4to English Language - 2020

Writing: Informal Email

Useful Phrases and Informal Language.

Dear ..
Hi/Hello ...

Beginning
Great/Lovely to hear from you (after so long)
Thanks (a lot) for the letter / It was great to get your letter
Sorry to hear about your
Sorry for not writing for so long/I haven’t written/I haven’t been in touch for so long

Persuading
You’d get so much out of it
It’d be a wonderful/marvellous opportunity for you to..
Just think of (all the people you’d meet)
Just imagine how it would (improve your cv), not to mention (the money you could earn)

Advising
Whatever you do, make sure you..
It’s (not) worth/There’s no/little point + gerund
I’d/I wouldn’t…if I were you.
You’d be much better off + gerund

Ending
I must go now
Phone me as soon as possible.
Write back soon and let me know how it goes
(I’m) Looking forward to hearing from you
Please reply quickly
I’ll finish now as I’m running out of space
Bye for now
I’d better get going
Can’t wait to see you again
(Give my) love/regards to

Signing off
Friends: All the best/Best wishes/Bye for now
Relatives: Lots of love/All my love/Love

When possible, use:

Contractions (“I ‘have been really busy” instead of “I have been really busy”)
Punctuation and onomatopoeic words: Use of exclamation marks and dashes for side comments
(Wow! / - to be honest - )
The present continuous instead of the present simple ('I’m looking forward to hearing from you' instead
of 'I look forward...')
The present simple instead of the conditional ('I want to visit your farm' instead of 'I would like to visit
your farm')
Colloquial expressions ('I’m most interested' instead of 'I am really interested')
Direct sentences ('I think it's a good idea' instead of 'It would be a good idea')
Phrasal verbs (“I really must get down to work now”)
Instruction and Model
Read part of an email from a friend who is planning to come and live in your country.

Of course, I'd really need to learn the language. I know you've been learning English for years,
so you've had loads of experience. Are there any tricks of the trade that might help me pick up
your language a bit more quickly?

Read the model answer now

Dear Emma,

Thanks so much for your email. It was so good to hear from you. I'm really sorry not to have
been in touch earlier but I've been up to my eyes preparing for my exams.

What great news that you're finally coming to France - I can't wait to catch up in person! And
you're going to learn French too - fantastic!

I've been learning English since I was a kid as you know, and by far the most useful experience
was going to that language school in Brighton for three months last summer. If I were you, I'd
definitely enroll in a course like that to keep you focused. I'd also suggest reading as widely as
possible, online newspapers, blogs, books, the back of a cereal packet - anything, really! Don't
be tempted to buy one of those 'Learn French in a weekend' courses though - a waste of time if
you ask me. Learning a language takes time and effort.

What seems to work for a lot of people is learning songs. My brother reckons that he has learnt
more English from the Top 40 than he has at school. And you know my friend Lucie? She raved
about her fortnight with a host family, so that's worth a try too. Of course, you could also get a
French boyfriend or girlfriend to speed up your progress!

Anyway, I hope that's helped give you a few ideas. Do write back as soon as you can - I'd love
to hear all the details of your plans.

Lots of love,

Sandrine

Follow up

1- Read the useful phrases and informal language box.

2- Read the model answer. Underline/highlight informal phrases and language in it
andclassify them all like this:

Thanks so much Colloquial Expression

I’m really Contraction
Write back Contraction, phrasal verb
Don’t be tempted to buy Contraction
To speed up your progress Exclamation mark and dash
You ‘re Exclamation mark and dash
 Anyway, I hope that’s helped give Present continuous
You could also get Colloquial expression, contraction
Learning a long age Phrasal verbs
I’ve been up to Phrasal verbs
Raved about Direct sentences
Fantastic! Direct sentences
I’ve been up to Exclamation mark

3- Read the following instruction. Write an informal letter.

You have just come across a friend from school. While having a chat on the street he
told you that he has not only been feeling physically unfit but also rather depressed
and stressed out. You have decided to give your friend some advice and help him out.
Write an email to your friend suggesting what sport or discipline he can take up to
fight off his unhealthy condition; what benefits may this new experience bring about
and what is required in order to engage into this new activity that you are suggesting
(special skills, equipment, outfit, place, frequency, etc.)