WEBVTT

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Hey there, welcome back. So, in the last lesson

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we looked at the eight differences between

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formal, informal and semi-formal letters. Now,

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in today's video we're going to be focusing

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on formal letters. So, let's have a look at an

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example. It says, "You recently bought

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some new furniture for your living room online.

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You were told that the furniture would arrive

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within five working days, but it has been two

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weeks and it has still not arrived. You

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phoned the shop but no action was taken. Write a

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letter to the shop manager. In the letter,

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explain that the furniture has not arrived. Des

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cribe what happened when you phoned the

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shop and say what you would like the manager to

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do." Now, remember, any letter that we

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write in IELTS is going to follow the same

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structure. We're going to start with the

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greeting,

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then we have the opener, we have the three

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bullet points in separate paragraphs, we have

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the closer, and then we finish with the sign-off

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. Now, the first thing that we're going to write

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is the greeting, and that's going to be given to

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you in the question paper. Because we are

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writing to the shop manager, it's going to be a

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formal letter, and our opener is going

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to be something like this, "Dear sir or madam,"

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and then a comma. Now, you don't necessarily

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need to learn that because it's going to be in

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the question paper. So, your answer really

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starts here with the opener. Now, the opener

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gives the purpose of the letter, and we said

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with formal letters we keep this brief. Now, in

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order to know what the purpose of the letter

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is, we need to look at the question and identify

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why are we writing this letter. So, I think

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the answer is here. "Say what you would like the

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manager to do." So, we've bought some

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furniture and it has not arrived. Well, I'd like

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a refund personally. So, I'm requesting

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a refund, which means the purpose of my letter

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is to make a request. So, I would write a

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opener a bit like this, "I am writing to request

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a refund for an armchair that I purchased

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from your online store several weeks ago." Okay,

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let's look at some of the useful language

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that I use. "I am writing to request." So, this

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is a fixed expression that we use when

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we're writing request letters, and there are

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different fixed expressions that we can use

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when we're writing different types of letter. So

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, for a request letter, we could say, "I'm

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writing to request," and then explain what the

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request is. However, we could also have

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a letter of inquiry, in which case you would use

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a different opener and a different fixed

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expression. You could write something like this,

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"I'm writing to inquire about," and

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then what your inquiry is. Another very common

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question type in task one is to write a letter

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asking for permission to do something. So, if

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you have that, then your letter could start

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something like this, "I'm writing to request

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permission to," and then what you're requesting

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permission to do. Sometimes you have to give

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advice, in which case you could say, "Thank

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you for your letter requesting information about

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da-da-da. I hope the following advice

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will be of some help to you." So, that would be

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your opener, and if you're writing an apology

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letter, your opener could be like this, "I'm

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writing to apologize for," and then explain

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what you're apologizing for. Okay, now, below

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this lesson, and don't go there yet, you'll

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find different fixed expressions for different

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letter types, and below that, you're going

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to find a quiz. So, after watching this video,

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and after watching this video, don't go to

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it yet. It's a good idea to look through those

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fixed expressions and do the quizzes below,

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and you don't need to necessarily learn all of

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the fixed expressions, but learn the ones

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that you think are useful to you, so the ones

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that you like and you think sound impressive.

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Okay, let's go back to our letter. So, after

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writing our greeting and our opener, we're

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going to focus on bullet point one. So, here it

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says, "Explain that the furniture has not

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arrived." Well, I'd say something like this, "I

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bought this item during your super sale,

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and I was informed that it would be arriving

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within five working days. This was particularly

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important for me because it was to be a present

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for my aunt. However, it has been two weeks,

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and I'm still waiting." Right, okay, let's look

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at some of the language that I've used

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in this letter. "I bought this item." So, I've

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said "this item" so that I'm not constantly

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repeating "armchair, armchair." So, remember, it

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's a good idea to use synonyms instead of

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repeating the same nouns or verbs over and over

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again. So, I might say "armchair" in

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the opener, "this item" in bullet point one, and

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then later on I could refer to it as "the

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chair." Okay, we also have "I was informed." So,

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that's a bit like saying "I was told,"

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except "informed" is slightly more formal than "

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tell." But, both are acceptable. And

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notice I have "was informed." So, this is the

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passive structure, and that's very useful

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for formal letters. "I was informed that it

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would be arriving." Okay, "it would be arriving"

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is reported speech. So, for example, "the

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internet," or "when I made the purchase,"

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would say "it will be arriving within five days

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," or "it will arrive within five days."

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Now, when I'm reporting what I read, I would say

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"it said that it would arrive within five

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days." So, "will" becomes "would" in reported

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speech. Again, this is very useful for formal

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letters, where you're reporting what somebody

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has told you, or you're reporting something

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that you've read on the internet. Okay, let's

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look at some more of the language. I've got

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"however," so that's a very useful linking word

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that you'll use in task two all the time,

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and we also use "however" in formal letters.

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Okay, let's move on to bullet point two, and

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in this bullet point, we're going to be

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describing what happened when you phoned the

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shop. This

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is what I'd write. "I called your store last

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week and spoke to one of your customer

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assistants.

