Read the instructions and write a letter (60-90 words). Begin it with a salutation and end politely
You are a senior manager in the Human Resources Department of a big company. Two days ago, you interviewed candidates applied for the position of a sales manager. Write a letter to the successful candidate. Give the name of the position, the starting day, the salary and number of days of annual leave. Add any other information that will be useful.
You may need the following phrases: We are pleased to inform you; you have been successful in your application for the position…; we would like you to start…; your starting salary will be…; you can take … days’ annual leave; a copy of the contract; confirm the acceptance of the offer.
Now the task for you: read this letter of complaint from a customer and write a reply of 50-60 words to your customer.
Dear Sir or Madam!
This morning we received a consignment of printers from you (Order SN206). On unpacking the boxes, we noticed that all the printers were damaged.
Could you please arrange to send a replacement order as soon as possible and arrange to collect the damaged goods? Hopefully, we will not have to pay for this.
Yours faithfully
Ms. Janine Duval
While replying keep to the layout offered:
- Thanking her for her letter.
- Apologizing for the problem.
- Agreeing to replace the damaged goods today.
- Offering to collect the damaged goods, at no extra cost.
Discus or think about these questions
1. About how many emails do you send every day?
2. Who do you send them to?
3. What do you like about emails?
4. What don’t you like about them?
E-mails can have a formal business style or a very informal style, similar to spoken English.
Here is an example of an informal letter.
The informal style is most suitable for e-mails within your company and for people whom you know well. The greeting is often Hi, Hello or even How are you? Cheers is a common ending, or sometimes the ending is omitted. Sometimes the writer won’t use capital letters. The style is much closer to spoken than to written English.
| To: tony. [email protected] Subject: Goodbye party! Hi Tony |
It’s my last day in the office on Friday, and I’m giving a small goodbye party, 16:30 in room 122. Hope you can come.
CU
Jenny
Sometimes people use abbreviations if they want to save time:
CU – see you
Thx – thanks
RUOK – are you OK?
Approx. – approximately
ASAP – as soon as possible
Attn – for attention
Cc – copy to
ETA – estimated time of arrival
FAO – for the attention
FYI – for your information
N.B. – please note
Pcs – pieces
Pp – on behalf of (per pro)
Re – regarding
Ref. – reference
RSVP – please reply
tba – to be advised/to be agreed
tbc – to be confirmed
Task: Use the notes and the diary page to write a short e-mail to all staff in the Marketing Department. Write about 30 words, using the useful phrases from the module.
M E S S A G E
| For: Pierre From: Hank Date: Friday 10th of May Pierre, Can you organize a meeting with all Marketing staff, and email everyone to tell them the details? |
| - Date – Tuesday 14th May - Time – look at my diary for the best time – we’ll need 2 hours. - Subject - to discuss our new brochure - Venue (the place where the meeting is held) – conference room. Thanks – see you when I get back from Amsterdam. Diary Tuesday 14 09:00 Meeting with Jacques until 11:00 10:00 ----------------------------------- 11:00 ----------------------------------- 12:00 Lunch with Nicole – until 14:00 14:00 ----------------------------------- 16:00 Taxi to airport 18:00 Flight KL1058 Amsterdam |
| Subject: Attachments: none To all Marketing staff …………………………………………………….………………….. ………………………………………………………………………… |
Short reports
Some useful phrases.
Providing information
Could you send me a short report?
The members of the Board will hold a meeting
There is one thing missing in the report.
The purpose of the visit was to take part in the exhibition.
2000 enquiries were received.
We need to follow up customer enquiries immediately.
We recommend that the new agents should visit the UK.
Just one thing missing - could you please send the cost analysis?