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PAPER 2, Part 1
(You must write one of the following: an article, essay, letter, report, review or story)

Some Basic Parts of Formal and Informal Letters

Divide the following expressions into formal (F) and informal (I).

Allotted time: 2-5 minutes

Beginning
It was great to hear from you. __
I am writing with reference to your letter of 25 May. __
Thanks for writing to me. __

Congratulations
Well done! __
I would like to offer congratulations on your recent promotion. __
Please allow me to congratulate you on your recent success. __

Advice / suggestion
Why not try __
What about going __
It is recommended that you contact __
You could visit __
I urge you to consider the points I have made. __
If I were you Id __

Linkers
Moreover, __
Then again, __
Furthermore, __
Better still, __
Whats more, __
Additionally, __

Endings
Do drop me a line if you have time. __
I look forward to hearing from you without delay. __
Hope to hear from you soon. __
Keep in touch. __
I hope to hear from you at your earliest convenience. __
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Some Basic Parts of Formal and Informal Letters

ANSWER SHEET

Divide the following expressions into formal (F) and informal (I):

Beginning
It was great to hear from you. _I_
I am writing with reference to your letter of 25 May. _F_
Thanks for writing to me. _I_

Congratulations
Well done! _I_
I would like to offer congratulations on your recent promotion. _F_
Please allow me to congratulate you on your recent success. _F_

Advice / suggestion
Why not try _I_
What about going _I_
It is recommended that you contact _F_
You could visit _F_
I urge you to consider the points I have made. _F_
If I were you Id _I_

Linkers
Moreover, _F_
Then again, _I_
Furthermore, _F_
Better still, _I_
Whats more, _I_
Additionally, _F_

Endings
Do drop me a line if you have time. _F_
I look forward to hearing from you without delay. _F_
Hope to hear from you soon. _I_
Keep in touch. _I_
I hope to hear from you at your earliest convenience. _F_

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How to Write an Informal Letter

These are the various parts of an informal letter:
Informal letters are usually to
Dear/Hi (first name), your friends or family;
therefore, you should only use
their first name.
You should greet the
Beginnings person.

Perhaps ask them how

Asking they are doing?
You may have to respond to some sort of
Referring to their news event such as a birthday invitation or a
job promotion.

Giving news/information Perhaps something happened in your

life and you want to notify a friend or
family member. Maybe you are
Did you do something wrong? getting married or your dog died.
Apologies
You may have to say sorry to
someone.
Getting married or having a birthday
party? You may have to invite
someone to this special event.
Invitations

Perhaps you need help. You may need to borrow

Requests money or have someone take you to the airport in
the future.

Thank you/ Congratulations/ Good luck

Whether you have good or bad news, you
Making suggestions and recommend
should thank the person for reading your
letter or email.

Sometimes they will ask you for help or advice.

Endings You will have to come up with some
This is similar to thank
recommendations.
you.

Signing off

This will include your name or

signature at the end of the
letter.

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Samples of Phrases for Each Part

Dear (first name),

Beginnings
Thank you/Many thanks for your (recent/last) letter/postcard.
It was good/nice to hear from you recently.
Im sorry I havent written/been in touch for such a long time.
Its ages since Ive heard from you. I hope youre/you and your family are well.

Asking
Hi! / How are the things? / How are you? / Hows it going?

Referring to their news

Great news about Glad to hear that Sorry to hear about

Giving news
Listen, did I tell you about ? Youll never believe what
Oh, and another thing This is just to let you know that
I thought you might be interested to hear about/know that
By the way, have you heard about/did you know that

Apologies
Im writing to apologise for missing your party but Im afraid I was with flu.
Im really sorry that I forgot to send you a birthday card but I was busy with my new job.
If you let me know where you bought it/how much it cost Ill gladly pay for it/replace it.
Please let me know how much the bill is and Ill gladly pay it.

Invitations
Im/Were having a party on Friday 19th and I/we hope youll be able to come.
Would you like to come/go to see Room With a View with me at the weekend.
I was wondering if youd like to go to the theatre/come on holiday with us?
Could you let me/us know if you can come/youd like to join us?
Thank you very much for your invitation. Id love to come.
Thank you for asking/inviting me to but Im afraid I wont be able to

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Requests
Im writing to ask for your help/you (if you could do me) a favour.
I wonder if/I was wondering if you could help me/do me a favour.
I hope you dont mind me asking but could you (possibly) ?
Id be very/really/terribly grateful if you could

Thank you / Congratulations / Good Luck

Im writing to thank you for your hospitality/the wonderful present.
It was so kind of you to invite me to stay with you.
I really appreciated all your help/advice.
Congratulations on passing your exams/your excellent exam results!
I wish you good luck/Good luck in/with your exams/your driving test/your interview.
Dont worry, Im sure youll pass/do well.
Do be on time, wont you, and dont forget to

Making suggestions and recommend

Why dont you ? Maybe you could ? How about ?
You cant leave New York without doing sth
Im sure you will enjoy doing sth If you like, we can
Do visit somewhere Dont forget to do sth (Imperative -> Strong Recommendation)
Im told that People say that (If you heard sth is good)

Endings
Give my love/regards to Say hello to Hope to hear from you soon.
See you soon! Write soon. Once again, thank you for all your help.

Signing off
Love,
Lots of love,
All the best,
Best wishes,

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PAPER 2, Part 1
(You must write a replying letter or email, formally or informally)

Task type: Informal Letter

Determining Which Parts You Need

Most letters not all may have a beginning, asking, ending and signing off.

