Unit 1: letter layout

Commercial Correspondence Faculty of English for Specific Purposes Commercial Correspondence COURSE INTRODUCTION    Instructor: Trần Thị Nguyên Hà Faculty of English for Specific Purposes, FTU Handphone: 0900 Email: trannguyenha@yahoo.com Duration: 10 weeks Workload: classes/week (or class/week) Faculty of English for Specific Purposes Commercial Correspondence CoURSE INTRODUCTION Materials Oxford Handbook of Commercial Correspondence – A Ashley The Language of Business Correspondence in English – Nguyễn Trọng Đàn Faculty of English for Specific Purposes Commercial Correspondence COURSE INTRODUCTION   Objectives To provide practical help for students of business and commerce in writing commercial correspondence, mainly letters and emails To explain how to write clearly and effectively, and point out the do’s and don’ts within the specific areas of business writing Faculty of English for Specific Purposes Commercial Correspondence COURSE INTRODUCTION     Areas covered Letter layout, content and style Emails Enquiries and replies to enquiries Offers/ Quotations      Orders Transportation Complaints and adjustments Resumés Application letters Faculty of English for Specific Purposes Commercial Correspondence COURSE INTRODUCTION Assessment  Attendance, homework: Mid-term test: 10% 20%  End-of-term test: 70%  Faculty of English for Specific Purposes Commercial Correspondence Commercial Correspondence Unit Letter Layout, Content and Style Faculty of English for Specific Purposes Commercial Correspondence Letter Layout Main parts: Sender’s address References Date Inside address Attention line Salutation Subject title Body of the letter Complimentary close 10 Sender’s identification 11 Enclosures 12 Copies Faculty of English for Specific Purposes Commercial Correspondence Sender’s address     Usually: top righthand corner Begins at left margin (Full-Block format) No punctuation No company’s name when nonletterhead page is used Bredgade 51 DK 1260 Copenhagen K DENMARK Faculty of English for Specific Purposes Commercial Correspondence Sender’s address In company’s letterhead: Formatted in various ways Compuvision Ltd Warwick House Warwick Street Forest Hill London SE23 1JF Telephone +44 (0) 20 8566 1861 Facsimile +44 (0) 20 8566 1385 Email staff@comvis.co.uk www.comvis.co.uk British Crystal Ltd GLAZIER HOUSE – GREEN LANE – DERBY DE1 1RT TELEPHONE: +44 (0) 1332 45790 – FACSIMILE: +44 (0) 1332 51977 Email: jayn@crystal.com - www.britishcrystal.com 10 Faculty of English for Specific Purposes Commercial Correspondence Remember your ABC Accurate  Check facts carefully (titles, names, dates, references, prices, measurements…)  Proofread thoroughly (tenses, spelling, grammar, punctuation, enclosures…) 38 Faculty of English for Specific Purposes Commercial Correspondence Remember your ABC Brief Keep sentences short and use simple expressions It’s better to use the second way of expression in the following examples: o o 39 We would like to ask you to…  Please I have pleasure in informing you  I am pleased to tell you Faculty of English for Specific Purposes Commercial Correspondence Remember your ABC Brief o o o 40 We not anticipate any increase in prices  We not expect prices to rise I should be grateful if you would be good enough to advise us  Please let me know We would like to express our regret at being unable to fulfill your requirements  We are sorry we cannot meet your requirements Faculty of English for Specific Purposes Commercial Correspondence Remember your ABC Clear  Plan before you start writing Make sure you say everything you want to say, and in a clear sequence  Use simple English  Avoid formality and familiarity  Do not use abbreviations that your reader may not understand  Write numbers in words as well as in figures 41 Faculty of English for Specific Purposes Commercial Correspondence Be courteous and considerate  Should not be so simple that it becomes rude  Avoid using short forms like “I’ll” or “don’t”  Understand and respect the recipient’s point of view  If you feel some comments are unfair, be tactful and try not to cause offence  Reply promptly to all communications If you cannot, write a brief note and explain why 42 Faculty of English for Specific Purposes Commercial Correspondence Be courteous and considerate Instead of Write We cannot anything about your problem Unfortunately we are unable to help you on this occasion Your television’s guarantee Your television’s guarantee has is up, so you will have to ended, so unfortunately you must pay for it to be fixed bear the cost of any repairs you’ll get your money back the loan will be repaid prices have gone through the roof 43 prices have increased rapidly Faculty of English for Specific Purposes Commercial Correspondence Include all relevant details Instead of Write My flight arrives at 3.30 on Wednesday My flight BA121 from London Heathrow should arrive at Singapore Changi Airport at 1530 on Wednesday 12 June Our Sales Manager will contact you soon Mr John Matthews, our Sales Manager, will contact you soon 44 Faculty of English for Specific Purposes Commercial Correspondence Use active, not passive voice Active voice: more personal, natural and focused: more interesting and clearer Passive voice: creates a distance 45 Faculty of English for Specific Purposes Commercial Correspondence Use active, not passive voice Instead of Write Arrangements have been made for a repeat order to be despatched to you immediately I have arranged for a repeat order to be sent to you today The cause of the complaint has been investigated I have looked into this matter 46 Faculty of English for Specific Purposes Commercial Correspondence Use active, not passive voice Passive voice, however, would be more appropriate in some occasions as follows  Giving extra emphasis to a particularly important noun Instead of: All the leading hotels in Singapore recommend our service Say: Our restaurant has been recommended by all the leading hotels in Singapore 47 Faculty of English for Specific Purposes Commercial Correspondence Use active, not passive voice Passive voice, however, would be more appropriate in some occasions as follows  Placing focus on the action not the actor The noise was heard all over the island  When you want to hide something or tact is important An unfortunate mistake was made 48 Faculty of English for Specific Purposes Commercial Correspondence Be consistent  In layout  In language style  In details Instead of: I confirm my reservation of a single room on 16/7 and a double room on 17 Oct Write: I confirm my reservation of a single room on 16 July and a double room on 17 October 49 Faculty of English for Specific Purposes Commercial Correspondence Practice Answer the following questions What are the important parts of a business letter? Where and how you write the date? Give examples Where you write the inside address? How you write the inside address when you know the recipient’s surname? Give an example 50 Faculty of English for Specific Purposes Commercial Correspondence Practice Answer the following questions When you write “Dear Sir” or “Dear Sirs” in the salutation? How you address a person in the salutation when you know his/her name? Give examples How you end a letter which begins with “Dear Sir or Madam”? How you end a letter which begins with “Dear Mrs Brown”? 10 What does the signer to let the recipient know that the signer is male or female? Faculty of English for Specific Purposes 51 Commercial Correspondence Practice 2: Write a letter in the block format with the following details        Ngày viết: ngày hôm Người gửi: Thang Long Garment Export Co., 264 Minh Khai Street, Hai Ba Trung District, Ha Noi, Viet Nam Người nhận: J.C Gilbert Ltd, Columbia House, Aldwych, London WC2, UK Ký thư ông Nguyễn Nam, chức vụ Giám đốc Kinh doanh Nội dung thư: Được biết J.C Gilbert Ltd qua quảng cáo họ tờ “Textile World”, đề nghị họ gửi mẫu thiết kế áo len nữ (Viết ngắn gọn) Tham chiếu: NN/tb (hoặc chữ đầu tên anh/chị) Chủ đề: Mẫu thiết kế áo len nữ Faculty of English for Specific Purposes 52 Commercial Correspondence