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He told me that my chair had already been

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shipped, but was unable to provide me with

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a tracking number. When I asked to be

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transferred to a manager, he outright refused,

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claiming

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that they were busy. I find this service to be

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far below the standards that your store

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claims in its advertisements." Alright, okay, so

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that's bullet point two. Now let's look

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at some of the language I use. So, "customer

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assistant," so that's specific to this type

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of letter. "Customer assistant" works in a shop,

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and I call the customer assistant. It's

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kind of like saying, "I spoke to the waiter," if

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you were in a cafe or a restaurant. We've

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got "had already been shipped." Okay, so that's

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reported speech again, because the customer

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assistant tells me on the phone, "It has already

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been shipped." Now I'm reporting what he says,

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and "has" becomes "had." So I say, "He told me

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that my chair had already been shipped."

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So again, reported speech is very useful for

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general task one. Next we have "was unable."

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So one that "was unable" just means "couldn't,"

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but it's a more formal way of saying "couldn't."

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And these little differences are what gets you a

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higher score in task one. We also have

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"outright refused." "He outright refused." So

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again, this is just like saying "refused"

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or "declined," except making it a bit more

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exciting. Now normally we don't use these

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kind of intensifying adjectives, but they're a

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good way of showing advanced language for

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your task one questions. Then afterwards we have

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"far below." So "far below the standards

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that your store claims in its advertisements."

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And again, I'm just emphasizing that it's

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"below the standards." It's "far below the

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standards." Right, let's move on to bullet

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point three, and this is what I would say. "I

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would like to express my dissatisfaction

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with the service I received and request that you

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cancel the order. Additionally, I would

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appreciate a full refund, which includes postage

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fees, if the chair is on its way to my home,

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which I highly doubt. I shall be sending it

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right back to you." Okay, so you can tell

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I'm quite annoyed now. Let's look at some of the

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language. "I would like to express

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my dissatisfaction." So that's the same as just

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saying "I am dissatisfied," except it's

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a more formal way of expressing that. So "I am

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dissatisfied." "I would like to express

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my dissatisfaction." Or you could say "I am

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happy." Or "I would like to express my happiness

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or my gratification." Okay, so a useful phrase

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that we can use in our formal letters. We

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also have "request that you cancel the order."

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So I'm not saying "I want you to cancel the

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order." I'm making it more formal by saying "I

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would request that you cancel the order."

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We have "additionally," which again is a formal

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linking word and very useful for task one

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formal letters. And we have "would appreciate a

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full refund." So again, I'm not saying "I

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want a full refund." I'm saying "I would

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appreciate a full refund." And that's more

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polite and

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more formal. Okay, and then we also have "shall

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," which is a modal verb, which we don't really

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use when we're speaking, but it's the kind of

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modal verb that we can use in a formal

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letter. Okay, now we're going to move on to the

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closer. What do you think of this? "Please

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reply to confirm the cancellation and refund at

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your earliest convenience." So nice and

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short, and again we're using a fixed expression.

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"Please reply to confirm the cancellation

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and refund at your earliest convenience." So we

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've got this useful language, which is

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a fixed expression for when we write a closer

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for a request letter. And we have different

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closers and different fixed expressions for

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different letters. So here we have the one

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for a request letter. If we're writing a

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permission letter, then we might want to end

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like this.

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"Thank you for considering my request to..." "ad

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vice. I hope that you found these recommendations

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of use. Please do not hesitate to contact me

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should you have any further questions and

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an apology. Once again, I'm sorry for any

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inconvenience caused." And again, it's a good

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idea to look through the list of fixed

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expressions, which are below this lesson. Do the

00:12:20.930 --> 00:12:21.520
quiz and

00:12:21.520 --> 00:12:24.740
try to remember a few of these fixed expressions

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that you can use in different letter types.

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Okay, now we finish with the sign-off. And the

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sign-off, because we start with "Dear

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Sir or Madam" is going to be "Yours faithfully,

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and then your name." So when we start with

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"Dear Sir or Madam," we have "Yours faithfully."

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When we start with "Dear," and then we have

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a name, and it's a formal or semi-formal letter,

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we're going to start, we're going to end with

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"Yours sincerely." So that's our sign-off. Now

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let's have a look at our answer in whole.

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So here it is now, and you'll see from the

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structure, we have a nice short opener. It's

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just one sentence long, and that's typical. We

00:13:10.390 --> 00:13:12.800
have short openers and short closers in

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formal letters. When we talk about bullet point

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one, we have three sentences. So when

00:13:19.760 --> 00:13:22.180
you talk about each bullet point, you want

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between three and four sentences, okay? Because

00:13:24.920 --> 00:13:27.280
that shows the examiner that you're fully

00:13:27.280 --> 00:13:29.840
developing each bullet point. So bullet point

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one has three sentences, bullet point two has

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four, bullet point three has three sentences,

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and then our closer has one sentence, and then

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we have the sign-off. So in total, the

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word count is 204 words, which is what you'd

00:13:47.380 --> 00:13:50.920
really be hoping to write for a high-level

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task one answer. Remember, the minimum is 150

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words, but if you want to be scoring seven,

