Unit 2. Business Correspondence

Exercise 1. Get acquainted with the Business Letter Structure.

1. The Notepaper (шапка бланка)

2. The Reference (ссылка)

3. The Date (дата)

4. The Addresee (адресат)

5. The Salutation (обращение)

6. The Body Text (текст письма)

7. The Complimentary Close (комплиментарная концовка)

8. The Surname & the Signature (фамилия и подпись)

Additional components of a business letter which are not obligatory:

1. The Letter Writer (автор письма)

2. The Letter Heading (заголовок письма)

3. The Enclosures (приложение)

4. The Copy

5. Postscriptum

Note:

If a letter occupies more than one page one of the following marks – PTO, MORE, CONTINUOUS – or page number is put at the bottom.

Continental Equipment Director: John G. Smith 9 North Road, Brighton, BN 5 JF Telephone: 0273 543359 Fax: 0273 559364 Our Ref: G/f 146 Your Ref: SD/jr (2) (3) 15 November 1989 Sales Department Aluminium Alloy Co. Ltd. Birmingham 79 Prince Albert St. Birmingham 821 8DJ Dear Sirs (5) We thank you for your letter of 11 November, and would like to inform you that we can deliver all the items required from stocks, according to the enclosed detailed offer. For the balance we would require three weeks from the date of receiving your confirmation that this arrangement is acceptable. Price as quoted f.o.b. London. Delivery as specified above. Payment against documents. We hope you will find our terms, method of payment and delivery dates satisfactory; and we can assure that you may count on our full co-operation and immediate attention in this matter. Yours faithfully (7) RHanson Robert Hanson Continental Equipment

 

Exercise 2. Pay attention to some differences between British and American forms.

Date

British	American
12th December, 2006
12 December 2006	December 12, 2006
12 Dec. 2006

Salutation

Dear Sir,	Dear Sir:
Dear Madam,	Dear Madam:
Dear Mrs. Smith,	Dear Mrs. Smith:
For the attention of Mr. E. Wilson,	Attention: Mr. E. C. Wilson:
Dear Sirs	Gentlemen:

Complimentary Close

Yours faithfully,	Sincerely yours,
Yours sincerely,	Yours truly

Addresses

Mrs. Nikki Roberts	AMIDEAST
School of Languages	Testing Programs
University of Westminster	1730 M Street, NW
18 Euston Centre	Suite 1100
London NW1 3ET	Washington DC
United Kingdom	20036-4505, USA

 

Exercise 3. Here are the “Golden Rules” for writing letters (including faxes and memos). What rules do you think most useful?

1. Give your letter a heading if it will make it easier for the reader to understand your purpose in writing.

2. Decide what you are going to say before you start to write or dictate a letter, because if you don’t do this the sentences are likely to go on until you can think of a good way to finish. In other words you should always plan ahead.

3. Use short sentences.

4. Put each separate idea in a separate paragraph. Number each of the paragraphs if it helps the reader to understand better.

5. Use short words that everyone can understand.

6. Think about your reader. Your reader...

...must be able to see exactly what you mean:

your letters should be CLEAR

...must be given all the necessary information:

your letters should be COMPLETE

...is probably a busy person with no time to waste:

your letters should be CONCISE

...must be written in a sincere, polite tone:

your letters must be COURTEOUS

...should not be distracted by mistakes in grammar, punctuation or spelling:

your letters should be CORRECT

A dull or confusing layout makes a letter difficult to read.

 

Exercise 4. Read two letters sent by the Sales Manager of “Sunshine Flavours LTD”, J. G. O’Reilly. Which of the two letters would you prefer to receive? Why? What kind of impression does each letter give the reader?

Sunshine Flavours LTD. 44 Emerald Drive, Shannon Technology Park, Cork CO6 9TS, Republic of Ireland. Mme Susanne Dufrais, Les Gourments du Poitou S. A., 33, rue Mirabeau, 44000 Poitiers, France 18 January 1999 Your request for our catalogue and price list Dear Madam, as you requested, we enclose for your attention our price list and catalogue. I should like to take this opportunity of drawing your attention to the fact that all our products are manufactured from completely natural ingredients and that we do not utilize any artificial additives whatsoever. There are 213 different items in the catalogue and our prices are reasonable and our quality is good. This is the first time that we have included Scratch’n’Sniff TM Samples of our ten most popular aromas. Should you require further information, please do not hesitate to contact us. If the undersigned is unavailable, the Sales Manager’s personal assistant will be delighted to assist you. We look forward to receiving your esteemed order in due course. Yours faithfully, J. G. O’Reilly J. G. O’Reilly, Sales Manager Telex 449801 Telephone 021 23 45 9 Cables: SUNSHINE, CORK

