Messa ·es 1

A first contact ----------------------------------------·

...
Dear Ms Hamza
Yotrr train1ng manager. Piotr Muraw!>ka, has asked me to write to you about organising
professional tanguage tr<!ining for your company either in Poland and/Or in the UK.
I wi lt call you at the end of the week but,, in t he meantime, if you have·any queries,
pJnse call me ·on 09809 or $end me an email.
Your'S sinc:.rely ·
EstheiWhite

A formal message

Dear Colleague
I .am writing to inform you and you.r staff that we are relocating our offices ~o Pisa. We
will close on 2 November and will reopen in our new premises on 1 December.
We will contact you again in the near future .
Best regard$
Duncan Hoe

Everyday matters

HiJaana
Ho~e you're feeling better. I heard from Jack th&t you had flu.
I'm sorry to say tnat I have a problem next week. Tina's on holiday and I have to cover
for her so I. won't be able to see you on Thursday. I'll call yot,t later and we can arrange
an alternative date.
Speak to yQu later
Ian

A future meeting
r: G:l -

Be!ltrice
It was good to see you ag~in last week. L&t me know when y~u·re n.e xt goill9 to b'
in S~lzburg and We'l1 arrang~ a nigf1t out. Thera are some excelrent restaurants here.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Rega,rds
Rudi
Saying thank yOU (11
,_

Fred
Many ttulriks tor be)ping with the conference, l' rn very sorry that so few people came
on Saturday - let's n,o t organ ise the fioaf session in the middle of a public: holiday
nextvear.
Anyway let's hope W& have better luck in Yokohama.
1'akt ~l'e
l,.ucy

--·- ~---- ..
DJ~ar Mr Re:a
I liM. wr~ing to tii~nk you for your active par:ticipation in our con£~rence. You really
helped to make the ~vent a great succe!ls.
I· would like to apol09ise for the poor attendance at the Sawrday afternoon session.
When we planned the conferer1ce, we did not realise that it clashed with the World .Cup
finalat
OnCI:l again, manY thanks and\ \oox torward ll:l.$aeing yol.l in Yokojtatna next ye~r.
Bestregards
. Lucy Lo Kit

An invitation

Hi John
l woul'd H'Ke to invitji! yo,u to be pur guest qt the B'ratH'Ian Grand ·P rix 'I n March. The event
l_s b-eing held at h'lt:er lagos and wa would lik$ you tP jofn us fot lunch at the track and
for an evening dinner in Sao Paulo. Let me know if you cao attend.
look forward to 11earing from you .
.Sest re.gards
Pedro.

Ac~pti11g an illvitation
---
Oear Pedr<>
Thanks: for the invitation. l~d love' to come and I loo~ forwarQ to ti_eeing yolJ then.
~lhH5,nd lne detall$ of th~· •vent When you have them.
Best regards
Joh.n

Declining an inw-.tion
t::· ~"
.,.-·------~---~ ---- -
Dear Pedro ~
Mttll'l tb:~ks for yoyt'.~i!ld jnvitation to attend .the Gr~nQ Pri~. t,JnfrirtunAtefy, nl be
abroad' on that daY and I won't be able to make it I hope the ~ve.ht goes wefl for you
and lJ()ok forward to seeing you so¢n.
With best regards
John
Problems
~ ~ !'

....
Dear Serge '-
1 have just heard from ·our ,fr~rfch office that they are having ·problems .._naQging th&
m81Jting in Paris rrextw~e~. There -is ·a'pro'b!em'with accpmmodationas th~(e'i!ra large
are
-trad;Et fai_f on ;at that t.ime. AIJ the hotel~ full, Do y()U MY~ any :sJtgg~on$1
Best· regards
Ian-

.GQod news
~1 ~
Dear E;velitle
Good n~ws! We' ve got tlle,·RX'eo.ritr.a¢t! Thanks for·an your h_t~ rd w.l?rk-<>oJhis, It w~>Uid
to
o:d·to.get togethere$ojnetfme 'neitweek t:ltfk through srima de~ails. l'' m free all
,be go_
day Tu~s.day and Wadnesday afte'rnoOJ'i.
l et me know a 'ttrne that suits you and 111 set up·• meeting.
Regar-d s
E resem~

