Writing Emails in English

Electronic mail, most commonly abbreviated email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages.
An electronic mail message consists of two components, the message header, and the message body, which is the email's content. The message header contains control information, including, minimally, an originator's email adrress and one or more recipient addresses. Usually additional information is added, such as a subject header field.
Emails are a fast way to communicate for business and pleasure. In this post you'll find useful hints and tips to write better emails in English.

Parts of Email
Here are the fields of the Email defined with example texts

Example Subjects

The Subject is more important than the email itself, it should be focused, clear and informative.

Strong Subjects: Invitation to the ABC Conference, Nov 2009 Application for Account Manager Position #413 – Jane Smith CV Agenda for the meeting on Monday, 10am Party Invitation for John, Sally and Martin Updates on the building plans Meeting scheduled for Oct 15, Thursday @ 10am Great craft ideas using recyclable materials

Weak Subjects: [blank] Hi, Hello, How are you? First line of the email message Words to avoid: Help, Percent Off, Reminder, Free

Example Greetings:

• Dear [name],
• Hi [name],
• Hi,
• Hello [name],
• Hello,
• To whom it may concern,

Example Opening Sentences

• Following our phone conversation, I am sending you…
• Attached please find the documents you requested regarding…
• In regards to the upcoming pilot program, I have listed below the tasks and deadlines that need to be completed.
• Further to our last discussion, I would like to bring to your attention the following issues:
• As we agreed, there will not be …
• Please reconsider our proposal for …
• In response to your job post for Marketing Director, please find below a brief overview of my skills. I have also attached my CV for your review.

Example Email Information in Detail: details, information and actions required.

• Here is the detailed list:
• In addition to the attached agenda, please click on this link http://www...
• To register for the online event, please go to...

Example Closing Sentences

• I look forward to your reply.
• Thank you for the time you have taken to review my candidacy for the position.
• Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have.
• Thank you, in advance, for your time.
• I await receipt of the information we discussed.
• Please forward me the exact information.

Example Sign-offs before the Signature: identify yourself, company and contact information.

• Sincerely,
• Thank you,
• Best Regards,
• Thanks,

Signature

Name
Title, company name
Email
Phone/Fax
Web Address

Click here for more example emails.

• Job Interview Thank you
• Job Cover Letter
• Request For Update on a Pilot

Email Features

There are many features that are included in emails; here I will highlight just a few important ones.

Spelling: Always proofread before sending: spelling, punctuation and grammar. [F7]

Insert: Since emails are filtered here are a few tips regarding attachments and links:

• Keep file sizes small.
• ZIP or PDF attachments (exe, jpg, xls, doc are sometimes considered spam).
• When replying, do not resend attachments again.
• Use links whenever possible to files that are stored online or in shared folders.

Options: If the email is very important, under options request a read receipt, this way you can ensure the email has arrived at its destination.

Reply to All: Stop and think before hitting reply to all sometimes you may just need to hit reply.

The information in this post has been taken from Wikipedia and Learn English on line

Letter Writing Exercises

Letter writing is one of the tasks you may be asked to do for your Certification Terminal Test in June. So, the more you practise, the better.
To start with,you can have a look at several model letters and then do these exercises.

All About Huw

Huw is one of the main characters in "Two Lives", by Helen Naylor.
I don't know for sure what he looked like but I guess he probably looked like the young man in the picture on the right.
Click here and see what other readers have written about Huw's personality and background, his past and his future.
He was born in a Welsh mining village and lived there all his childhood but when he was in his teens he had to leave Britain and travel to Toronto, Canada, in search of a better life. When he was in Toronto he wrote some letters to his beloved Megan, the girl he had to leave in Wales, so far away. In the book, we can read the beginning of one of them:

My lovely Megan
I still haven’t received a letter from you. I can’t believe it takes four months for letters to cross the Atlantic. What’s happened? Is something wrong? …



Some 2nd year Basic Level students have used their imagination to find the missing words. I'm sure Huw's letters can't have been very different from these :


I've found a very nice house near the sea. It's very nice to live in Toronto and to know that you're fine at the same time! The only bad thing I have to tell you is that I haven't found a job yet. But don't worry, I've met a very important businessman who has promissed me to help me with that task.
The only thing I want to know is if you are all right. I only need that to live. I promiss I'll go to Britain as soon as I have some money to spend on the journey, but now you have to be patient. Please, Megan, wait for me!
Looking forward to your answer,
yours truly,
Huw

