Sample letters

The Signature

The closing

The Body

The Salutation

The Heading

Personal letters

Personal letters usually consist of the following parts:

Usually placed in the upper right-hand cor­ner of the page gives three pieces of information in which your correspondent may be interested: the address of the sender (your street, your city and state, separated by a comma); the date with a comma between the day and the year.Do not crowd the heading. It should not be placed at the very top of the page not should it reach the right-hand edge of the paper.

E.g. 14, Hathaway Drive,

Mount Royal, Edmonton

Canada

October 16, 2008

The salutation is placed a short distance down the page from the heading, and it is begun at the left-hand margin. It is usually followed by a comma, not a colon. In a friendly letter almost any salutation is permissible, but Dear - is always proper.

The body of a friendly letter, the letter itself, should begin directly below the end ofthe salutation. Avoid such outdated formalities as "Hoping to hear from you, I remain", or "I am", etc.

The closing, or leave-taking, follows just below the final line of the letter. It is begin just to the right of the middle of the page and it is usually followed by a comma.

Although you may use whatever closing you wish. "Sincerely". "Yours Sincerely" is always proper. "Yours truly" and "Very truly yours" should be used only in business letters.

Write your name below the closing. Centre it under the closing.

Yours sincerely,
Helen

1. a) Study the following personal sample fetters, get ready to comment on their layout. Pay attention to the way the sender's address is written.

Make use of the vocabulary.

22 Church Road

Seattle. California. USA

June 17, 2008

Dear Jane,

Greetings and good wishes to all of you. We have appreciated very much your letters, your cards, your expressions of good will, indeed, your friendship. You must he near the end of another term and preparing for summer. I hope you get some time for what we call R&R (Rest and Recrea­tion),

We hope you are in good health and managing to survive the many pitfalls of life in a country in the midst of drastic change. At least, you can say you are participating in historic times - little compensation. I know when the needs of everyday life are so hard to come by.

John and I really enjoyed our two and a half month sojourn to the desert this year. We got а good rest, hiked in some interesting new areas, enjoyed swimming and hot baths, and read lot of books. We also met a lot of interesting people from Canada. Many retired Canadians escape their severe weather by coming for winter to our southern desert areas.

First thing we had to do when we returned home was to touch base with all our family. We made the rounds to visit son John Jr. and family in Sacramento and daughter Janet and family in Redding

In addition to all our home and family activities, John is busy with all his wildlife and environmental organizations. They don't take the summer off - just keep plugging away. And, as usual he is working on his research notes, writing, etc.

It is late at night and I must get to bed. Tomorrow is a busy day. You are often in our thoughts and always in our prayers. We trust you are able to find small pleasures to lighten your days. We hope all of you find fulfillment in you work.

May the good Lord bless and keep you

Our love and good wishes,

Maria and John

b) Comment on the paragraphing

Little Fence Cross

West Harrington,

Wales, BAS 3ED UK

March 21st, 2008

Dear Stephen,

Firstly thank you so much for your wonderful letters, and for the pic­tures. I am a little late in replying, so please excuse me. We were very inter­ested in your elucidation of the social, economic and historic scenario in your country, and we have shared this with family and friends who are also so anxious to keep abreast of the news.

Today is March 21st and ‘’technically" is designated as "the first day of Spring". Even as I write, it is about 9 С outside, the sun is shining across the moors and resting, on the fields, and there is feverish activity along the front garden wall as the blackbirds vie for the pole nesting locations! So today is springlike.

Well, now some family news. Firstly, my dear Mum, Margaret, fell ill with the virulent line virus which has swept through the country in the last few months. She was quite poorly for three weeks and had to stay in bed. Thanks God I live near enough to visit her each day, doing her household chores, shopping, cooking, etc., and generally keeping an eye on her. She is now up and about and gaining in strength, but she feels frustrated that has lost some of her former energy.

Well, I must close and catch the post. Once again, our most grateful thanks for your letters. Now, as the faster festival approaches, we wish you a joyous celebration as this special time.

Please convey our very best wishes to Helen and Max and their family.

From Ebb and myself every good wish

Ebb and Carol

c) Whom may the letter be to?

Soave Boarding House

Beach Avenue

Brighton,

10th August, 2008

Dear Ralph,

On holiday at last! This is what I was looking forward to for weeks. I wonder if a holiday at the seaside is the same in your country as in Britain? I will tell you what it is like in Brighton anyway.

Everyone goes to the beach, of course, and even when the weather's very warm you can see the families there wrapped up in sweaters sheltering next to their windbreaks. Some children like to make sandcastles, while others enjoy paddling or playing ball. Sometimes there are donkeys on the sands for the children to ride on, but best of all is the Punch and Judy Show. Punch is a wicked man who keeps hitting people (even his baby!) and his wife, Judy. It's very funny!

Off the beach, I like the amusement where you can play games like space invaders, and there are funfairs and rides like the big dipper or the big wheel. You can usually find all these things along the front of the pier.

There are also certain kinds of what people eat at the seaside. Of course, no seaside holiday would be complete without fish ‘n’ chips! They sell a lot of ice-cream as you can imagine, as welt as candy floss (made from sugar and water) and rock. Rock is a hard sweet usually shaped like a stick, but the clever thing is that there's writing on it which goes all the way through, I don't know how they do it.

Anyway, to end this letter here is a seaside joke.

Question: ^‘What do sea monsters eat?' Answer: 'Fish and ships! '

Best wishes,

Christopher

Notes:

big dipper - small carriages on a big curved track that take you up and down through water at the fair funfair- an amusement park

to paddle - to walk in water just in few inches deep

pier - metal construction stretching out to sea

windbreak - smth. made of cloth which is used to give protec­tion from the wind

d) Who may the letter be written to? What new information have you come to know from this letter? Comment on the layout of the letter below.

High Trees,

Hills road,

Cambridge

July 3^rd, 2008

Dear Anna,

I have been studying English in Cambridge for two months now, and I have had a wonderful time. Perhaps, the most exciting thing that has happened to me was going to a May Ball. Let me explain - every year in June (although they're called May Balls!) the colleges organise big dances with lovely food and cham­pagne served from marquees in the college grounds. The dance goes on all night, and then, at dawn, people take a boat and have breakfast on the river. For a May Ball the students wear dinner jackets and bow ties, and long dresses, although they usually wear jeans and Tee-shirts.

Before the Ball, I met the friends I was going with to a typical Cambridge student pub called ‘The Bath'. Apparently there's an old joke: 'If my mother rings, tell her I’m in ' The Bath ‘!

On Saturday 1 went down to the river to watch the ' bumps', which is a rowing competition between colleges. Each boat tries to overtake or 'bump' another boat. Lots of people got wet!

I have found that you can learn a lot just being in England. Yesterday I learn a new expression - Hobson's choice. Apparently a man called Tho­mas Hobson lived in Cambridge about 200 years ago. He had about forty horses, and whenever a customer wanted to hire one, he always gave them the one that had rested longest. The only choice was "Hobson's choice'; that is no choice at all, and that's what it means today!

Please write soon and tell me what you've been doing recently.

Lots of love,

Frieda.

Comments:

Even though colloquial English is used most of the time, here you should note the characteristics of the more formal type of a friendly letter, even though most of the letters you write are very informal. Of course, a friendly letter, like any social con­tact, should reveal an understanding of good manners.

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