Lecture Two

1. Lecture Two Personal Letter Writing

2. Course Outline • How to Write an Envelope • Personal Letter Writing

3. Envelope Addressing 1. Pre-writingPleases address an envelope both in Chinese and in English to anyone you wish and in any way you think appropriate within 5 minutes.

4. Envelope Addressing • 2.Classroom Discussion • Discuss in class the main social function of an envelope and its necessary elements by answering the following questions: • What elements should be included in an envelope according to its function? • c) What is the proper sequence of the elements? Can you point out the main differences between a Chinese envelope and an English one?

5. Envelope Addressing We address an envelope so that the mailman will know to whom and to which place the letter is sent and also that the receiver will know who has sent the letter. Therefore, we should write in detail the receiver's mailing address and the receiver's full name as well as the writer's name and address. • English envelopes differ from Chinese ones in the following three aspects: • the specific locations of the sender's address and the receiver's address; • the sequential order of the addresses; • the sequence of the name of the receiver and the receiver's address.

6. 312000 浙江省绍兴市越城区环城西路508号绍兴文理学院外国语学院 （the receiver’s mailing address) 梁 易 (the receiver’s full name) 清华大学外语系 (the writer’s working organization) Mrs. Thomas Benton (the sender’s full name)24 Taiyuan Road (the road number of the sender)Beijing, 100014 (the city and its zip code)The People’s Republic of China (the name of the country in which the sender is living) Leslie Young (the receiver’s full name) 60 S. Ninth St. (the road number of the receiver) Minneapolis, MN 55402 (the name of the city and zip code) The United States of America (the name of the receiver’s country)

7. Envelope Addressing 3. Self-revision Please revise your English envelope according to the above sample and writing principles and show it to your group members so that your classmates can find its good points and problems.

8. Envelope Addressing 4. After-class Practice and Teacher's Evaluation The following are the envelopes which we have selected from students' after-class exercises. Liang Yi Foreign Languages Faculty Shaoxing University 508 Huanchen West Road Shaoxing, Zhejiang 312000 P.R.China 120 East Nanking Road Shanghai 200000 P.R.China John Smith ①批注：It is optional because both the sender and the receiver live in China. ②批注：It is optional, too. ① ③批注:I am sorry to say that you have put the name of the receiver in the wrong-position. Westerners put the name of the receiver above his or her mailing address. ② ③

9. Envelope Addressing Teacher's comments and suggestions This envelope is well organized except for the wrong position of the name of the receiver which is mostly influenced by Chinese way of addressing envelopes. By the way, when both the sender and the receiver live in the same country, the name of the country, say, P. R. China, can be omitted.

10. Personal Letter Writing Activity 2 Discuss the following letter within your group and write a commentary to find its good points and problems by considering the following questions: a) What is the purpose for the student to write this letter? Is the writing purpose clear? Why? b) What is the relationship between the writer and the reader? Is it close or distant? c) What are the necessary semantic elements and optional elements? Why do you think so? d) What are the common language features in personal letter writing? Why?

11. Oct.15, 2012 Dear Mary, How is everything going? It have been a long time since we meet last time. I am very glad to hear you have been enrolled by Zhejiang University. Congratulations to you! I can’t go with you to go to the university because it is a very busy time in my school year. I am very sorry. I still recalled of the beautiful memories in the middle school. I was good at the science while you were good at the Chinese. We often helped each other. I hope that you will make great progress in the university. Best wishes. Yours sincerely, Mack

12. 508 Huancheng West RoadShaoxing, Zhejiang P. R. China Oct.15, 2012 Dear Mary, How is everything going? It havehas been a long time since we meet last time. I am very glad to hear you have been enrolled by Zhejiang University. Congratulations to you!(You’d better move this sentence to the beginning of the letter; the correct expression is “congratulate sb. on sth. or just congratulations) I can’t go with you to go to the university because it is a very busy time in my school year. I am very sorry. I stilloftenrecalled ofrecall the beautiful memoriesdays we spent together in the middle school. I was good at the science while you were good at the Chinese. (the definite articles “the” are not necessary before subjects) We often helped each other. I hope that you will make great progress in the university. Best wishes. Yours, Mack

13. Teacher’s Comments and Suggestions 1. The writer Mack wrote this letter to express his congratulations to his classmate or friend Mary for she has been enrolled by Zhejiang University. However, the sentence indicating this writing purpose is not in the beginning of the letter. 2. The social status of the two participants should be equal. Therefore, the closing form "Yours sincerely," sounds too formal. The closing form "Yours," would be more appropriate here. 3. As far as the mode is concerned, the letter is appropriate. The student has realized that the personal letter is to be read instead of being spoken in public. In this letter there is a date, a salutation, a body, a closing form, and a signature. Yet unlike the heading of a note, people usually put the writer's mailing address and the writing date in the heading although some people just put the writing date in very personal letters. 4. According to the mode and the writing purpose, the necessary semantic elements should include the heading which tells the receiver where the letter is from and when the letter was written; the salutation; the purpose of writing the letter; the closing form; the signature 5. Most of the sentences in the letter are grammatical are acceptable except the incorrect use of the verb “congratulate”.

