8/4/2023

General Training

You missed an international flight due to a problem at the airport.

Write a letter to the airline. In your letter:

 Describe what happened that caused you to miss your flight
 Explain how missing your flight impacted you
 Clearly state what you would like the airline to do

Write at least 150 words. You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sir or Madam,

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You were absent from an important event held by the company you work for.

Write a letter to your manager. In your letter:

 Apologize for your absence and explain the reasoning
 Explain why you had to be at the other event
 Explain what you will do to catch up

Write at least 150 words. You do NOT need to write any addresses.
Begin your letter as follows:
Dear

You borrowed something from your friend, later it got damaged. Write letter to your
friend.

In your letter, you should :

 apologize for it
 tell how it got damaged
 say how you are going to fix the issue.

Write at least 150 words. You do NOT need to write any addresses.
Begin your letter as follows:
Dear

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 Purpose of the letter is presented

 Tone of the letter is appropriate
 Bullet points are presented, highlighted and extended
 Format is appropriate – letter format

Style Characteristics Opening Ending

To someone you have not met, whose name

Formal Dear Sir / Madam Yours faithfully
you don't know

Semi- To someone you may or may not have met, Dear Mr Brown,
Yours sincerely
formal whose last name you know & use Dear Ms Stone

To someone you know well, whose first Dear John Best regards
Informal
name you know and use Hi Anita Warm wishes

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 Start your letter by clearly stating why you are writing, the purpose. The reason for
writing your letter needs to be clearly presented in the opening paragraph. Make
sure the purpose of the letter is in direct response to the situation outlined in the
question.

Formal letter Informal letter

Dear John,
Dear Sir/Madam,
I was so pleased to hear that you are planning
I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with a
on visiting my country, so I’m writing to give you
product I have purchased recently and to
some travel tips and advice before you book
request a full refund.
your trip.

 Don't try to be friendly, as you do not know the person you are writing
to. Get right down to business and indicate the reason you are
writing, as shown below:

 Dear Sir / Madam,
I am writing to inquire about / I am writing in connection with...

 Dear Mr Jones,
I am writing to inform you ... / I am writing in connection with...

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 With friends whom we know, we care about the whole person. We

have a broader relationship in the context of which this
communication is taking place. So it is best to acknowledge that
friendship first, before getting down to the reason for your letter. In
fact, the first paragraph could be purely friendly small talk, unrelated
to the reason for your writing. Look at the example below:
 Dear Jane
 I hope you and your family are all well. It was such a pleasure to see you again last
summer. We sure had a great time catching up with each other after so many years.
You’ve always been a cherished friend, no matter how much of a gap there’s been
since we met.
 Anyway, the reason I'm writing is that I have some good news – I’m getting married
this summer...

Formal Informal

Letter of complaint (e.g. personal, business, recent,

Letter of invitation (e.g. party, dinner, celebration)
experience, product)

Letter of request (e.g. refund, repair, advice, Letter of request (e.g. asking questions, asking for
reservation) advice, asking for help)

Letter of enquiry (e.g. information request, booking) Letter of thanks or appreciation

Letter of suggestion (e.g. suggesting ideas, plans,

Letter of recommendation (e.g. job, colleague)
solutions)

Letter of suggestion (e.g. suggesting ideas, plans,

solutions)

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 Let’s move on to the next feature in your letter that the examiner is looking for, the
tone of your letter. The tone refers to the way in which you write the letter, formal or
informal style. The instructions in the question will give you a clue.
 Begin your letter as follows:

 Dear - Informal or semi-formal: written to a friend, colleague or

someone you know

 Dear Sir/ Madam - Formal: written to someone you do not know

 A formal letter contains:

 Longer sentences that use passive language (be + past participle)
 Modals (e.g. The broken light needs to be fixed to ensure that the
customers who use this facility have adequate visibility of their
surroundings.)

 An informal letter is:

 Conversational
 Can include contractions (e.g. can’t) and more direct speech (e.g.
Can you fix the light in the kitchen, so I don’t have an accident?)

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Formal vocabulary and structures Informal vocabulary and structures

Request Ask

Purchase Buy

Could Can

Would Will

At your earliest convenience When you are free

Respond Write back/ reply

Cannot Can't

Yours sincerely/ faithfully Best wishes/ love

 Opening Salutation (Dear Sir / Madam)

 Paragraph 1 - Reason for the writing letter
 Paragraph 2 – write about the 1st point in detail
 Paragraph 3 – write about the 2nd point in detail
 Paragraph 4 – write about the 3rd point in detail
 Concluding Line
 Signing off

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 NB : Some bullet points contain more than one element. So, make
sure to watch for ‘and’ and plurals.
plurals.

An overseas friend wants to visit your country on holiday.

Write a letter to your friend. In your letter
 Recommend the best time of year to visit and why
 Describe the types of accommodation your friend could choose
 Say what you would like to show your friend in your country

Dear Andrew
I was pleased to hear that you’re going to visit Brisbane, so I’m writing to give you some
information to think about before you come.
Most people travel to Brisbane in the summer months, but I think it’s uncomfortably hot
at that time of the year. Autumn is the best season, between April and June. It’s still
sunny, but much cooler than in summer.
At the moment, all our bedrooms are full, so unfortunately, we can’t put you up. However,
there are some cheap places to stay, like Airbnb’s, in our suburb. You could also stay in a
serviced apartment in the city centre or on the Gold Coast. There are lots of specials
online, so I’m sure you’ll find somewhere affordable.
When you get here, let me be your tourist guide. I’ll take you to Lone Pine Koala
Sanctuary, where you can feed kangaroos and koalas. I can also drive you to the Gold
Coast for a swim. To add excitement, we can visit the theme parks there too.
Looking forward to catching up [Concluding letter (rounding off statement)]
Best wishes
John