(By Adrián Rodríguez Ares)



My lovely Megan
I still haven’t received a letter from you. I can’t believe it takes four months for letters to cross the Atlantic. What’s happened? Is something wrong?…
I really need to see you again but I've started to think you have forgotten me. I hope you haven't because I´d be very sad.
What happened with the things that you and I talked about? I don´t know what to think…I´m confused.
I´m in this big city working to be able to return to you and then you and I will be able to get married. My father has given up drinking and I´m happy for him. He has met a woman and he´s very happy.
I don't know what else I can say except that I hope you write back.
I´ll always love you.
My best wishes,
Huw

(By Vanessa Peña)



This is very different from Tredoland but I think that you’d like it. Sometimes I go walking along the street and I imagine that you are here and I’ll find you after turning the corner or when I get into a shop. However, I soon realize that it won’t happen and that makes me feel sad. How I wish you were here! I remember every single day we spent together in Tredoland. They were the happiest days of my life. I wonder if I made the right decision.
Please, write to me,
Huw

(By Franciso González)


My lovely Megan
I still haven’t received a letter from you. I can’t believe it takes four months for letters to cross the Atlantic. What’s happened? Is something wrong?…Maybe your family?
I miss you every day. I always dream you are here with me.
This city is wonderful, you'll love it. I sold some pictures and my father is better. He met a woman whom he likes. This can be good for him. As I've earned some money here and I've saved some, you will be able to come with me, if you haven’t changed your mind about our plans for the future. Please, answer me soon because this is diving me crazy. I’m not sure if you keep loving me or you have forgotten me.

With all my best wishes,

Huw

(By María García Saceda)


I don't understand ... why don't you write to me? Every day I look at your face on the wall of my studio and I feel alone, I'm waiting fot your letter.
I love you so much !

(By Arantxa García Barrenechea)


Sometimes I wonder if you still love me like you did before.
I don't understand why you haven't replied yet.
Do you have any problems with you father?
Please, I need to know if you want to marry me.
Now I'm working hard and I think in three months I'll have the money for your ticket, but I must know if you want to leave Tredonald.
I'm anxiously awaiting news from you.
Love,
Huw

(By Aurelio Braz Viana)

All About Megan

Megan is the main female character in the book "Two Lives", by Helen Naylor.

She was a sixteen-year-old girl, a pretty teenager who fell in love for the first time with her childhood friend , Huw. However, perhaps their love wasn't meant to be, because all sorts of difficulties seemed to stand in their way.

Are you the sort of person who thinks love can conquer all ? Do you think their young love could be strong enough to survive time and distance?

I encourage you to read "Two Lives" and find the answers to these questions and much more.

If you feel like reading what other students have written about this strong woman called Megan, her life in Tredonald, a little mining village, and her yearning for her long lost love Huw, click here and read, but you'd better finish the book first, as you may find spoilers.

Megan sent a letter to a man she loved very much, although not enough to make her forget the love of her youth.

The book just shows us the beginning of her letters, but some 2nd year Basic Level studets have guessed what's missing and written these imaginative and moving words:

Dear Paul,

You’ll know I left Tredonald to live my second chance with Huw.

Don’t feel bad because you made me really happy and thanks to you I could feel love again.

Yes, I love you but when I saw Huw again I felt all the past emotions coming back. I tried to struggle against them but finally I had to give in.

I hope you understand me.

When I found that box with the letters I had a hunch: Someone in the sky wanted to give us a new opportunity.

He had been loving me all these years, while I couldn’t forget him, either.

Here, in Canada, everything is different. Paul, be happy! I’m sure you’ll find someone special to share your life with.

Megan

(By María García Salceda)

Dear Paul,

I have to tell you something very important for us. It will be better for both of us to split up. You know that our relationship was always very formal, and we didn't actually want to marry each other. I think I was only trying to satisfy my desire to be happy all these years I lived alone.
But now that my lost love, Huw, has arrived, I think we have to say goodbye. I've found my past, and that's all I want now. I'm sorry, very sorry for this.
Yours forever, goodbye,
Megan

(By Adrián Rodríguez Ares)

Dear Paul,

I’m going to be honest: I finally have decided to marry Huw. You are one of the most wonderful men I’ve ever meet and I’m sure that you would be a great husband for me. In fact, we'd probably marry if all the things that have happened in the last moths hadn’t happened. But now that Huw is again in my life, I must listen to my heart. Life has given us a second chance and I can’t let him go away.

