N1 B1 5.6 Formal writing: business letters

TB B1 Roleplays Formal writing: 5.6 Business letters

Aleksandra Brożek

Student A (Your partner starts the conversation) You are an HR Manager in a fast food restaurant. You have to decide about the training of several experienced employees with your supervisor. Negotiate with him/her the conditions of participation in the training. Cover the following areas: • Say hello politely, thank for the introduction to the meeting. • Disagree with Student B: you want all employees, independent of the number of years with the company, to go through 2 types of training: time-management and customer care. Explain why. • Approve of the modification proposed by Student B but give one condition (use First Conditional sentence). • Disagree with Student B and propose a new solution: only employees with great performance should take part in a 2-month foreign language training. Be convincing and try to persuade Student B. • Express your approval of the condition presented by Student A. • Say goodbye politely.

Student B (You start the conversation) You, as a CEO in a fast food restaurant, organised a meeting with your HR manager on training and participation conditions for your employees. When negotiating, do not forget to cover the following areas: • Open the meeting, state the topic of the discussion. • Say that you want only the best employees with the longest experience to take part in the 2 types of the training: time-management and customer care . Other employees should wait for two years for another cycle. Ask Student A for his/her opinion. • Express your surprise with Student A’s opinion and say why you disagree with it. Propose a modification to the plan and try to convince Student A. • Express your approval of the condition presented by Student A. Then, discuss language courses and say that only those employees who use foreign language at work can take part in a 2-month language course. • Show your approval of Student A’s idea but give one condition (use First Conditional sentence). Say goodbye politely

General tips on formal writing

When you know the recipient's name: Dear Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms Emmerson ... Yours sincerely When the recipient's name is unknown to you: Dear Sir ... Yours faithfully Dear Madam ... Yours faithfully Dear Sir or Madam // Dear Sir/Madam ... Yours faithfully Addressing whole departments: Dear Sirs ... Yours faithfully VERY IMPORTANT! Use Ms for women unless asked to use Mrs or Miss

Information, action, help

2. I would

3. I would

will

I would like to

there is anything else

I would be

Complaints

Apologies

We are We are

I will I will

I would appreciate it if you could...

I would like to complain about

If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me

You work as a CEO of “Technology & Us” company. You would like to oragnise a summer English course in Cambridge for your sales team. You have found an advertisement for a language school that looks interesting. Write a letter to the manager of the school in which you will ask about: ● the price of a one-month Business English course ● the facilities at the school ● afternoon activities The address you are writing to is: 515 Kent Street, Cambridge, NSW 2000 Use the proper layout of a business letter. You may assume that the company-headed paper is used. Write 200-250 words.

Thank you!