
I think it's a great idea to write a compound or complex sentence to start.
I think it's a great way to impress the examiner right away and put into their mind that they're dealing
with somebody that has talent.
Make sure that you don't blend in.
The first discussion point I've seen this happen with a lot of students and the first discussion point
gets its own paragraph.
It does not belong in the introduction.
In regards to time management.
You're going to be in 2 minutes on your introduction discussion point one 4 to 5 minutes.
Discussion point two 4 to 5 minutes.
Discussion point three, 4 to 5 minutes.
And then of course, you can have you should be able to write your conclusion in less than a minute.
Your total writing time, I think, should be between 14 and 17 minutes.
You need more time for task two.
Task number two is worth double the points of task number one.
Task one is worth 33%.
Task two is worth 66%.
So you can't overdo it on task number one and ruin your score for task number two.
Whatever you get for task number two is added twice.
So it's really important that you finish up task number one, get a great score and have a lot of time
for task number two.
So in terms of your essay structure, your introduction, like I said, is 1 to 2 sentences, discussion
point number one, 2 to 3 sentences, discussion point to 2 to 3 sentences.
And then discussion point three to 2 to 3 sentences.
So now we're going to work together.
We're going to work together.
We're going to go over the method and strategy for writing an introduction.
So I want you to set a timer for 2 minutes.
You're going to review the outline that I give, or you can use your outline, and then you're going
to write your introduction and then compare your introduction to mine.
Now, the only way you can really compare your introduction to mine is if you're using the outline information
that I give you.
And really, for the introduction, you just have to pay attention to the first statement that they
make in terms of why you are writing the letter.
You're not going to get into the discussion points at all.
So really, pretty much we should have the same introduction, the same information.
So what you're going to be looking at is how I structure the information and how I make sure that I
always have the purpose within my introduction.
So let's go ahead and get started.
So here is our first question.
Your local council is considering closing a local sports and leisure centre that it runs in order to
save money.
Write a letter to the council explaining.
Now, as I said in the introduction, we are not talking about discussion point one, two or three.
We are not talking about that information.
There should be no mention of our details that were that were going to use in the introduction.
Okay, so set your timer on 2 minutes.
Stop the lecture.
I'm not going to stop the lecture for 2 minutes.
You stop the lecture and go ahead and write your introduction.
Starting now.
Okay.
Let's have a look at my introduction.
Dear Sir or madam.
This well considered letter regards your erroneous thought towards shutting the doors of our beloved
local sports and leisure facility.
Right.
So here you can see you can see that I have the purpose of the letter there.
This letter is in regards to them shutting the doors of the local sports and leisure facility.
Here is our second example.
Go ahead.
Set your timer for 2 minutes.
Stop the lecture.
Write your introduction now.
And here is my introduction.
My family and I plan to relocate to a new country and require expert assistance to apply to expert assistance
to acquire lease property in the area.
Right there we have a standard well written introduction.
I'm using a compound sentence.
And that's going to help my grammar score and impress the examiner right away.
In blue, you can see that I have the purpose of the letter.
When a person reads your introduction, they should be able to immediately capture the purpose of the
lecture.
Here's our next example.
One of your friends had a birthday celebration, but you missed it and you forgot to tell your friend
that you couldn't attend.
Remember, do not discuss any of the discussion points.
Don't talk about any of the discussion points.
None of them don't mention any details.
We only are going to focus on the purpose.
All right, set your timer for 2 minutes.
Stop the lecture.
Write your introduction now.
Okay.
Here is my dearest friend Mark.
I heard through the grapevine that your birthday was out of this world.
A year older.
A year better.
Right?
Man, I neglected to tell you.
I could make it.
Now, when he reads this introduction, he can get that.
The purpose of what I'm talking about in the letter is to explain why I could not make it.
Now, this is an informal letter.
So you hear.
You see language like I heard it through the grapevine.
Your birthday was out of this world.
A really technically incomplete sentence.
A year older or a year better is just a statement or a phrase.
So when you have an informal letter, you can do more of that type of writing.
Our next example.
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?
Remember, we're not going to discuss point one, two or three.
Only the purpose.
Set your timer on 2 minutes.
Stop the lecture.
Write your introduction now.
Here is my introduction.
Dear Mr. Williams, I know you usually don't hear from me.
However, today I must inform you of the severe and debilitating problems resulting from my desk PC
in blue.
I've stated the purpose and I'm using higher level vocabulary debilitating.
I'm using a complex sentence form again.
My job is to impress the examiners.
All right.
Let's move into another example.
Write a letter to your friend about your plans to go out with him or her and another friend on a small
picnic.
Right.
Remember, we're not going to talk about our details or any of the discussion points.
Go ahead and set your timer on 2 minutes.
Stop the lecture.
Write your introduction now.
All right.
And here is my introduction, dear Will.
Hey, Will.
It's that time of year again when we have our annual get together.
And this year we've decided on a traditional American picnic.
So we need to discuss our program right there in blue.
You can see I have the purpose of the letter.
I'm doing a compound sentence and you can see that I can use more colloquial language like get together
and you will get together.
So this is how you want to write an introduction.
Make sure that you show quality writing and state the purpose.
And now let's move into our last introduction example.
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 was the problem?
What the problem was, why you were not satisfied suggest improvements.
Set your timer on 2 minutes.
Stop the lecture.
Write your introduction now.
Okay.
And here is my introduction.
To whom it may concern.
Again, I'm writing to a company, so I have no idea.
This complaint letter concerns the bus trip our company embarked upon with your professionally recognized
bus company.
Now, here, I'm not using a compound or complex sentence, but I am writing a sentence with no B verbs.
There are no weak verbs.
No is our was were have has having had b am have being none of those weak basic level words.
You want to show quality.
So even if I'm not writing a compound or complex sentence, I still want to show great technical skill.
But here in blue, you can see that I've stated the purpose of the letter.
That's all you have to do.
Make sure you state the purpose of the letter.
All right.
Thank you so much.
I hope you now know how to write your introduction the way the examiners expect to receive.
In our next lecture, we will be writing the discussion points and then you can hear some examples from
the live classes that we do from time to time on the general letter.
Thank you so much.
Have a fantastic day and I will be sure to talk to you very, very soon.
Take care.