Hi everyone,
Something I've been trying to work on for a while is how to kill fewer trees.
In my personal life I'm pretty good about not being too wasteful, but as a teacher it's often very difficult to avoid handing out huge amounts of copies. I'm hoping that with this blog we can waste less paper.
Other advantages of blogs in a language-learning context are:
1. You can consult it whenever you want
2. You can read each other's posts, and learn from each other.
Tonight we are going to focus on how to write an effective email in English.
I am going to point you toward a few links that offer "tips" to writing effective emails. Then, you are going to write practice emails, and I will correct them and give you some helpful advice.
So, here are the links. (Don't be limited to them: you can find your own as well, and share them).
http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/e-text/e-mail.htm
http://www.mindtools.com/email.html
http://www.43folders.com/2005/09/19/writing-sensible-email-messages
Now, here are a few basic tips from me:
1. The subject line is the most important part of the email! Give
as much information as possible, in such a way that the recipient knows if
they have to read the email right away or if they can save it until later.
2. Email is much less formal than mail. Usually, we use 'Hello'
instead of the more formal 'Dear.' We often use a less formal closing, such
as 'Thank you' or 'I look forward to hearing from you' instead of the more
formal 'Sincerely.'
3. Lists and bullets are good. The goal of most emails is to
present information as clearly and efficiently as possible. Use space wisely.
OKAY, more tips soon. Now let's practice.
Practice 1. Write me (Pablo) an email explaining what you would like to study in our class. Give me compelling reasons why it is important to you to study these things, and why it would be useful for other people as well.
Practice 2. Here is the situation.
You are a salesperson and I am one of your clients. We talked on the phone last Thursday. We agreed to have a meeting this Friday. You are suddenly extremely busy, and you won't be able to make it to our meeting. You want to reschedule, but you are not sure when. You are available in the coming week on Tuesday Morning, Wednesday afternoon, Thursday late afternoon, and Friday all day.
Practice 3. Here is the situation.
You work for a supplier and I am a customer who is behind in my payments. My company normally pays 12, 356 / month, and we are three months behind in our payment. You want to politely and gently remind me that I am behind in my payments, and suggest a course of action to correct this.
OK, good luck. If you're not sure what to do, ask questions!
