Informal_Letter_Samples_CAE

3. writing guide 101
Part 2
What to expect in Part 2
• Part 2 tests your ability to write one of the following texts in 220–260
words: a formal or informal letter, a report, a proposal, a review.
• You choose one task from three possible questions.
• Questions are based on a variety of topics, such as work, social
issues, the environment, health, education and travel.
• For all Part 2 tasks you are given a context, a purpose for writing
and an intended reader. The task may include a short text, such as a
letter, notice or advertisement, plus instructions.
• Remember you have about 45 minutes to complete the task,
including time to plan and improve it.
• To complete the task in full, you must deal with every element of the
question.
• Remember that your aim, as in Part 1, is to communicate effectively
with the person or organisation specified in the question. You need
to make sure they can follow your line of argument and that you have
written it in the correct tone.
• Your answer needs to be well organised, with one part leading
clearly to the next, and to have a layout that makes it easy to read.
• Aim to demonstrate that you have a wide knowledge of English
grammar and vocabulary, and to make sure your grammar, spelling
and punctuation are correct – mistakes in any of these areas can
cause communication difficulties.
• You need to organise your text into paragraphs, with an appropriate
beginning and ending.
• You should develop your text, particularly by giving reasons for your
opinions.
How to do Part 2
• Look quickly through questions 2–4 and decide which of them you
think you can do best. If you don’t fully understand a question (for
example, if you don’t understand to sponsor in the report question
below), it’s best not to answer that one.
• Study the task and highlight the points you must deal with. Think
about the intended reader and therefore how formally you need to
write.
• Make some notes on what to include. Then reread the question and
your notes, and cross out any that aren’t relevant to the question.
• Plan the structure of your answer, using a heading for each
paragraph, including an introduction, your main topics, and a
conclusion. Put your best ideas under paragraph headings. For a
report or proposal you should use headings in your text, but not for
letters or reviews.
• Add a few important words and phrases to your plan, but don’t
waste time writing complete sentences.
• Then reread the question, and write your answer, using your plan. If
you move away from the plan, make absolutely sure that you are still
answering the question.
• Remember to demonstrate your command of a wide range of
English.
Letter
What to expect in a Part 2 letter
• You may need to write to, for
example, the editor of a newspaper or
magazine, the director of a company,
the principal of a college or an
English-speaking friend.
• Make sure you write in an appropriate
style. To a friend you should write
informally; to the other people
mentioned above, write in a more
formal style.
• A letter question may ask you to
comment on something that has
happened, give advice, express your
feelings about something, describe
your own or your company’s needs,
persuade, request, answer questions,
etc.
How to do a Part 2 letter
• Plan your letter in paragraphs, and
include an appropriate beginning and
ending.
• Do not include any addresses.
• Make sure you deal with all the points
that are specified.
• Begin your letter with the reader’s
name if you know it, e.g. Dear Susie
to a friend or Dear Ms Gerrard to
somebody you don’t know personally.
In the latter case, end your letter
Yours sincerely. Ms is used when
writing to a woman if you don’t know
whether or not she is married.
• If you don’t know the reader’s name,
begin your letter Dear Sir or Madam
when writing to an organisation and
you don’t know who the specific
reader is going to be. In these cases,
end with Yours faithfully.
• You shouldn’t start a letter Dear
friend or use job titles, such as Dear
Manager.
• Make sure you use a range of
expressions.
• Make sure the purpose of your letter
is clear.

