G3a Formal Letter Writing

Formal Letter Writing
Year 3
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Slide 1: Slide
EngelsMiddelbare schoolmavo, havo, vwoLeerjaar 3,4

This lesson contains 31 slides, with interactive quizzes and text slides.

time-iconLesson duration is: 30 min

Items in this lesson

Formal Letter Writing
Year 3

Slide 1 - Slide

Test Letters
  • Applying for a job/position
  • Filing a complaint 
  • Asking for information 
  • Sharing your opinion 
  • A combination 

Slide 2 - Slide

Goals
  • Getting familiar The lay out of a formal letter 

Slide 3 - Slide

Slide 4 - Slide

Lay out                                     
Everything starts on the left-hand side! Leave 1 line open after each bit

1
adres afzender:
Straat + huisnr. (niet je naam)
Postcode + plaats
Land






1
Aart van der Leeuwkade 14
2272 KX Voorburg 
The Netherlands

Slide 5 - Slide

Write down your own address as if you're starting a formal letter.

Slide 6 - Open question

2
Name (organisation and/or person) 
Number + street 
Town + post code 
Country 

When you write to an organisation company, you write the name of the organisation first and then give the name of the contact person at that organisation.
2
John Bugs
4327 Hazel Road
London W11 4UT
Great Britain

The Rabbit Charity
John Bugs
4327 Hazel Road
London W11 4UT
Great Britain



Slide 7 - Slide

3

The date
3

12 March, 2021

Slide 8 - Slide

Write down today's date in the right way

Slide 9 - Open question

4 Salutation / Greeting
When you don't know name or gender: Dear Sir/Madam,
When you only know it's a man: Dear Sir,
When you only know it's a woman: Dear Madam,
When you know the name: 
Dear Ms Foster, (woman, relationship status unknown)
Dear Mrs Watson, (married woman)
Dear Mr Adams,

Slide 10 - Slide

What is the correct salutation if you DO NOT know who will read your letter?

Slide 11 - Open question

What is the correct salutation if you write to our team leader, Mr Schippers?

Slide 12 - Open question

5 Content
  1. Paragraph 1 is the introduction (you explain who you are and why you are writing).
  2. The center part can be multiple paragraphs (1 to 3) (in this you ask for information or explain in more detail the goal of your letter).
  3. Conclusion: summarize and conclude with what you want to achieve. (What do you want the reader to do?)

Slide 13 - Slide

Let's play a quiz to see what you think works best.

Slide 14 - Slide

How do we start paragraph 1?
A
Hello!
B
I'm ...
C
My name is ...

Slide 15 - Quiz

How do you say 'ik zit op het Vechtdal college'
A
I sit on Vechtdal college
B
I am on Vechtdal college
C
I am at Vechtdal college
D
I go to Vechtdal college

Slide 16 - Quiz

Which one is correct?
A
I am a fourteen-year-old boy/girl
B
I am a boy/girl and I am fourteen
C
I am a fourteen years old boy/girl
D
I am 14 and a boy/girl

Slide 17 - Quiz

Which one is correct
A
The reason I write you is...
B
The reason I am writing you is...
C
The reason i am writing you is
D
The reason i write you is...

Slide 18 - Quiz

Paragraph 1 - let's recap
Paragraph 1:
My name is …. , I am a fifteen-year-old boy/girl and I live in … in The Netherlands. I go to Vechtdal college and I am in the third year. The reason I am writing you is….

Slide 19 - Slide

Paragraphs
Every paragraph should be at least 3 lines long (when written by hand) and are divided by 1 open line

Slide 20 - Slide

5.1 Closing statement
You ALWAYS use this phrase and it stands on its own.  You leave 1 line open above and below

I hope to hear from you soon.

Slide 21 - Slide

6 Closing
Yours faithfully, / Yours sincerely,
(signature)
first and last name 


Slide 22 - Slide

Mind the following
In a formal letter all words MUST be written in full
So do not use:  isn’t, it’s of won’t, but:
is not, it is en will not. Gonna and wanna  are a definite NO GO!


For names of magazines or newspapers, use quotation marks. The ‘Telegraaf’.

Slide 23 - Slide

Salutations & Closings: Option A
Condition: No specific name is known

Salutation: Dear Sir/Madam,

Closing: Yours faithfully,
Signature
First & Last Name

Slide 24 - Slide

Salutations & Closings: Option B
Condition: Name recipient is known

Salutation: Dear Mr Brown, / Dear Ms Brown, / Dear Mrs Brown,

Closing: Yours sincerely,
Signature
First and last name

Slide 25 - Slide

Dear Sir/Madam,
Your address
recipient's address

The date
Introduce yourself + reason of writing
Explanation of the situation
Conclusion
Closing sentence
Your name
signature
1
   2
  3
  4
   5
   6
   7
  8
   9
   10

Slide 26 - Drag question

DOs
  1. Make it neat.
  2. Use signal words and the appropriate tenses, wherever necessary
  3. Use paragraphs ( and use blank lines to clearly separate them)
  4. Use a difficult grammar item every now and then (passive, relative clauses)
  5. At the end, check your work!

Slide 27 - Slide

Don'ts
  1.  DON'T forget about the lay-out
  2.  DON'T use abbreviations / contractions (like I'll, didn't)
  3.  DON'T use the first translation you find in a dictionary without checking. 
  4. DON'T forget content elements 
  5. DON'T use swear words or street language 
  6. DON'T use  slang (gonna, kinda, u, ur, w8, like ... you know, etc.) 

Slide 28 - Slide

Frequent mistakes
Capital Letters:

When you talk about "ik", "i" is wrong, it is always “I” 

Days of the week, months : Monday, Tuesday, August, October

Slide 29 - Slide

Frequent mistakes
Word Order

Wrong:  
In my opinion is it great to live in New York.

Right: 
In my opinion it is great to live in New York

Slide 30 - Slide

Reflection
  • address ?
  • salutation ?
  • start of the letter?
  •  paragraphs ?
  • ending ?

Slide 31 - Slide