Writing Practice

I. A Brief Introduction

i. How to Write Personal Letters?

Personal letters, such as letters to your family and friends, are often written more like conversations.

You can write a letter to thank someone, share family and school news, pass on interesting information, describe what has been happening, or communicate humorous stories.

If you have friends or family who live a distance from you, why not write them a letter to keep in touch? Even if they live close by, a letter is a special way of showing you are thinking about them.

You can format a personal letter any way you like, but there are a few important elements that you need to include, such as:

-        Date — the date you are writing the letter 

-        Greeting — say hello to the person you are writing to

-        Content — why you are writing, news and information

-        Closing — the way you end your letter

-        Signature — sign your name to make it personal and   friendly

-        P.S. — postscript. You can use a P.S. to add something at the end of the letter that you forgot to say earlier. A P.S. always comes at the bottom of the letter, below your signature.

ii. Ideas for Writing Your Personal Letter

-        Are you stuck for ideas about what to talk about in a letter? Here are some tips for you.

-        Talk about family birthdays, special events, trips you’ve been on.

-        Share funny stories about your pets.

-        Talk about your new computer game, CD or DVD.

-        Wish someone a Happy Birthday.

-        Write some news about school — your teacher, your friend, special visitors and activities.

-        Write about what’s happening in your city.

-        Talk about a great book you’ve read, or an exciting film you’ve seen.

-        Ask questions to find out what they’ve been doing and what interests them.

II. Sample Letters

III. Homework

You and your best friend Ming went to different universities after graduation from high school. Write a letter to Ming. Ask about his university life and write some news about your campus life. Also discuss about how to spend the coming National Day holiday.

Reference:

Sep. 17, 2009

Dear Ming,

It feels like such a long time since the last time I saw you. I know it’s only been several weeks, but I miss you so much. Life’s just not that much fun without you. At least we can still write letters to each other!

Do you like your new school? Is it beautiful? Have you made any new friend yet? Have you got any military training? Have you seen any good movie lately? How are you going with that computer game I gave you? Have you beaten my record yet? I bet you can’t! I’m so eager to know about your life in Beijing. Just tell me!

As for me, I am quite busy these days with the English speech contest sponsored by the campus English Association. I have won the first round of the contest, and I’m going to compete against eleven other speakers in the second round. Only three of us can enter the final round. The competition is so fierce! I am enjoying it so far.

The National Day holiday is coming. How are you going to spend this week-long holiday? Will you come back to Nanjing? In fact, I am planning to spend my vacation here. And I am looking forward to seeing you. I am excited to share with you my university life.

I can’t wait for the holidays. Let me know when you will be back. Write back soon okay?

Yours,

Hua

P.S. What do you want for your birthday? Make sure it’s something I can post or you’ll have to wait for the holidays.