4. 102 writing guide
Practice task and model answer
1 Read the Part 2 task below and answer the questions.
1 Who must you write to?
2 What will be the main topic of your reply?
3 What requirements are there in the task?
You have received a letter from an English friend.
Write your letter in reply. You do not need to include postal addresses.
2 Read the sample letter written by Mischa and answer the questions.
1 How appropriate is the style that Mischa has written in? Give three
examples as evidence of this.
2 Is the organisation of his letter correct?
3 Which paragraphs deal with the various requirements of the task?
I’m doing a project at college about how people’s lives have changed
over the last few decades in different countries. Can you tell me about
the situation in your country? I’d like to hear about improvements and
also about anything that’s worse now.
Dear Marian
Great to hear from you. I hope you’re well and enjoying your college course.
Your project sounds very interesting. I’ve just had a chat with my grandparents, to
find out how their way of life has changed during their lifetime, and a few things
came up that you might like to hear about.
They said their standard of living is much higher now than it used to be, mainly
because they have far more money to spend – even though they’re pensioners.
When they were much younger, and my grandfather went out to work, it was a
struggle to cope on the money he earned, especially as they had several children to
bring up.
Now they can spend much more on leisure activities and holidays, so whereas they
couldn’t afford to go abroad on holiday until they were in their 50s, nowadays they
go skiing in Switzerland or Italy every winter, and in the summer they like to go on
a river cruise in another country, too.
The biggest change, they say, is in the amount of freedom that they have. As kids,
they were under pressure from their families and everyone they knew had to do
certain things and behave in certain ways, but now there’s much greater tolerance
of different ways of living.
On the other hand, they feel that people don’t stick together the way they used to –
instead of everyone helping each other, people tend to be more self-centred.
Well, I hope you can use this in your project, Marian.
All the best
Mischa
Short paragraphs
common in informal
letters
Good linking expression
in new paragraph, to show
change from improvement
to something that is worse
now
Introduces the main
topic in a positive way.
The writer is surprised
that, as pensioners, his
grandparents have more
money to spend.
Linking word (whereas) to
introduce a contrast
Informal vocabulary
Letters begin with social
remarks before introducing
any major topic.

5. reference to a
Ready for Writing
Informal letter
You recently took part in an activity which you enjoyed very much. A friend of yours
has written to you expressing an interest in the activity and asking how it went.
Write a letter telling your friend about the positive and negative aspects of your
experience, encouraging him/her to take part in a similar event.
Model answer
DearGeranl
- ---+-->
lprevious letter
Thmiksfor the letter. What a coincidencethat we've both taken up bird-watching! It wasfascinating }
relevant
opening
~paragraph,
providing lead-
in to rest of
letter
to rea.dabout howgougot into it. · ·
Afterm!/five dags in Spain watching migrating birds I've becomecomplete/g hooked- so much so, in
.fact, that I've afreadgs(Jnedupfor nextgear's trip. It'dbegreat f3ou cmz1e alon3, too, as I k.nOW.!fOU'd
aet just as much outofitas I did.
....r ..., ' ;
Apadfo",,,,, oneortwo leaders who were a bit unhelpfo/, eve0one there wassofiendlg, andreallg
k.een to share theirk.nawled3e. There musthave bee,n about 15different nationalities in ourC
!jl,mpsite,
with eve0one3iving outopeninvitations to30 bird-watchin3with them in the1i-own countries. And,
ofcourse, En3fis/1 was the mmi1 langua3e of communication, so ifgou diddecide togo next!fear, it'dbe
a wonderfelof!portunifgforgou topr.actise the laf13ua3e. "
encouraging
friend to take
part throughout
the letter
use of phrasal
verbs
You'dalso beable&!show o/f!fourcook.Ingsk.1/ls, andpick. up a few tipsfom others. I've nevereaten
such a hu3e variety o/internationaldishes in such a shortspace ofitme! The/podmore than made up
for the rotten weather w"e.hadon three ofthe dags. As, ofcourse, didthe numberofnewbirds Isaw -
far too man!/fi•r me to mention here. The thin3 is, there wouldhave been even more ift'dhada more·
/JowerfultJairofbinoculars.
~ ~~ >
} negative aspects
" offset by
Stt!/, I k.nowfor ne;d;3ear now.Andso do3ou! I've enclosedan applicationform anda.s3ou can set;, it's
positive aspects
in 7Urke3;''which I k.now301/ve been d31'ng to visit...
appropriate__---+4 · Write·bat k. soon andletme k.nowwhat wou decide!
ending ~
Allthe best
Alex"
Task
Either: a write your own answer to the
task above;
or b answer the following question.
You recently went on holiday to a
place which you enjoyed very much.
A friend of yours has written to you
expressing an interest in the place
and asking what it was like there.
Write a letter in 220-260 words,
telling your friend about the positive
and negative aspects of the place,
encouraging him/her to go there
next year.
Beginning the letter
Great/Lovely to hear from you (after
so long).
Thanks (a lot) for the letter.
Sorry to hear about your .. .
Sorry I haven't written/been in touch
for so long.
Persuading
You'd get so much out of it.
It'd be awonderful/marvellous
opportunity for you to ...
Justthink of (all thepeople you'd
meet).
Just imagine how it would (improve
your CV), not to mention (the money
you could earn).
Advising
Whatever you do, make sure you ...
It's (not) worth/There's no/little point
+gerund
I'd/I wouldn't .. . if I were you.
You'd be much better off+ gerund
Ending the letter
Write back soon and let me know how
it goes.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Can't wait to see you again.
(Give my) love/regards to .. .
Signing off
Friends:All the best/Best wishes/Bye
for now
Close friends or relatives:
Lots of love/All my love/Love
199

