Good morning.
We will get started at
8:30.
Today’s Agenda:
· Begin business letters
· Causal verbs
· Begin noun clauses
· Go to a job-posting site (e.g. indeed.com). Find a job
that
you want to apply for. Friday, you will write a cover
letter for that job application.
Friday
I will be away on Friday I
have a provincial meeting for adult educators, Friday and Saturday. Barbara
will be here. Cover letters for resumes for when you’re looking for a job.
Business
letters – practical writing skills, not academic, not school writing
different
mode of writing, different purpose, different intention
school
writing – writing a paragraph or essay, writing about a short story, poem,
novel, narrative, definition, descriptive, process, opinion (persuasive)
living in
Canada, everyday useful writing - practical writing for work, writing for
business, writing for government issues, writing for immigration, writing for
tax, writing for job applications (cover letters), writing for complaints
Education/training
is the golden ticket.
Communication
skills were key for me.
-
writing skills-
-
speaking skills- I practiced soooo much. – singing, drama, plays, listening and
watching good speakers- copying them
-official
writing, more formal, not casual writing
Reasons to
write Business-style letters:
(Even emails
can benefit from using the more formal style of a business letter –sets a
professional, serious, courteous, respectful, mature tone)
e.g. Student
emails to teachers.-
“What!!!????”
“what day
the class end”
“im gonna
miss class today what u gonna do in class?”
Very
unprofessional looking.
We can do
better.
A more
professional and more formal tone and structure is advised. I tend to err on
the side of formality.
-polite, not
too casual
-sets a good
tone
-respectful
REASONS TO
WRITE A BUSINESS-TYPE LETTER
1. interdepartmental
letters (within a company)
2. cover
letter for a resume (special style)
3. application
letters to colleges and universities
In the Fall
and Spring, many of our Grade 12 students are frantic about getting
applications in to colleges and universities. The letters that they write are
very important. I remember spending about two hours cowriting a letter with an
English 12 student for her application to UBC.
4. letter to
a government agency, Canadian government or the government of another country
(e.g. Canada Revenue Agency, Immigration Canada, Canada Pension, City Hall)
NOTE:
Communicating with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is really difficult.
5. employer/manager/boss
(e.g. promotion, transfer, raise, personal leave, quit)
6. business
person
7. court
(e.g. jury duty)
8. lawyer
9. writing
to your child’s teacher
10. report
to a supervisor
11. incident
report (e.g to police or insurance, ICBC)
12. getting
airline tickets refunded
13. refund
from Amazon
Have you ever
written a letter like that?
FORMAL, not
casual like a personal letter
Formal – organized
(clear structure), official-looking, appropriate tone, appropriate language,
unemotional, a little bit of emotion can be effectice (less is more)
· Distribute “Business Correspondence” p.c.
Use A4 paper,
8 ½ X 11 unlined paper
WRITE
YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS
AT
THE TOP OF THE PAGE
Mei
Zhou
Mei
(Sarah) Zhou
Mei
“Sarah” Zhou “ABC” not legal name,
the name that you prefer
Allan
Haley
GIVEN
NAME/FIRST NAME FAMILY NAME/LAST NAME
Zhou,
Mei “Sarah”
Haley,
Allan
Zhou,
Ming
FAMILY
NAME, GIVEN NAME – I would not do it this way in a letter
Allan,
Haley XXX
Haley,
Allan
Allan
Haley
Apt#23,
666 Maple Street
Vancouver,
BC
V5P
2B6
SKIP
A LINE
June
2, 2022
SKIP
A LINE
THE
NAME, TITLE AND ADDRESS OF THE PERSON YOU ARE WRITING TO
Mary
Williamson
Director,
Shaw Communications
123
Cordova Street
Vancouver,
BC
V5R
2D2
Re/RE:
Client/Reference/Case/Account/Purchase # 4722859
(Re-regarding)
OPEN
YOUR LETTER WITH A GREETING, SALUTATION
CHOOSING
THE TITLE CAN BE TRICKY: Mr? Mrs? Ms?
Robin
Smith
Hui
Yu Chen
LAST
RESORT To whom it may concern,
very
impersonal
Hi
there, WAY TOO VERY CASUAL AND FRIENDLY
Dear
Sir or Madam,
quite
impersonal
Singh-
man
Kaur-
woman
GOOD
SUGGESTIONS: Call and ask. Find them on LinkedIn.
Dear
Grandma, comma for a
personal letter ,
comma- friendly,
casual, not formal
Dear
Sarah Chen: colon for a business
letter :
more formal, not friendly, business , OR
:
Dear
Mr. Chen:
Dear
Mrs. Smith:
Dear
Ms. Smith:
Dear
Miss Smith:
Dear
Mme Benoit:
Dear
Sir or Madam:
Dear
Dr. Gan, MORE CASUAL
Dear
Dr. Jung: MORE FORMAL
Make
judgement call.
