LETTER WRITING

Welcome to this lecture headed “LETTER WRITING”. We will be discussing all about writing letters. Enjoy your lecture.

Letter writing can be fun. It helps students to learn to make up written text, and provide handwriting practice – and letters are valuable keepsakes..

Letter writing is an essential skill. Despite the prevalence of emails and text messages, everyone has to write letters at some point.

Letters of complaint, job applications, thank you letters, letters requesting changes or making suggestions – the list goes on and on.

Encouraging children to write letters from an early age will improve their communication, social and handwriting skills, and teach them what they need to know about writing and structuring letters.

Handwriting too is an essential element. In the Standard Assessment Tests Level 2 handwriting is required:

To be legible

Have a consistent size and spacing of letters

Show flow and movement

Show a confident personal style

Thus letter writing exercises can fulfill two elements of the curriculum

Within schools

Letter writing is part of the required curriculum. It comprises of a standalone element teaching correct styles of letter writing cross-curricular.

Visits to museums or farms prompt thank you letters, for example contacting schools in other countries and exchanging letters links into geography.

Writing imaginary letters to historical people can encourage understanding of a historical period or topic PSHE.

Writing letters encourages good social skills, learning to say thank you and asking for information politely.

Types of Letters

Letter writing is broadly divided into formal and informal letters. There are different situations we would be required to write a letter like the following:

Letters of congratulation

Exchanging news

Writing to friends

Letters saying sorry for doing something wrong

Making appointments

Asking for information

Dealing with banks or stores

Letters to family members who live some way away

Letters to Santa Claus

Thank you letters

Letters showing how much you appreciate someone

Letters responding to someone who has had bad news – showing how much you care by trying to share their sadness

Letters of complaint

Letters to newspapers and magazines

Formal letters

Formal letters are occasionally referred to as business letters. They are written in a severely formal style. Letters like that are constantly written on an A4 (8″ x 11″) sheet of paper.

They can be folded three times so that the address to which the letter is being sent can appear in the window of a business envelope. The arrangement is always the same.

Structure of formal letters:

The senders address is put at the top right hand side

Include telephone number and email if available

The address of the person receiving the letter goes on the left hand side below the sender’s address

The date

Greeting – Dear Sir or Madam. You can make use of the titles: Miss, Mrs. or Mr. if you know the name of the person to whom you are writing

The message

Complimentary close – Yours faithfully or Yours sincerely

Signature

Write name in block letters (this is to ensure that the person receiving the letter knows exactly who has sent it. Signatures may not be very clear)

Informal letters

Informal letters are letters to friends and relations, or people you know well.

Structure of informal letter:

The sender’s address ought to constantly appear on the top right hand corner of the page.

Include telephone number and email if accessible

Greeting — There are a lot of variations that can be used depending on how well you know the person: Dear Mary, Hi Mary, Greetings

Complimentary close — short remark, for instance Love, Lots of love, With thanks, See you soon and so on.

Letter of enquiry and letters for offering information

These are formal letters and messages ought to be precise and detailed, covering all the required information.

Two forms of letters can be undertaken – a letter of requesting for information; and a reply offering the information requested.

There is a stranger curious about Earth. He writes a letter requesting for information about liquids and gases.

These do not exist on his planet and he finds it hard to understand what they are. Write a letter explaining what liquids and gases are.

What examples could be included? What would be confusing about them? The following day, give the children a thank you letter from the alien!

You could link up with another class in the school. One class could write letters of enquiry. These would be delivered to the second class for answering.

Writing Thanks you letters

Thank you letters are highly significant and can be utilized in lots of ways: thanking organizations for helping, thanking people for supporting you, thanking someone for a lovely time together.

They make a good follow up act after receiving presents or going away on a visit.

Your class has just been out on a school visit to a farm. Write a thank you letter to the management of the farm. You will be required to say thank you and how much you savored the visit.

Give a few examples of what you enjoyed best about the visit and state if it is about feeding the lambs,

Pond dipping, or seeing the young animals.

Letters of invitation

We all enjoy being given an invitation.