Sunshine Flavours 44 Emerald Drive Shannon Technology Park Cork CO6 9TS Republic of Ireland Mme Susanne Dufrais Les Gourmets du Poitou S. A. 33 rue Mirabeau 44000 Poitiers France 18 January 1999 Dear Madame Dufrais, You asked to send you our price list and catalogues for the new season. I am sure you will find plenty to interest you in. You will notice that every single one of our products is made from 100% natural ingredients – we use no artificial additives at all. This year, for the very first time, we have included Scratch’n’Sniff TM samples of our ten most popular aromas. I think you will agree that our range of well over 200 natural flavours and aromas is second to none and is outstanding value for money. If you need more information, do please get in touch with me. If you are telephoning, please ask to speak to me personally or to my assistant, Mr. Hannah Rosser, and we will be very pleased to help you. I look forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely, Jim O’Reilly James O’Reilly Sales Manager Enclosed: catalogue, price lists, order form Telephone: 021 23 45 9 Fax: +353 21 23 44 7

Exercise 5. This is the top part of a business letter. Decide when you would use these openings, instead of “Dear Mr. Green”: Dear Jim, Dear Sir, Dear Madam, Dear Sir or Madam.

UNIQUE PRODUCTS PLS SUNRISE TECHNOLOGY PARK WEST HARBOUR DRIVE DOVER CT16 8KL TELEPHONE 01306 824455 FAX 44 1306 821986 Mr. James Green Marketing Director Green Industries Inc. 999 Park Avenue Rockford IL 61125 USA Your Ref: GS/BC/44 Our Ref: DJ/GS/2 11 November 1999 Dear Mr. Green, Thank you for your fax of 8 November, suggesting a meeting in December. The most convenient dates from our point of view are December 2nd or December 3rd.

 

Exercise 6. Look at the endings of business letters below.

When would you use the different styles and phrases?

What do the abbreviations mean?

Which of the style and phrases would you find in American correspondence?

If you begin your letter ‘Dear Jim’ how do end it? If you begin ‘Dear Sir’ how do you end it?

Please let me know if this is convenient.	Please phone us to confirm the details.
Looking forward to hearing from you.	We look forward to receiving your comments.
Best wishes, Yours sincerely, GilliantJones Ms. Gillian Jones Publicity Co-ordinator	Yours faithfully, MawiceFnoight Ms. Gillian Jones Publicity Co-ordinator
Best regards, HarryS. Bulstrode Exports Sales Manager	Sincerely, HS> Bulstrode Export Sales Manager c. c. Jane Sanchez

 

Exercise 7. Read the text.

Planning a Letter: 7 Steps

What do you do before you write a difficult letter or a report? Because a letter in English is much harder than writing one in your own language, careful planning is essential. Imagine, for example, you have to write a letter introducing your company to a prospective customer…

The following steps are recommended.

1. Write down your AIM: what is the purpose of the letter?

2. ASSEMBLE all the relevant information and documents: copies of previous correspondence, reports, figures, etc.

3. ARRANGE the points in order of importance. Decide which points are irrelevant and can be left out. Make rough notes.

4. Write an OUTLINE in note form. Check it through considering these questions:

Have you left any important points out?

Can the order of presentation be made clear?

Have you included anything that is not relevant?

5. Write a FIRST DRAFT, leaving plenty of space for changes and revisions.

6. REVISE your first draft by considering these questions:

INFORMATION: Does it cover all the essential points?

Is the information RELEVANT, CORRECT and Complete?

ENGLISH: Are the grammar, spelling and punctuation correct?

STYLE: Does it look attractive?

Does it sound natural and sincere?

Is it CLEAR, CONCISE and COURTEOUS?

Will it give the reader the right impression?

Is it the kind of letter you would like to receive yourself?

7.Write, type or dictate your FINAL Version.

 

Exercise 8.Here are three extracts from letters that break some rules.

1. Decide what is wrong with each one and underline any mistakes or faults.

2. Rewrite each extract in your own words.

1) I noticed your advertisement in the Daily Planet and I would be grateful if you could send me further information about your products. My company is considering subcontracting some of its office services and I believe that you may be able to supply us with a suitable service. Looking forward to hearing form you.

2) Thank you very much for you letter of 15 January, which we received today. In answer to your enquiry we have pleasure in enclosing an information pack, giving full details of our services. If you would like any further information, do please contact me by phone or in writing and I will be pleased to help. I hope that our services will be of interest to you and I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

3) There are a number of queries that I would like to raise about your products and would be grateful if you could ask a representative to get in touch with me with a view to discussing these queries and hopefully placing an order if the queries are satisfactorily answered.

Types of Business Letters