I only can say one thing: I’m sorry.

All the best,

Megan

(By Laura Alonso)

My dear Paul,

I'm writing this letter because I can't marry you
I have realised that I still love Huw. We have met again after fifty years and my feelings towards him are the same as when I was sixteen.
You are a good man and I am sure you will find another good woman.

I wish you good luck in your life.

My best wishes,

Megan

(By Emi Nielfa)

Dear Paul,

I'm sorry but I can't marry you because I love Huw and he loves me.
You have always been very good to me and I'm very sorry about this but you know that my heart always belonged to the father of my dear daughter, Beth.

I hope you'll be very happy and you will be able to forgive me.
Love,
Megan

(By Bego)

Dear Paul,

You already felt it at dinner, didn’t you?

You knew everything about my past with Huw because I had told you but you didn’t know, and I have understood today, that I still love him.

Happiness consists of allowing all the events to happen. Do you remember? You said it to me when we met and I’ve been very happy with you. I found in you a partner, an ideal friend to share the rest of my life with, but now this life offers me a second opportunity with my first and maybe my only love, with Huw.

I’m sorry, I’m hurting you but if we marry our life together would be a lie and you wouldn’t like it.

You deserve all my respect and I suppose that you prefer the truth though it is very painful. Time has come to say goodbye. I know you’ll be happy.

With love,

Megan

(By Marisol G.)

Dear Paul,

Sorry for leaving you but when I saw Huw I remembered many things and I fell in love with him again. I hope that you can forgive me.

All these years we have enjoyed ourselves a lot together and I have been in love with you but now I have become crazy about Huw.

I’ll never forget you.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Megan.

(By Andrés)

My dear Paul,

I am going to marry Huw because I love him, maybe not in the same way as I did when I was sixteen but now I know that he is the only one for me.

Although the years we have lost will never get back we still have time, we have a second chance.

You’ve made me feel good again but I don’t feel complete with you.

You’ll always be my best friend.

I’m sorry.

My best wishes.

Megan.

(By Florentina A.)

How to write an essay

Writing Tips

View more presentations from anarosaleda.

Book Review

When you finish reading 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' , our compulsory reading, you should write a review and send it to me for correction.
You can read the book on-line if you like, you just have to click here.
You will find more interesting reading material at English Story Reading Room. All the books there are available for free.

When you are ready to start writing your review ( 150-200 words), remember that it should be organized somewhat like this:

Introduction, which gives facts and background information concerning the book and its author.

Main body, usually made up of three parts. The first giving a concise outline of the plot, the second mentioning the main characters and their role in the story and thirdly any relevant themes the book touches upon while it unravels.

Conclusion, which should include any general comments and opinion as well as a positive or negative recommendation supported by reasons.

The style of the presentation very much depends on your audience, therefore it can either be formal or semi-formal. Present tenses are normally used as well as a variety of adjectives to make the speech more interesting.

Useful language: Recommendations

· It’s well worth reading

· It will change the way you think of….

· I wouldn’t recommend it because….

· It’s bound to be on the best sellers list

· I highly/strongly recommend it

· It’s a highly entertaining read

· It’s a bore to read

· It’s certainly at the top of my list of favourites

· Fans of this author will no doubt be thrilled with this latest edition

· It’s a must!

· Don’t bother with this one

· I definitely recommend that you add this to your collection!

Choose the vocabulary according to your level using adjectives and expressions like the ones below:

INTERMEDIATE: dull, entertaining, hilarious, moving, predictable, remarkable, shocking, surprising, tragic, unpredictable, violent, a cliffhanger, blackly funny, breathtaking, deeply moving, dull, heart warming...

Your can read the whole post giving advice about book reviews at our Library Blog, About Reading. Thanks to Mª José and Alison for their excellent tips.

If you feel like giving voice to your writings or to the texts you are reading, you can use this tool. It does not sound very natural, but it is not bad either. You can give it a try and see if you like it.

