Writing 2 informal devel

• Engels
• MBO
• Studiejaar 3

Welcome!

Today's session

Subject: informal writing. 

- Repeat: linking words (conjugations)

- Filling in forms

- informal writing: register

- past simple

Goals:

43. I can fill in a questionnaire giving an account of my educational background, my job, my interests and my specific skills.

41. I can describe an event in simple sentences and report what happened when and where (for example a party or an accident)

42. I can write about aspects of my everyday life in simple phrases and sentences (people, places, job, school, family, hobbies).

Repetition 

Conjunctions, what are they again and why use them?

Repetition: conjunctions (linking words)

To make your writing more  natural, use these five words which connect ideas. 

And: uitbreiding, "en"

     - We went to the beach and loved it cause it was so sunny!

But: tegenstelling "maar".

      - We went to the beach, but the water was too cold for swimming

Although tegenstelling "hoewel".

      - Although it was raining, we went to the beach anyway

Because: reden "omdat"

     - We went to the beach because it was a sunny day

So: gevold "dus"

     - It was a sunny day so we went to the beach.

Make 1 sentences each using the conjunctions from the previous page

filling in a form

Filling in a form

Important words, click here 

Filling in a form

Assignment click here

Comparing letters

Click here for the exercise

Informal writing - register

Last week we looked at formal writing. We talked about greetings and salutations. Remember "Dear" and "Kind regards"?

Some things used in formal writing can also be used in informal writing, such as paragraphs ( alinea's), punctuation and spelling. However, some things are different. To see whats different, we have a look at register today.

1. Idioms

Idioms. Idioms are combination of words that don't have a literal meaning. Some examples:

"we had a blast" = we had a great time

"it cost me an arm and a leg" = it cost a lot of money

"that was a piece of cake" = that was very easy

Have a look on the internet for some other common idioms. Find three that you like and write them down here + what they mean. You will try to use these idioms later in an informal email that you will write later this lesson.

2. Expressions

Expressions are groups of words that are used to express an idea. These are mostly literal. There is often a formal and informal way of using these. We looked at some two weeks ago for formal writing. Here are some of those with their informal equivalent:

I regret to inform you <-> I hate to have to tell you this but...

I am writing to you regarding <-> Just a quick email to let you know...

If I can be of any further assistance <-> Let me know if you need any help

Also:

I hope you are well <-> how's it going?

Try to think of informal versions of the following formal expressions:
1. I would like to remind you that...
2. We were hoping you could...
3. I'd like to express my apologies for...
4 I regret to inform you that I won't be able to make it.

3. Leave things out

There are different ways to leave things out of sentences/make them shorter:

1. Dropping the word I: "can't believe what just happened" "don't know"

2. Using contractions: you're/you are - couldn't/could not - isn't/is not

3. Abbreviations: 

    - tv vs television

    - see you in the AM <-> see you in the morning

    -  I can do mon/tue/fr <-> I can meet on monday tuesday or friday

4. Emotion

In informal writing you can be more friendly. You can do this by:

1. Expressing emotion, for example "I love that" rather than "I think that's a good idea"

2. Use exclamation marks!!

4. Use interjections such as "ahhww" " no way!"  "oops" and "yikes" "like"

3. Use emojis ;)

Writing 

Click THIS link. Do the assignment. Write the email in your language portfolio. 

Rounding off

Goals:

43. I can fill in a questionnaire giving an account of my educational background, my job, my interests and my specific skills.

41. I can describe an event in simple sentences and report what happened when and where (for example a party or an accident)

42. I can write about aspects of my everyday life in simple phrases and sentences (people, places, job, school, family, hobbies).

Do you feel like you've achieved the goal for today? Are there any things that you feel like you can still learn when it comes to (informal) writing?