Writing a letter for the ESL exam

How to structure a letter

Start with a salutation. For an informal greeting you can start with: Dear
(first name) (e.g. Dear John) or Hi or Hello followed by the first name. A formal
letter should start with Dear Sir/Madam, or Dear Mr/Mrs X.
Then have a short introduction. You should introduce why you are writing
the letter. In an informal letter you can have some pleasantries. This means
you can ask your friend how they are, refer to a personal event or story. (E.g.
How are you? I was just thinking about that hilarious film we saw at the
cinema last week!)
Then discuss bullet point 1. Give reasons and examples for what you say.
Then discuss bullet point 2. Give reasons and examples for what you say.
Then discuss bullet point 3. Give reasons and examples for what you say.
Have a final paragraph to end your letter. Here you can ask a question,
summarise what you have said or wish your friend well (e.g. Thanks, John, for
reading my letter! I hope we can meet up and go to the cinema again soon).
End with a sign-of. In an informal letter you can end with Thanks or Bye
and your name. In a more formal letter end with yours, best wishes. If you
did not greet the recipient by their name at the start you can use yours
faithfully. If you did greet the recipient by name you can use yours sincerely.

What language to use in an informal letter

In an informal letter you can should think about:
Asking questions (remember you are probably writing to a friend or
relative)
Write in the first person (I, we, us, ours, etc)
Refer to personal stories and anecdotes
Use some informal words (e.g. great). Make sure your grammar and
spelling is correct: ie. dont write things like I wanna be instead of I
want to be. Although the letter is informal, your language should still
be accurate.