Written communication in a foreign language is no simple task and it requires a lot of practise. However, there is nothing we cannot achieve if we try real hard.
Good news! You can even enjoy yourself while you learn, cause sharing stories has been and always will be a source of pleasure and fun.
This is what my 2nd year intermediate level students at Avilés EOI have written for their short story writing assignment. I had a very good time reading them and I can say it takes a great deal of creativity and imagination to produce such nice pieces of writing.
I encourage you to read them and send some commets to the writers. People who try to do their best to put words together and express what their imagination has produced always appreciate comments from the readers.

Never Twice ( by Juan José González Muñiz)

The sun was nearly set. Judging by the piles of ruins which could be seen, in former times, there surely existed huge buildings in that place, buildings which were the pride of the people who lived there. Nowadays, only the ruins remained; the bushes and the trees grew among them and were slowly hiding their old splendour.
Park, a boy about fifteen years old, walked with difficulty along the old streets full of stones, bricks, wood, plastic, rubble…
He was coming back home after spending a day searching for food. He lived with a small group of people. They were survivors of the disaster that had destroyed humanity. The governments of big and small countries alike had paid attention to the development of atomic weapons.
Powerful countries did so to defend themselves against other powerful ones. The small countries did the same to defend themselves against the small ones. All the countries, big or small, followed the same policy, which they called “Secure Mutual Destruction”. They thought that it was the best policy to ensure security and peace in the world.
Everything started with a minor problem of borders between two small countries, which didn’t hesitate to use small tactic missiles with a small nuclear head. The situation got worse with the intervention of their protectors. The flaws in their self defence and communication systems lead to a massive use of nuclear weapons in order to ensure each country’s security. So, thousands of missiles flew in all directions destroying major towns and storage silos.
Human and animal life was destroyed. Only a few groups survived isolated, without contact.
Park came into the shelter, he left the roots that he had picked up and went to meet Anuk. Anuk was in his eighties and lived apart in a small hut. Park had always liked him. He usually spent a long time sitting in a corner listening to old stories about life before the disaster and Anuk would explain how things worked. The rest of the group thought he was to blame for the disaster because he had been working in a nuclear investigation centre.
That day, Park couldn’t find him. He went back to the shelter and asked where he was. He froze at the answer. Anuk had been executed because they found out he had built a wheel to carry wood to his hut.
The group had decided on his execution because they thought that could be the start of a new scientific development, and they couldn’t allow it because it might lead to another disaster. So, they didn’t hesitate and killed him.

Three o'clock

It was three o’clock in the morning when the phone rang.

She got out of bed and run to the kitchen, where the phone was. The feeling of her bare feet on the cold floor kept her awake as she made her way to the kitchen.

She picked it up and answered, but nobody said a thing. She hung up the phone very annoyed, went back to bed and tried to catch the dream she was having. No chance. It was the best dream she’d ever had and some stupid phone call suddenly ended it. She couldn’t even remember what the dream was about!

As soon as she closed her eyes, the phone started ringing again. Two past three in the morning now. She hadn’t got to the kitchen when the phone stopped ringing.

She went back to bed, locked her bedroom door and closed her eyes. The phone rang again, but this time she decided to let it ring until it eventually stopped.

All of a sudden, when she was happily sleeping, she woke up.

It was one minute to three in the morning. Would the phone start ringing?

The Nightmare

Everyting started with a big explosion, the shock wave travelled along the shuttle and all the alarms went off; it was the signal that something was wrong...really wrong and, possibly, that was only the beginning.

John, the co-pilot of “Universe” aircraft jumped out of bed, quickly got dressed and ran to the cockpit.

When he arrived there he found that the noise was not a false alarm, that it was a real disaster. A lot of buttons on the instrument panel were flashing, the master alarm was beeping every single second, one screen showed data from the central pc informing of malfunction in both engines and Muller, the pilot, was on the ground unconscious.

John was terrified; the shuttle was out of control and had started to fall down. Quickly, he took the controls and struggled to lift the shuttle, but it was impossible, the aircraft was hopeless and the probability to survive the impact was null.

He connected the loudspeaker and informed all the crew they had to abandon the shuttle on the escape capsules.

Unfortunately, it was too late and only a couple of seconds later the shuttle exploded and that was the end...

- “John, wake up please, we have a problem”- When John opened his eyes he understood that the accident had been a nightmare – “what's happened?”
- “John, we need you, we have a little problem. We've detected a malfunction in the engines, the cockpit's door is closed and Muller doesn’t answer us”
- In that moment, John´s face suddenly changed, and he only gave and a simple order:
- “Run to the escape capsules!!!”

