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CAE – formal letter/email

Paper 2 Writing – Part 2

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A letter or email
(formal or informal) is written in response to the situation outlined in the task.
Letters/emails in the Cambridge English: Advanced Writing paper will require a response
which is consistently appropriate for the speci ed target reader.

When a response is framed as an email/letter, writing conventions such as an opening

salutation, clear paragraphing and closing phrasing are always important.

HINTS

Read the task carefully and then… read the task carefully (not a mistake. I’ve typed it twice!). You
need to underline all the content points and consider the following:

Why are you are writing the letter/email? To correct information, to apply for a job, to
complain about something….
Who is the target reader? You may have to write to the editor of a publication, to a potential
employer, to a university administrator…
Which language/register would be appropriate to reach my goal? Is there enough
SPECIFIC detail in my letter/email to convince the target reader?
Open and nish your letter/email using opening and closing formulae appropriately. Some
examples:

“Dear Editor” → “Best regards” (and your own name and surname)
“Dear Sir/Madam” → “Yours faithfully” (and your own name and surname)
“Dear Mrs Jones” → “Yours sincerely” (and your own name and surname)

As a general rule, your rst paragraph could be used as an introduction. Add as many paragraphs
as content points you have to deal with. In the nal paragraph, you should express what you expect
to be done as a result of your letter.

Model questions and answers

Formal letter/Email – Model question

TASK

Your company would like to offer work-experience placements to students in an international

college. Write a letter for publication in the student newspaper at the college.

Your letter should explain what your company does, what kind of work-experience placements
are available, and how students would bene t from the experience.

Write your letter in 220-260 words in an appropriate style.

Formal letter/Email – Model answer

Dear Students,

Are you looking for a work placement that will give you plenty of valuable experience and
will look good on your CV? If so, then our company may have something to offer you.

We are an international educational exchange organisation which organises links between

schools all over the world. We currently have three work-experience placements available for
students from your college. The work would involve a range of of ce tasks, including dealing
with correspondence, arranging meetings and keeping our database up-to-date. We are
particularly insterested in offering these placements to students with some knowledge of
two or more languages.
The placements would be of great bene t to the students who are given this opportunity. It
would provide experience of working in a small and dedicated team, which would give you
the chance to develop a wider range of of ce skills than would normally be the case in larger
organisations. Our international network means that you would also gain some contacts all
over the world, which might be of particular value to any of you considering a career in some
aspect of education.

You will nd further information about our organisation and the placements we offer on our
website and we look forward to hearing from any of you who think that the work might be
right for you – and that you might be the right person for one of these placements.

Best wishes to you all,

Paula Fisher

[+/- 240 words]

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