Good afternoon.
Today’s Agenda
·
Attendance
·
Continue business letters- complaint letters
·
Begin COMPLEX SENTENCES- adverb clauses, noun
clauses, adjective clauses
Thursday
·
Continue complex sentences- adverb clauses
·
Test3- complaint letter
*Use lined paper
Friday
·
“Self-Assessment Reflection” Week 5
·
Vocabulary Exercises
·
Continue complex sentences- adverb clauses
·
Advocacy letter- Amnesty letter
Monday
·
Midterm recommendations
·
Advocacy letter- Amnesty letter
·
Continue complex sentences- adverb clauses
Quiz on adverb clauses Tuesday?
Tuesday
·
Types of paragraphs
traditional
business letters – practical writing skills, not academic, not school writing-
not high school , college
different
modes of writing, different purposes, different intentions
school/academic
writing – writing a paragraph or essay, writing about a short story, poem,
novel, narrative, definition, descriptive, process, opinion/persuasive
business
letters- 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, writing advocacy letters
People take
your wriitng more seriously when it is a nice format.
-official
writing, more formal, not casual writing
Even emails
can benefit from using the more formal style of a business letter
–sets a
professional tone, serious tone, courteous tone, respectful tone, 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
-sounds mature
REASONS TO
WRITE A BUSINESS-TYPE LETTER
1. interdepartmental
letters (within a company)
2. cover
letter for a resume (special style)
WorkBC
https://www.workbc.ca/search-and-prepare-job/job-application-tips/resume-and-cover-letter
MOSAIC
workshops
ISS
workshops
VPL
workshops https://vpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/events?q=resume
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 (CRA), Immigration Canada, Canada Pension, City Hall)
NOTE:
Communicating with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is really difficult.
VOCAB Last
Will and Testament, name your beneficiaries
beneficiaries-
the people who get your $ and estate when you die, usually spouse or children
*It’s very important
to have a will.
5. employer/manager/boss
(e.g. ask for a promotion, ask for a transfer, ask for a raise, ask for a personal
leave, intention to quit)
IDIOM Don’t
burn bridges!
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. medical
insurance
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 effective (less is more)
ChatGPT is a great tool to create a first
draft. You can personalize it.
FORMAT OF A BUSINESS LETTER
·
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 (brackets)
Mei “Sarah” Zhou “Sarah” not legal name, the name that you
prefer
Real estate ads
Wing “Eddie” Chan I go by Eddy.
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
Double-barreled names
Julia Castillo-Rodriquez
Clara Ling Haley Lo Yan
She goes by Clara Haley
Shira Haddad
Apt#23, 666 Maple Street
Vancouver, BC
Canada
V5P 2B6
Keiko Nishizawa
2001 Hizume
Nagano-shi
Japan
12345
SKIP A LINE
July 25, 2025
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?
Mr? Mrs? Ms?
Robin Smith
Dear Robin
Smith:
Dear Hui Yu
Chen,
Sikh
religion
Singh- man
Kaur- woman
NEW THING-
gender pronouns
Allan Haley
(he/him) - state your pronouns
she/her they/them
they/them –
singular pronoun
If you don’t
know who you are writing to:
LAST RESORT/
last option for the salutation:
To whom it
may concern,
Dear Sir or
Madam,
-very
impersonal, not very friendly
MY ADVICE:
Call the place and ask.
Hi there, WAY TOO VERY CASUAL AND
FRIENDLY
Dear Sir or Madam,
-quite impersonal, not the best first choice
GOOD SUGGESTIONS: Call and ask. Find them on
LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is like Facebook for professionals
Emojis are not for serious writing.
PUNCTUATION WITH SALUTATIONS
Dear Grandma, comma for a personal letter ,
comma- friendly,
casual, not formal, not business
Dear Sarah Chen: colon for a business letter :
more formal, not friendly, business
You can decide , OR
:
Dear Mr. Chen:
Dear Mrs. Smith:
Dear Ms. Smith:
Dear Miss Smith: (for a child)
Dear Mme Benoit: mademoiselle
Dear Sir or Madam:
French
Mme- mademoiselle,
Ms, madame
Dear Dr. Gan, MORE
CASUAL
Dear Dr. Jung: MORE
FORMAL
Make a judgement call. Trust your gut. Follow
your instinct/heart.
My insurance company defaults to Ms. for women.
Women’s family/last names
-
changing your family/last name when you get
married is your decision, your choice
-
children’s names -hyphenated name
surname- family name, last name
given name- old-fashioned “Christian 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
Darling 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
WRITING TO
A PERSON IN A POSITiON OF AUTHORITY
Hi Justin,
You’re doing a good job as Prime Minister of
Canada.