A general announcemen~
· - - - - ----=
Dear friends crnd Colleagues
Thfs.l$,to fet you· kn~wthat Will.:Pick is leaving th-e ~ompany qn Wednesday 3AprH.._ As-
many of you how, Wilfred has wo'(ked for us for mote than):wentyyea,rs ; I'm surethllt
you W»J want ta,join -Us. it.:~;~ Wi1h'ed 9m Jud( ;,; ,his ~~w lob. Wrt ·ww l>e
org~n ising -a reception 'tor ·-hlm l n the canteen after work on his fast day and we very
much hope that you will be able to come.
Yours shttera,Jy
Tara Gozo

For infonnatioq
r.:1.~
be~r R~sa
iam .&~,Y~, lnf9rm; you> tttat lW11fbe~H worktoftwoW,eek$•, as I hav~' to :go into
hospita' for a routina operation. f expeci to be >back iil -th&. office on :.;30 Ma•ch. Helena
-Rallis· will be covering for ·me whil e I am away, so please contact her· if you need
anything. ·
Best regards
Stavros

Passing on good wishes·

.. ~

Dear Hefena
l was sorry to hear .a bout Stavros. I am sure that he is keen to ge~ back to work but tert
him to take hi's timE! l
PJ&•se pus on mv best wlsbes.
Regards
Rosa Fuente
4 Complete the $'entences ·with the verbs in the-box. Use each verb
once only.

miss koow must -hape

j{HO -c.all thank write

EXAMPLE: I'm writing to . ~~:£~r.~ .. you that the conference has been cancelled.
~- Yoyr training man~ger· h~s asked me to ............ to y(}u.
b I'll ......... ,.. .. yo~ at the end of the week .
.c I .. . . : ... . ... you're .feeling better:
d You . . . , ........ visit us again soon.
~- rd like to . . .... . ... .. y<JU for all your hard work.
f Pl~ase. ~- · ... ...... usfcr lunch on 19 November.

.g Can,we .... . . . .... . .toge,ther sometime next week?

,h· r·mSf?FF¥ Peter has Jeft We'll _all .•........ •. him.
We were very sad to hear about Hubert. Please.... . ..... . . • on our condo!ences.
Just a short note,to let you ..... . ...... what's happening.,

5 Match th~ ·-two parts of the sentences.

1 I am sorry to Inform you that I a hearing all your news.

2 l'tl calf you when I b goes well.
3 Let me know when you are next c all your help.
4 rd like .to thank you for d (going t(} ~e) in Lohdon.
5 11·ook forward to e wm be· out of the .office ne)(t week.
6 I tlope tliat the party f to invite me.
1 Unfortunately, the event clashes ·with g hap~ening next week.
B It was very kind of ~ou h get .back to Cairo.
9 1needJo teil you what is an lmp.ort.ant meeting.

