B2.2 - Informal letters or emails

1.

Informal letters or emails

Informal emails are messages you send to people you know well( friends, relatives...) about your recent news, personal problems, information you need...

They are written in an informal style with a chatty, personal tone.

An informal letter or email should consist of:

1. an informal greeting
2. opening paragraph
3. conclusion
4. informal ending

1.Informal greeting

Dear Ben /Aunt JoanHi Ben (don't write the surname)

The important thing is to be consistent with the style that you choose to use (so if you use a comma after the person's name at the start of the letter, use a comma after the closing statement at the end)

Hi! How are you? How are things? I thought I'd write and let you know that... I was so surprised to hear that...

2.Opening

An introduction in which you write your opening remarks (asking about your friend's health..) and mention your reasons for writing

3. main body

in which you write the main subject(s) of the letter or email in detail (given in the instructions), starting a new paragrah for each topic

that's all news for now. Write back soon Anyway, don't forget to let me know...

4. conclusion

in which you «start» to say goodbye by wishing the other person good wishes and perhaps asking them to reply to your email

Lot's of love Love Take care All the best Best wishes

5. informal ending

an English first name (never your name) or the name assigned by the task

other things to consider

1. It is important that you use B2.2 grammatical expressions and appropriate vocabulary.
2. Informal language, including phrasal verbs, informal vocabulary ("I guess you loved the pics"), contractions, question tags.
3. Simpler sentence structure: I’ll be late for the party. It’s because of my French exam.

other things to consider

1. Connectors: All good writing makes good use of connectors. However, many of the connectors you have learnt for other styles of writing are inappropriate in an informal letter or email. For informal writing, you need to use some of the connectors that are more specific to spoken language:

well so by the way Anyway oh, yes, I forgot actually but to tell you the truth

examples/connectors

1. To introduce a topic: Well, you'll never guess who I bumped into yesterday. / I know how much you love tennis, so I've got us some tickets to Wimbledon. / By the way, did you know that John's got a a new job?
2. To go back to a previous topic: Anyway, as I was saying earlier, I really wasn't very happy there. / Now where was I? Oh yes, I nearly forgot, Mary asked me tell you about the cinema.
3. To introduce surprising or bad news: Actually, he came to the party after all. / I'm really sorry but I can't make it. / To tell you the truth, I don't really like sports much.
4. To summarise what you've already said: Anyway, we had a really nice time in the end. / Well, to cut a long story short, we didn't get there on time.

Thanks!