14. Writing Principles Unlike business letters, personal letters may be defined as any letters intended to promote friendship including making an invitation, accepting or declining an invitation, showing thanks, congratulations, apologies or even condolence or sympathy. Whenever you begin to write, you should be very clear about your writing purposes. According to the mode and communication purposes of personal letters, they consist of five parts with each pan having its own semantic function.

15. Writing Principles Heading: Heading includes the sender's address and the date of writing. It goes in the top right-hand corner. Never write your name above your address. No punctuation is needed after the end of each line. The names of cities should be written in full but the state or province can be abbreviated such as N.Y. for New York State. The name of the country can be left out of the address when you are writing to someone in your own country. Among very close friends, the whole address in the heading can be left out and the date should never be omitted.

16. Writing Principles Salutation: The principles for writing a salutation are the same as those for note writing which consists of the receiver's first names together with "dear". e.g., Dear Fred; Dear Collen; Dear Ada; Dear Irene. Body: You can begin your letter by referring to either a letter you have recently received or an event which has caused you to write. This is called getting to the point and telling the receiver your purpose in writing this letter. To end with a letter, you had better express your polite wishes in order to leave a favorable impression in the reader's mind

17. Writing Principles Complimentary close: The wording varies according to the type of letter and according to the degree of friendship and intimacy with the receiver, but it must agree with that of the salutation. The most usual complimentary close for friends and acquaintances is "Yours sincerely," or "Sincerely yours," or even "Love". Do not use such a close as "Yours hurriedly," "Yours hastily," "Yours in haste," "Yours regretfully," "Yours in sympathy," and "Yours in sorrow" in personal letters unless on special occasions. A letter without a polite closing seems more like a summons than a respectful communication. The signature: The signature is always signed by hand, in ink (not a pencil), and written clearly. You should sign your name without any title. You can just sign your first name in informal personal letters.

18. 1234, Main Street Boston, MA 02123 (the sender's address) Aprils, 2012 (The date of writing this letter) Dear Mr. Huge, (the salutation) This letter is to formally apologize to you for my thoughtlessness. (The purpose of writing this letter) I certainly should know better than to participate in idle gossip. It was immature, unkind, and foolish of me to talk about you and your business with someone else. I am terribly sorry. I realize I've hurt your feelings and I hope you will be able to forgive me. I promise that I will never let this happen again. (some relative information) Regards ' Yours sincerely, (the complimentary close) Jim Carter (the signature)

19. 1234, Main Street Boston, MA 02123 (the sender's address) April 5, 2009 (the date of writing this letter) Dear Susan, (the salutation) I know that you are going through a tough time right now. I wish there were something I could say or do to solve your problem. As it is, all I can do is to offer you my love and support and hope that if there's anything I can do to help you out, you won't hesitate to ask.(The purpose) You are a wonderful, resourceful person and I'm confident that you can weather this storm. Someday, you may even look back on this time in your life and reali2e that you are a stronger, more confident person because of it. Please don't feel like you're going through this alone. You are in my thoughts every day and if there's anything I can do for you, I hope you'll let me know. (the relative information) Best wishes, Yours, (the complimentary close) Jim Carter (the signature)

20. The language used in regular personal letters has the following features: a) Using short sentences which are not only more inviting to the eye, but read more easily and convey your ideas with greater speed. 1) I am writing this letter for the purpose of inviting you to attend a party which will celebrate my 50th birthday this weekend. (24 words) 2) I'd like to invite you to attend my 50th birthday party this weekend. (13 words) b) Using common and simple words. *For example: "Come" is a better choice than "approach". "Go" or "leave" is better choice than "depart". "Thank" is a better choice than "appreciate". "Buy" is a better choice than "purchase". "Say" is a better choice than "utter". c) Using word groups and conversational expressions in an informal letter. * For example: You've been more than kind. Many thanks for your kind visit and the beautiful flowers, (a noun group) My love and deepest gratitude, now and always, (a noun group) But avoid using these in a more formal personal letter.

21. The following are some of the common and useful expressions which are frequently used in a personal letter for the purposes of making an invitation, declining an invitation, showing thanks, sympathy, condolence or others. *For example: Will you please come to attend...? How about coming...? Thanks for inviting me. I'd be very pleased/delighted/to accept your invitation.. It was great to hear that you... Congratulations on your success in... I am terribly sorry for... I am writing to ask for a favor. Joe and I are delighted with your kind invitation to your wedding reception. We wouldn't miss it for anything in the world. Sorry for the delaying in giving you a reply. I am terribly sorry that I failed to arrive in... I just can't tell you how sorry I was to learn of your accident. 1 have just learned the good or sad news from... With every good wish for your swift recovery.

22. Forgive me once again for being unable to help. We are looking forward to hearing from you. I am sorry that it has taken me so long to reply... but... Best regards to you and your family. Please remember me to... Please say hello for me to... If there is anything I can do for you, please do not hesitate to let me know. Many thanks for your letter of 20 Sept, 2011. It was good to hear from you that you returned home safe and sound.

23. Assignments • Write a letter to you in 10 years