Use
a colon for a business letter- professional, formal, not friendly or personal
-
changing your name when you get
married is your decision, your choice
-
children’s names -hyphenated name
GREETING
To
Mr. Pacquiao: sounds cold, very formal
To
Sarah Chen:
To
my dearest Mme Benoit: TOO MUCH, sounds like a love letter
e.g.
student emails
To
my dear teacher: TOO PERSONAL
Dear
Maria, A BIT MORE RELAXED
Hi
John, QUITE INFORMAL AND RELAXED,
FRIENDLY
Hello
Jun, SLIGHTLY MORE FORMAL, BUT
STILL FRIENDLY
Dear
Sarah: colon is formal, first name is
casual
Dear
Sarah, SEEMS LIKE A BETTER CHOICE
Hi
Justin,
You’re
doing a good job as Prime Minister of Canada.
WAY
TOO INFORMAL
To
the Right Honourable Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau:
To
the presiding Justice of the Court:
To
Justice Smith:
**Look
it up**
Honorific,
title
To
Her Excellency, President Janice Alloud:
To
His Excellency, AAA BBB:
To
Her Excellency, Governor General of Canada, Mary Simon:
Adrienne
Clarkson-
Research
what title the person might have.
If
you do not know the name of the recipient of your letter-
Health Insurance BC
PO Box 9035 Stn Prov Govt
Victoria, B.C. V8W 9E3
Dear
MSP,
To
whom it may concern,
To
who it concerns,
To
someone who can concern,
Dear
Sir or Madam, : Choose one ,
OR :
NOT
AS GOOD- impersonal, sometimes necesasary, for example when you are writing to
the government
Dear
Sir or Madam,
To
whom it may concern, (reference letter)
ADVICE:
It is always better to get the name of the person who you are writing to. Call
and find out. Ask, “Who can I address me letter to?”
Hi
there, VERY CASUAL
Hi
all, VERY CASUAL
Hi
everybody, VERY CASUAL
Dear
Sir:
Dear
Madam,
Dear
Sir Chan,
Dear
Madam Smith,
Dear
Teacher Jones,
Dear
Teacher,
My
Dear Teacher,
Dear
Sir Teacher Jones,
too
submissive
honorifics,
titles – Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss, Professor, teacher, Doctor, President, Principal,
Dean, Prime Minister, Vice-President, Chancellor, Father, Captain, Lieutenant,
Sergeant, Corporal, Officer, manager, Sheriff, Mayor, MP, MLA, Senator,
Queen, King, Prince, Princess, Emperor
Dear
Professor Mahed,
Dear
Teacher Jones, XXX
Teacher
Haley polite translation, not English
To
Mayor Kennedy Stewart:
Dear
Principal Williams,
In
class – Sir, Ma’am – very polite
BUSINESS
WRITING -DON’T INDENT THE PARAGRAPHS
-SINGLE-SPACE YOUR WRITING
e.g.
SCHOOL WRITING
Thank you for meeting with me yesterday to
discuss the job opportunity. I am very eager to speak further with you about
this. Please let me know what day and time you will be available to meet.
BUSINESS
WRITING
Thank
you for meeting with me yesterday to discuss the job opportunity. I am very
eager to speak further with you about this. Please let me know what day and
time you will be available to meet.
I
would like to setup an interview with you in the next few weeks. I can be
available any workday between 10 and 3.
SKIP
A LINE BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS
*Business
writing uses a different format than school writing.*
**
ENDINGS FOR BUSINESS LETTERS
Yours
truly,
Sincerely,
Yours,
Yours
sincerely,
Warm
regards,
Kind
regards,
Best
regards,
Regards,
(more formal sounding)
Respectfully,
(talking to someone higher in the business than you)
Kind
regards,
Warm
regards, (sounds very friendly, very nice)
Thank
you,
MY
FAVOURITE:
Best,
PERSONAL
Sincerely
yours,
Yours
sincerely,
Faithfully,
Cheers, VERY CASUAL, Also a friendly way to end a
conversation AUSTRALIAN No worries.
TALKING
POLITE
Thank you. You’re welcome. My pleasure.
Australian
speech: Thanks. No worries.
American
speech: Thanks. Uh huh.
Casual
speech: Thanks. Sure. No problem.
More
polite: Thank you. You’re welcome. Certainly. My pleasure. Happy to.
I
tend to be more formal.
CASUAL-FUN
See
you later. Not if I see you first.
Keep
your stick on the ice.
Check
you later.
See
you soon, I hope. Take care.
Keep
in touch.
Don’t
be a stranger.
Let’s
do it again soon.
OLD-FASHIONED,
BUT SOUNDS NICE, PERSONAL LETTERS, NOT FOR BUSINESS
I
remain,
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