Receiving a hand written letter asking you to attend a party or a special occasion makes you feel very special.

There are a few events that necessitate writing letters of invitation like birthday parties, Christmas parties, a visit to a beach with friends; going out to a farm or to the cinema, a wedding or when a new baby is christened; or merely inviting a friend to stay overnight at your house.

Things you need to include in an invitation letter

You ought to know what is required to be present in an invitation letter to ensure that you have all required information included.

You are required to be clear on the date and the time, in addition to the venue. You will make your friend infuriated if you misdirect him or her.

Mention anything your friend is required to come along with to the venue. If you need to collect him or her at any specific time and place mention it in the letter.

If outdoor clothing will be essential required as a result of weather condition also indicate it in the letter.

Don’t forget to as ask them to reply saying yes or no. State a date by which you ought to have their reply.

This is significant if food and drink are being provided, or if you are required to be aware of exactly how many people are attending.

Letters of complaint

When to send a letter of complaint

A letter of complaint might be when someone has done something wrong. Every now and then people write letters to firms or the newspapers to complain about garbage dump or poor service.

Just imagine what Mr. James must have been thinking at the end of the story of Johnsons and the Three Bears. A disobedient girl had broken into his home, eaten his porridge; broken a chair and then gone to sleep on his baby’s bed.

Then she had run away without even being apologetic when the bears came back.

Write a letter of complaint from Mr. James to the parents of Johnsons. What do you think he would say in the letter?

He would be required to get his complaint across very strongly. There would be a list of Johnsons’ transgressions. He would ask for an admission of guilt.

He may ask for the replacement or repair of the broken chair. He may ask for an action to be taken against Johnsons What may he ask? Is the letter going to be a formal or informal letter?

Letters to newspapers and magazines

These are letters that are meant to pass on an opinion or a message. Examples can be gotten from newspapers or from school’s magazines.

They are written a bit in a different way to normal letters and are at all times addressed as Dear Sir, or Dear – (name of magazine).

These are letters that are directed at a broad audience – anyone who reads it. The sender never obtains a direct letter back through the post.

Often time’s people are very interested in a letter, that has appeared in a magazine that they wish to express their opinions. Thus they then write a letter to the magazine giving their comments.

A letter to the newspaper or magazine may be in form of request ; it may be to thank people for assisting.

Oftentimes letters to local newspapers are used to thank people who assisted to find a lost dog or help after an accident; but who did not put down their names.

Sometimes such letters are used to articulate opinions like issues of security on climate change, treatment of people, animals, poor services, not sufficient facilities, and human rights.

This form of letter ought to be very concise. Arguments ought to be vividly made. Requests for action ought to be explicitly stated.

Tips for writing good letters

Make sure that they are well written. It can be very maddening for someone to have to make great effort to read handwriting. Always make use of your best and clearest handwriting.

Ensure all your contact details are vividly written down at the top of the letter. If they are not, then you may not obtain a reply. The right address is indispensable.

Think about what you want to say. If required make some notes on a detached sheet of paper first. This will make sure that you do not overlook anything.

Think about to whom you are writing the letter. Make use of the right style of writing and language – formal or informal, business like or friendly.

Lay out your letter with the use of paragraphs. This makes it easier for the reader.

At all time proofread your letter after writing it, check for sentence structure, grammar, spelling mistakes…

Proofread your letter again (and again) after you have revised it.

Keep the recipient in mind, and write in a way that he/she can easily understand the letter.

Don’t use abbreviated dates, e.g. use November 19, 2004, and not 11/19/04

Be respectful when you write, even if you are writing a letter of complaint.

Business letter writing tips

Be brief and keep to the point, but don’t leave out any significant information.

Try to keep your letter tiny enough so that it fits on one page.

If your letter is more than one page long, make use of another page, don’t use the back of the page.

If you have access to company (or personal) letter headed paper, make use of it in place of regular paper.  

Thanks for reaching to this point marking the end of this lecture.

Your Lecture Master:

Mst. Ugonwanne Joshua