Letter Writing

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 5,6

Letter Writing

Tips & Tricks

Why should we
write letters?

Test Letters

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

What do you need to write a letter?

Your own address:

(Name optional)

Street Name + Number

Postal Code + City

Country

EXAMPLE

(Joost Austen)

Parallelweg 56

6231 CJ Meerssen

the Netherlands

Layout

Date

Day/Month/Year

EXAMPLE: 7 September, 2020

7 September 2020

Recipient's Address

Recipient's name

(Organisation)

Number + Street Name

Postal Code + City

Country

EXAMPLE

Harry Potter

4 Privet Drive

WC2N 5DU London

United Kingdom

Layout

Write down your own address for the purpose of a formal letter.

You write a letter to James Bond, who works for MI6. Write his information down. Make up the address.

Salutations & Closings: Option A

Condition: No specific name is known

Salutation: Dear Sir/Madam,

Closing: Yours faithfully,

Signature

First & Last Name

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

Create a salutation and closing for the letter to James Bond.

DOs

1. Write proper English, so I can read it.
2. Use signal words, wherever necessary
3. Use paragraphs ( as signified by indentation/blank line)
4. Use a difficult grammar item every now and then (Passive, relative clauses)
5. At the end, check your work.
   

Don'ts

1. Forget about the lay-out
2.  Use abbreviations (don't = do not)
3.  Use the first translation you find in a dictionary without checking.
4. Forget content elements 
5. No swearing 
6. Dumb language (gonna, u, 2, etc.) 

Frequent mistakes

Capital Letters:

i is wrong, it is always “I” 

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

Frequent mistakes

HAVO = Higher General Secondary Education

VWO = Pre-University Education

Frequent mistakes

Word Order

Wrong: Bepaling - ww - O 

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

Right: Bepaling – O – ww

In my opinion it is great to live in New York

Frequent mistakes

Confusing Couples

There – they’re – their

Your – you’re 

It’s – its 

Two – to - too 

I don't know where ... going

1. there
2. their
3. they're

I don't get it. ... going to have to explain it to me.

1. your
2. you're

I am sure it is autumn because the tree lost all ... leaves.

1. its
2. it's

I love you ...

1. to
2. two
3. too
4. 2