Which other parts you might need will depend on the topic and what the FCE ask
you to do. Take a look at an example:

This is a letter from a friend, so we

know that this will be an informal
letter.

You have received the following letter from your English-speaking friend.

Referring to
the news

.............Thanks for inviting me to stay with you

when I visit your country next month.

I'm not sure how to get to your apartment from Making

the airport. Could you write back giving me some suggestions
basic instructions? What would be the best and
method of transport for me? I'd prefer one that recommend
isn't too expensive!

Just one other thing - what will the weather be

like when I get there? (Just so I'll know what
clothes to pack!) ......... Making
suggestions
and
recommend

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You should create an outline to organize your idea like the one below:
Beginning:
Provide detail on
how to get to his
Referring to the news: excited/cant wait apartment.

Asking: family

Suggestion 1: train across from airport Blue line to District One Marketplace St.
red apartment;

Expensive taxi = CAN$100; Cheap train = 2

Support your idea.

Explain how it is cold
Support your or give examples.
topic or idea.

Suggestion 2: jacket/gloves/scarf/extra socks Cold = 0-15 degrees = freezing

temperature=> dangerous

Why?

Ending:

Signing off:

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Sample Informal Letter:

Beginning

Referring to the news

Hi Jenny,

I got your letter today and I am looking forward to seeing you soon in Canada. By the way, how
is your family doing? Are they excited for you?
Suggestion #1

Asking

About your question on how to get to my apartment, you should take the train that is across
from the airport. Just ride the Blue line to District One which will stop at Marketplace Street.
Across from the street is my apartment. It is purple and easy to see. Ill be outside the train
station to make sure you dont get lost. I think this is the best way to go because its much
cheaper than a taxi. If you go by taxi, it will cost over 100 dollars, but a train ticket is just 2
dollars.
Suggestion #2

Also, you must bring warm clothes to Canada. Bring a jacket, gloves, scarf, and extra socks.
The temperature in Canada can reach between 0 and 15 degrees Celsius. This can be
dangerous.

Once again, I cant wait to see you!

Ending

Love,

Signing off
Trang

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Exercise 1: Write your letter in 120-150 words. You must use grammatically
correct sentences with accurate spelling and punctuation in a style appropriate
for the situation.

Allotted time: 30 minutes

Your Informal Letter:

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You have received the following letter from your English penfriend.

I'm really pleased you're planning A penfriend

to come to England to study. Let me is someone
know what type of course you're you often
interested in and I'll ring some write to.
colleges for details. The more
information you can give me the
better!

Maybe you can ask her Talk about which

about accommodation course you would like
or transportation? to take in England and
explain why. Perhaps
you could ask her to
find other information
for you.

Exercise 2: Write your letter in 120-150 words. You must use grammatically
correct sentences with accurate spelling and punctuation in a style appropriate
for the situation.

Allotted time: 30 minutes

Make an outline before you write.

Your Outline:

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Your Informal Letter:

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Sample Informal Letter:

Dear July,

Hi! Thanks for your letter, and sorry for not replying sooner. You see, I've been planning
this for a long time and I came to a conclusion: I want to take up singing classes in
London! What's cool is that I don't want to join a common class, but a group of people
that expresses itself through the music and lets its spirit free while singing.

I'm really excited about this, and I'd love to have your opinion about it. It'd be fantastic if
you could search for the appropriate singing classes in the city for me. Just check the
prices well and give me the schedule of each place.

I guess the best place to stay is in a house with a host family, but if you've got a better
idea, let me know. I think I'll stay for two months. The problem is that I'm not sure if I
can afford everything. That's one of the things about London that gets on my nerves:
everything is so expensive!

Ok, I've got to go now, so see you soon!

Love,

August

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You have received the following letter from your English-speaking friend.

...We're doing a project this month

at school on eating habits and
customs around the world. Will
you be able to help me by telling me
what the traditional meals are in
your country, what people typically
eat and at what time of day?

Thanks very much!

Love Alison

Exercise 3: Write a letter in 120-150 words to your friend giving her the
information she needs. You must use grammatically correct sentences with
accurate spelling and punctuation in a style appropriate for the situation.

Allotted time: 30 minutes

Your Outline:

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Your Informal Letter:

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Sample Informal Letter:

Name: Magda Partyka

School: The Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

Dear Alison,

I was very happy to hear from you. I will be glad to help you with your project, and I hope that I
can give you some details you could use.

Mostly the Polish people have breakfast before 7 am. They have some slices of bread and
butter, cheese, tomato, or cucumber and ham. They drink coffee with milk or tea.

We usually don't eat until we return home after work which is about 4 pm. Then we eat the main
meal of the day which usually consists of soup for the first course and a piece of meat, some
potatoes and a salad for the second. Sometimes we have some sweets for dessert.

Between 7 and 8 pm most Polish families have their supper which looks like breakfast but with
more food.

Good luck with your project!

Love,

Magda

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You have received the following email from your English penfriend.

>It's a really brave step to take a

year out of >college to come and
spend 6 months in the >UK! What
are you planning to do with your
>time? Find a job? Learn some new
skills? >Write back and give me
more details of your >plans so I
can do my best to help you have a
>good time...

Exercise 4: Write an email in 120-150 words to your friend replying to her

questions. You must use grammatically correct sentences with accurate spelling
and punctuation in a style appropriate for the situation.

Allotted time: 30 minutes

Your Outline:

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Your Informal Email:

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