It was three o'clok in the morning when....

It was three o’clock in the morning when the phone rang. I was sleeping and it was freezing outside.
«Who is calling me at this hour?», I wondered.
I got out of bed and ran quickly to pick up the phone. In that moment, the phone stopped ringing. As soon as I checked it, I realised that it was a private call.
I went back to bed and I fell asleep but, suddenly, the phone rang again.
«This cannot be happening to me», I shouted loudly while the phone bell stopped ringing.
Five calls later, I decided to disconnect the phone so that I could finally rest.
The next morning I came across my friend Peter, who was laughing at me, so I asked him why he was so amused. He said that he’d just read a fantastic joke but I didn’t believe him. Then he told me that the night before he’d been calling to a random phone number just to play a prank.
«You are silly», I said, «You were calling me, cabbagehead».

IT WAS THREE O´CLOCK IN THE MORNING WHEN THE PHONE RANG...

It was three o´clock in the morning when the phone rang,

“Jeff?, This is Mrs Sweet, your neighbour. Sorry for calling so late, but I have heard a noise and it seemed that someone was trying to get into your garage…”.

I started to think that it could be a burglar. That night I had been watching the news, and they talked about a dangerous mugger who had just escaped from the city prison.

I felt terrified, and immediately, I went downstairs to the study where I kept my baseball bat.

After that, I headed for the garage straight away to face the burglar. When I arrived at the garage I could see an enormous shadow opposite me and it scared me.

Finally, I decided to move closer and I could see my terrifying murderer…It was Mrs. Sweet´s cat, Puppy, which had come into my garage for the umpteenth time.

Tomorrow night I’ll probably cut my phone line.

It was three o'clock in the morning when the phone rang

It was three o’clock in the morning when the phone rang. It was my brother-in-law telling me that my first nephew had just been born. What marvellous news! He also told me that my sister and the baby were all right. I still remember that night, I was so nervous… I could hardly hold back my tears.
At about nine o’clock in the morning I went to the hospital, I wanted to meet Andrés, which was going to be his name. He was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen.

Now he is twenty and, of course, he is still my favourite nephew. We get on really well.
From my point of view, having your first nephew, especially if you haven’t had children yet, is a wonderful experience. You can play with him, buy him a lot of presents and let him do nearly everything. Fortunately, you don’t have to bring him up yourself.

The difficult part starts when you have your own children, then you are their mother, not their aunty, and you mustn’t allow them to do whatever they want. It’s time to help them grow up into sensible men or women.

Maybe, when I become a grandmother, I’ll be able to spoil children again. It will be fun.

Mini Sagas

A mini saga is a story which must be told in exactly 50 words. The original idea came from science fiction writer Brian Aldiss and the British newspaper 'The Daily Telegraph' has run several mini-saga competitions so far.
My 2nd year intermediate level studens at Aviles EOI have written their own mini sagas and would like to share them with you. Read and enjoy.

A Holiday Romance

“Each 28^th of August I’ll be on this beach waiting for you. This isn’t a holiday romance. It’s everlasting love ”.

August 28^th 2009.

A man was scattering his wife’s ashes into the sea while another one was walking along the seashore and waiting for someone, like every summer since 1980.

By Susana Fonseca

The Lie

-"I'm Frank Tierney. What's your name, lovely?".
Three hours later they were having their last drink in a club, after a delicious dinner in the most romantic restaurant ever. Suddenly, when they were just about to jump into a cab, his phone rang:
-" Marc, darling, are you gonna be long?".

By María Fernández

Never Again

“Things don’t usually happen twice”.

Robert’s so worried about this fact that he always carries a camera. His wife says he’s obsessed.

Last September they suddenly came across Brad Pitt in Avilés. Robert took a photograph of his wife with the actor. Now, she always says: “Remember to bring the camera”.

By Nacho Pulido

"I'm gonna give up smoking"
Can anyone fulfil this resolution? I think it’s nearly impossible, at least for me.

Although I gave up smoking twenty years ago, I’m not sure if I will pick it up again. Most of us make the same mistakes once and again, even though we know how dangerous they are.

By Susana Fonseca

She got the long-awaited e-mail, it said that they had found a man who fit the description of her ideal man she had given them.

She´d spent too many years lonely, so she´d decided to go to that dating agency.

There was just a problem, the man was her ex-husband.

By Patricia Pérez Ordóñez