00:13:58.440 --> 00:14:02.240
eight, or nine in general task one, then you

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really want to be writing over 170 and more

00:14:06.440 --> 00:14:10.830
like 190 or 200 words. Again, it depends on the

00:14:10.830 --> 00:14:13.520
letter and how much detail you want to

00:14:13.520 --> 00:14:17.480
go into, but if you can write a letter of 204 or

00:14:17.480 --> 00:14:20.800
more words in 20 minutes, then that's

00:14:20.800 --> 00:14:23.860
great. Go for those details as long as they're

00:14:23.860 --> 00:14:27.440
relevant. Okay, so in the last lesson, we

00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:30.220
looked at eight differences between formal and

00:14:30.220 --> 00:14:32.540
informal letters, and we're just going

00:14:32.540 --> 00:14:36.630
to check the criteria now to make sure that our

00:14:36.630 --> 00:14:40.200
formal letter is acceptable. The first

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one, we have an appropriate greeting and sign-

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off. The second, we have an appropriate opener

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and closer. Number three, no contractions in

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formal letters. Number four, formal linking

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words. Number five, not many idioms or phrasal

00:14:55.980 --> 00:14:59.700
verbs. Number six, not many intensifying adject

00:14:59.700 --> 00:15:00.120
ives

00:15:00.120 --> 00:15:04.050
or adverbs. Number seven, polite when making

00:15:04.050 --> 00:15:07.760
requests and asking questions. And number

00:15:07.760 --> 00:15:11.820
eight, no exclamation marks. Okay, so let's see

00:15:11.820 --> 00:15:15.240
how our letter does. So, an appropriate

00:15:15.240 --> 00:15:17.710
greeting and sign-off, yes, we've got Dear Sir

00:15:17.710 --> 00:15:20.080
or Madam, and we've got Yours Faithfully,

00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:22.970
Rachel Buchanan. By the way, I've just invented

00:15:22.970 --> 00:15:25.840
that name, and feel free to invent any name.

00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:28.660
I like to put in very English-sounding names in

00:15:28.660 --> 00:15:31.560
the sign-off. Just make sure that you write

00:15:31.560 --> 00:15:36.080
a name. Okay, next, an appropriate opener and

00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:38.320
closer, yes, we've got the opener and

00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:40.780
we've got the closer, and they're both short and

00:15:40.780 --> 00:15:42.720
to the point, which is what you need in

00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:46.990
a formal letter. We've got no contractions, good

00:15:46.990 --> 00:15:50.320
. We've got formal linking words like

00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:54.150
however, and additionally, we've got not many

00:15:54.150 --> 00:15:57.800
idioms or phrasal verbs. I looked through,

00:15:57.800 --> 00:16:00.700
I couldn't find any idioms or phrasal verbs, but

00:16:00.700 --> 00:16:03.240
you might be able to find some. The main

00:16:03.240 --> 00:16:07.020
point is that there are not many idioms or phras

00:16:07.020 --> 00:16:10.520
al verbs in formal letters. Number six,

00:16:10.520 --> 00:16:13.170
not many intensifying adjectives or adverbs.

00:16:13.170 --> 00:16:15.300
Okay, I do have quite a few. We've got

00:16:15.300 --> 00:16:16.200
particularly

00:16:16.200 --> 00:16:19.970
important, outright refused, far below the

00:16:19.970 --> 00:16:24.120
standards, highly doubt, so four intensifying

00:16:24.120 --> 00:16:28.170
adjectives and adverbs. Normally, there would be

00:16:28.170 --> 00:16:31.360
more in informal letters, and you'll see

00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:34.560
that when we focus on informal letters later on

00:16:34.560 --> 00:16:38.520
in this course. Okay, number seven, polite

00:16:38.520 --> 00:16:41.910
when making requests and asking questions. Yes,

00:16:41.910 --> 00:16:44.440
very polite. We can see that here and

00:16:44.440 --> 00:16:47.860
here. Okay, remember, formal letters should be

00:16:47.860 --> 00:16:50.960
polite. Even if you're unhappy, which for

00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:54.490
example I am in this letter, I'm quite clearly

00:16:54.490 --> 00:16:57.280
unhappy, but I'm still very polite when making

00:16:57.280 --> 00:17:01.910
requests and asking questions. It's all about

00:17:01.910 --> 00:17:06.400
being passive aggressive. Okay, and finally,

00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:09.420
number eight, no exclamation marks. So we have

00:17:09.420 --> 00:17:12.120
no exclamation marks. Right, I hope this

00:17:12.120 --> 00:17:14.830
video has helped, and remember below you're

00:17:14.830 --> 00:17:17.720
going to have some quizzes, some useful fixed

00:17:17.720 --> 00:17:21.320
expressions and some more quizzes. So do those

00:17:21.320 --> 00:17:24.600
before going on to the next lesson where you

00:17:24.600 --> 00:17:27.160
are going to be writing a formal letter. Okay,

00:17:27.160 --> 00:17:29.440
best of luck with your studies and I'll see

00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:31.560
you in the next lesson. Bye.

00:17:31.560 --> 00:17:36.240
[music]

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[END]

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[BLANK_AUDIO]