WAY TOO INFORMAL
Use an honorific-
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:
Research what title the person might have.
Check Linkedin.com
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 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 necessary, 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 (Member of
Parliament), MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly), Senator, Queen, King,
Prince, Princess, Emperor
empire
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
*I go by my
maiden name: Smith.
BUSINESS LETTER
FORMATTING
Business
letters are formatted differently than school writing.
School
writing- double space and indent the first word in every paragraph
Business
letters -DON’T INDENT THE
PARAGRAPHS
-SINGLE-SPACE YOUR WRITING
-LEAVE
A SPACE BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS
-Justification - left justified
-right justified
-fully justified
-centre justified-
titles, poems
Keep your
margins.
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 LETTER
– no indent, and single space
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.
SPACE
BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS
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.*
** ENDING/CLOSING
FOR BUSINESS LETTERS
Yours truly,
Sincerely,
Yours,
Yours
sincerely,
Warm
regards, (sounds very friendly, very nice)
Kind
regards,
Best
regards,
Kindest
regards,
Regards, (more
formal sounding-sounds cold)
Respectfully,
(talking to someone higher in the business than you)
Thank you,
Best wishes,
All the
best,
Thank you
very much.
I appreciate
your help.
I appreciate
any help that you can give.
Thank you in
advance for your help.
Looking forward
to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Signature
FOUR LINES
GAP
Your Name
MY
FAVOURITE:
Best,
PERSONAL
Sincerely
yours,
Yours
sincerely,
Faithfully,
ONE MORE
PIECE OF ADVICE: Try to keep a business letter to one page. Make them as short
as possible. Edit. Cut.
Cheers, VERY CASUAL, FRIENDLY
Also a
friendly way to end a conversation
Toasting- Cheers!
Bottoms up! Salud! Kampai!
SPEAKING: You’re
welcome.
AUSTRALIAN: No worries.
No problem.
CASUAL
Don’t
mention it.
Any time.
My pleasure.
It’s
nothing.
Sure.
You’re
welcome. FORMAL – sounds good
You’re very
welcome. FORMAL- sounds good
England Ta!
US Uh huh.
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. Texting NP
More polite:
Thank you. You’re welcome. Certainly. My pleasure. Happy to.
I tend to be
more formal.
GREETING - speaking
Hello.
CASUAL
Hi.
Hey there.
Hi there.
Hey.
Please come
in.
Make
yourself comfortable.
You can sit
anywhere.
Good
evening.
SAYING
GOODBYE- CASUAL SPEAKING
Have a good
one.
Take it
easy.
Take care.
VOCAL CRUTCH
sort of- kind of
‘like’ -
teenagers
uptalk- women,
young women
-FUN WAYS TO
SAY GOODBYE- talking
See you
later. Not if I see you first. JOKE BETWEEN CLOSE FRIENDS
CANADIANS Keep
your stick on the ice.
Keep your
eyes open.
VOCAB creepy
guy
See you
later.
Check you
later.
Catch you
later.
Good times.
See you around.
I gotta go!
I have to go.
POLITE WAYS
TO SAY GOODBYE
See you
soon, I hope.
Take care.
Keep in
touch.
Don’t be a
stranger.
Let’s do it
again soon.
Let’s catch
up soon.
FORMAL Have
a good day. Have a nice day.
CASUAL Have
a good one. You too.
Try some different
ways.
IDIOM:
Please crack the window.
Crack the
door. The door is ajar.
my call- my telephone call
my calling- the thing I am best at in life, your passion, your
dream
She got a job in HR, but her true calling is design.
Follow your dream!
Keep your dream alive!
traditional business letters – practical writing skills, not
academic, not school writing- not high school , college
different modes of writing, different purposes, different
intentions
school/academic writing – writing a paragraph or essay, writing
about a short story, poem, novel, narrative, definition, descriptive, process,
opinion/persuasive
business letters- 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, writing advocacy letters
People take your wriitng more seriously when it is a nice format.
-official writing, more formal, not casual writing
Even emails can benefit from using the more formal style of a
business letter
–sets a professional tone, serious tone, courteous tone,
respectful tone, 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
-sounds mature
REASONS TO WRITE A BUSINESS-TYPE LETTER
1. interdepartmental letters (within a company)
2. cover letter for a resume (special style)
WorkBC https://www.workbc.ca/search-and-prepare-job/job-application-tips/resume-and-cover-letter
MOSAIC workshops
ISS workshops
VPL workshops https://vpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/events?q=resume
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 (CRA), Immigration
Canada, Canada Pension, City Hall)
NOTE: Communicating with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is really
difficult.