6. Informal letters and emails
You have received a letter from an English friend, Steve. Read
part of the letter and then write your letter to Steve.
Gue.55 what? I've. pa55e.d all m~ e.'f.amf> with top grade.f>l A
f> ~ou know,
Ididn't n pe.c.t to do 50 we., 50 inf>te.ad of e-nrolling at unive.r5i~,
Ide.c.ide.d to bac.kpac.k round the. world ne.'f.t ~e.ar. Nowm~ famil~
are. urging me. to re.think and go to uni afte.r all. I'd re.all~ like.
~our advic.e. ple.a5e.. What are. the. prOD and c.onf> of e.ac.h, and w
hic.h
f>hould I c.hoo5e.? Or ma~be. ~ou think it'f> po55ible. to do both?
Write. 5oon.
'0te.ve.
Write your letter in 220-260 words in an appropriate style.
1 Begin informal emailsjletters with 'Dear ... ' or 'Hi'.
2 Finish with 'Best wishes' (or 'Love' for very close family or
friends) .
3 Use an informal style that is in keeping with the relationship
you have with the reader of your letter.
4 Group similar ideas together and develop them to form
paragraphs.
5 Use linking phrases where appropriate.
6 Start a new paragraph when you change topic.
7 Close your letter with a set phrase.
llJ Writing Guide

7. Dear ~tcvc, (1)
Congratuationf:> on paf:>f:>ing iOUr C'f.amf:>, iOU dcvcr tl'ling You muf:>t nave been
acig1tca w1cn iOU got t1c ncwf:>. ropc iOU,VC been Gtcbrating 1ara
Now, about iour two optionf:> for nnt icar. (?) Thci bot1 f:>ouna great f:>O I'm not
wrprif:>ca iou'rc 11aving troubc acc.iaing wl'lat to ao.
The iaca of travcing rouna t1c wora if:> rcai C'f.Giting ana of GOUrf:>C WC probabi
nee-a to ao t1Cf:>C t1ingf:> w1ic we're f:>ti iOung. raving f:>aia t1at, (?) It1in'K iOU
nee-a to bear in mina tl'lat going to univcrf:>iti wua c.l'langc iour wl'loc future.
:.fuf:>t tl'lin'K - wit1 tl'lc graacf:> iou'vc juflt got, iou wua f:>tuai f:>omctl'ling briiant,
i'KC mcaic.inc. Do iOU want to jwparaif:>C iOUr c.l'lanGCf:> of aoing tl'lat? ~omcl'low I
aon't t1in'K f:>O.
(4) If iou rcai nave to c.l'loof:>c one option over tl'lc otl'lcr, univcrf:>iti l'lafl to
GOmC firflt - it'f:> a no-braincr, af:> far af:> I Gan f:>CC.tJUt Iao nave an atcrnatiVC-
f:>Uggcf:>tion.Wl'li aon't iOU appi for uni but af:>'K for a icar off before ta~M_g it up?--
lhat wai iOU c.an nave tl'lc bcf:>t of bot1 woraf:> - travc ana univcrf:>iti.Wl'lat ao -
iOU t1in'K?
1niWai, ~tCVC, I'lope mi f:>uggcf:>tionf:> ma'Kc f:>Wf:>C to iOU ana t1at t1ci 1cp wit1
iOUr aCGifliOn.
tJCf:>t of uG'K wit1 (1) iOUr aicmma ana aon't forget to write ana tc me t1c
outwmc.
Love, (!.)
L.aura
phrase bank
•
•
•
•
•
Opening and ending your letter/email
Dear john/Ma ria
Hi john/Maria
Love = (very informal)
Best wishes= (neutral)
Regards = (neutral/a little more formal)
First lines
C
ongratulations on ... !
lt was great to hear from you and get all your news.
I was really pleased to get your recent letter/email.
Giving advice
I think you need to bear in mind that .. .
Why don't you ... ? That way, you could ...
Have you thought about ... 7
just think .. . !
Do you really want to .. . 7 S
omehow I don't think so.
Final lines
I hope my suggestions help you to ...
Don't forget to write and tell me .. .
Best of luck with ...
Keep in touch.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Looking forwa rd to hearing from you.
Writing Guide mJ