VOCAB Last Will and Testament, name your beneficiaries
beneficiaries- the people who get your $ and estate when you die,
usually spouse or children
*It’s very important to have a will.
5. employer/manager/boss (e.g. ask for a promotion, ask for a transfer,
ask for a raise, ask for a personal leave, intention to quit)
IDIOM Don’t burn bridges!
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. medical insurance
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 effective (less is more)
ChatGPT is a great tool to create a first draft. You can
personalize it.
FORMAT OF A BUSINESS LETTER
·
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
(brackets)
Mei “Sarah” Zhou “Sarah”
not legal name, the name that you prefer
Real estate ads
Wing “Eddie” Chan I go by
Eddy.
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
Double-barreled names
Julia Castillo-Rodriquez
Clara Ling Haley Lo Yan
She goes by Clara Haley
Shira Haddad
Apt#23, 666 Maple Street
Vancouver, BC
Canada
V5P 2B6
Keiko Nishizawa
2001 Hizume
Nagano-shi
Japan
12345
SKIP A LINE
July 25, 2025
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?
Mr? Mrs? Ms? Robin Smith
Dear Robin Smith:
Dear Hui Yu Chen,
Sikh religion
Singh- man
Kaur- woman
NEW THING- gender pronouns
Allan Haley (he/him) - state your pronouns
she/her they/them
they/them – singular pronoun
If you don’t know who you are writing to:
LAST RESORT/ last option for the salutation:
To whom it may concern,
Dear Sir or Madam,
-very impersonal, not very friendly
MY ADVICE: Call the place and ask.
Hi there, WAY TOO VERY CASUAL AND FRIENDLY
Dear Sir or Madam,
-quite impersonal, not the best first choice
GOOD SUGGESTIONS: Call and ask. Find them on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is like Facebook for professionals
Emojis are not for serious writing.
PUNCTUATION WITH SALUTATIONS
Dear Grandma, comma
for a personal letter ,
comma- friendly,
casual, not formal, not business
Dear Sarah Chen: colon
for a business letter :
more formal, not friendly, business
You can decide , OR :
Dear Mr. Chen:
Dear Mrs. Smith:
Dear Ms. Smith:
Dear Miss Smith: (for a
child)
Dear Mme Benoit:
mademoiselle
Dear Sir or Madam:
French
Mme- mademoiselle,
Ms, madame
Dear Dr. Gan, MORE
CASUAL
Dear Dr. Jung: MORE
FORMAL
Make a judgement call. Trust your gut. Follow your instinct/heart.
My insurance company defaults to Ms. for women.
Women’s family/last names
-
changing your family/last name when you get
married is your decision, your choice
-
children’s names -hyphenated name
surname- family name, last name
given name- old-fashioned “Christian 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
Darling 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
WRITING TO A PERSON IN A
POSITiON OF AUTHORITY
Hi Justin,
You’re doing a good job as Prime Minister of Canada.
WAY TOO INFORMAL
Use an honorific-
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:
Research what title the person might have.
Check Linkedin.com
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 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 necessary, 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 (Member of Parliament), MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly),
Senator, Queen, King, Prince, Princess, Emperor
empire
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
*I go by my maiden name: Smith.
BUSINESS LETTER FORMATTING
Business letters are formatted differently than school writing.
School writing- double space and indent the first word in every
paragraph
Business letters -DON’T
INDENT THE PARAGRAPHS
-SINGLE-SPACE YOUR WRITING
-LEAVE
A SPACE BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS
-Justification - left
justified
-right
justified
-fully
justified
-centre
justified- titles, poems
Keep your margins.
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 LETTER – no indent, and single space
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.
SPACE BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS
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.*
** ENDING/CLOSING FOR BUSINESS LETTERS
Yours truly,
Sincerely,
Yours,
Yours sincerely,
Warm regards, (sounds very friendly, very nice)
Kind regards,
Best regards,
Kindest regards,
Regards, (more formal sounding-sounds cold)
Respectfully, (talking to someone higher in the business than you)
Thank you,
Best wishes,
All the best,
Thank you very much.
I appreciate your help.
I appreciate any help that you can give.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Signature
FOUR LINES GAP
Your Name
MY FAVOURITE:
Best,
PERSONAL
Sincerely yours,
Yours sincerely,
Faithfully,
CC – carbon copy -other
recipients of the email or letter
BCC- blind carbon copy --other recipients of the email or letter,
you don’t know who it is
VOCAB create(v)
creative(adj) creator(n)
career(n)
VOCAB – easily confused
affect(v)- change, modify
The gloomy weather affects her
mood.
effect(n)- result, outcome, impact The gloomy weather has a negative effect on her mood.
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