Emailing
1 Read the extracts below from web and press articles and discuss the questions with
a partner.
The beautifulpart ofwriting
is that you don't have to get
2 Make a list of your three top tips for dealing with emails. Compare your list with the
rest of your group.
it right thefirst time, unlike,
say, a brain surgeon. You can
always do it better.
Robert Cormier, author
Do you prefer to email or
to call colleagues?
Lea rning objectives:
Unit 12
Business communication skills
Discussing how to deal with
emails; Correcting errors in
an email; Shortening and
simplifying an email; Adding
the personal touch to an email;
Choosing an appropriate email
style; Fluency: Writing and
answering emails
Reading Extracts on emailing
Listening Podcast: what your
emails say about your career
prospects; Radio programme:
The biggest email blunders
ever made
Vocabulary Prepositional
phrases
Grammar Future forms
Phrase bank Emailing
74 12 EMAILING
www.frenglish.ru
a According to the Electronic Messaging Association, around seven trillion emails are
sent annually. How many of them end up in your inbox? And how do you deal with
the following problem?
When everybody has email and anybody can send you email, how do you decide
whose messages you're going to read and respond to first and whose you're going
to send to the t rash unread? Tom Peters in Fast Company magazine
b Is email a time-saver or does it distract you from more important business? Are you
anything like the typical workers mentioned below?
As Clive Thompson pointed out in The New York Times magazine, after a worker
has been interrupted with a message, it generally takes nearly half an hour for him
to return to his orig ina l task. According to researchers, 40% of workers moved on
to completely new tasks after being interrupted, leaving their old task behind,
neglected and unfinished. SEND, The Essential Guide to Email for Office and Home
C Are you ignoring your email more these days? Does this company's idea sound like
it could work?
Signs are that the first rush of enthusiasm for email may be waning . One big
compa ny in the computing industry is considering bann ing emails in the afternoon .
It found that its people had stopped tal king to one another. Stuart Cra iner in A
Freethinker's A- Z of the New World o f Business
d Have you ever sent an angry email or hidden behind an email when you had bad
news to deliver? How do you feel about the advice below?
Rule number one: never send an emai l when you're mad. And if you want to know
if you're mad, just take two fingers, close your eyes and touch your eyelids. If
they're hot, researchers say you 're mad and you should
put it in the draft p ile and send it later. One of
the things I've learned is that email is fo r
saying 'yes', email is for answering or
asking questions. If you say 'no', if you
crit icize, if you attack, please, do it in
person - or, worst-case, do it over
the phone.
Tim Sanders, Better Life Media
e The Institute of Management puts
working with computers amongst
'The Top Ten Stress Factors at
Work'. Have you ever resorted to
any of the following?
A survey by Mori revea ls that three
quarters of computer users shout
and swear at t heir machines. A
simi lar study by IT support company
Sosmatic shows that 43% of them have
slapped, smacked and even kicked their
computer. The mouse is the most abused
p iece of equipment, receiving 31 .5% of the
punishment, fol lowed by the mon itor, the
printer, the hard drive and the keyboa rd . Over
a year such outbursts of 'computer rage' can
cost companies up to £25,000 in lo st earnings and
damaged hardware.
 www.frenglish.ru

Writing emails
1 Read the article below. Is it easy or difficult t o understand?

Aoccdrnig to rsceearh at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in what oredr the ltteers
in a wrod are. The olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and !sat ltteres are in the rghit
pclae. The rset can be a toad mses and you can sltil raed it wouthit a porbelm. This is
bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

2 2.38 Listen to a podcast explaining what the kind of email you send says about
your career prospects. Match the person to the email type.
a high-flier 1 reply to all
b born leader 2 filled with emoticons
c corporate loser 3 prefer face mail
d time-waster 4 bee to boss
e poor team player 5 neatly paragraphed
f office joker 6 short phrases

3 If Professor Owens's research is right, are you writing the kind of emails that will get
you promoted?

4 Look at the email below and the one on page 76. From what Professor Owens said in the
podcast you just listened to, which do you think was written by a junior manager?

e A . . . ,., ~ ,, .. ... . . .... / ...... ' .,. . '/ "',.. ,. , ,,. , , ,, J'. ,.; . ,,. , •.• .,. "" • ,, ~ ... •

Steve
Can you udpate me on where you are with hte Rome Expo arrangements I
was unable to open the attatchment you sent me, so i dont have a copy of the
programme. As for as the Copenhagen conferrence is concerned I don't just have
time for dealing with it myself. So please can you sort this out with the Danes asap?
You'll need probably to contact Margrethe Rasmussen at there headquarters in
helsingborg. Copy me in on any correspondance.
Thanks alot. Your a star!
Maxine
(BTW any news on Garys feasability study???)

5 Correct the grammar, sp elling and punctuation mistakes in the firs t email above.
There are 18. Break up the text into short paragraphs and add a suitable subject line.

6 Read the following statements about the emails and decide if you agree (A ) or
disagree (D) .
The mistakes in the first email are mainly language errors or typos. D
Emails like this create a bad impression . D
Mistakes don't matter as long as the message is clear and the tone friendly. D
I would be more tolerant if I knew the writer was not a native speaker. D
 www.frenglish.ru

7 Make the second email below shorter and simpler by deleting as many words as you
Glossary can without changing the basic message or sounding too direct.
asap /,e1 es e1 'pi:/
(abbrev) as soon as
possible. In AmE, asap is
often pronounced
/'e 1 ~rep/
BlW (abbrev) by the way:
used in emails and text
messages for adding
add1t1onal information
FYI (abbrev) for your
information: used in
emails and text messages
as a way of introducing
a useful piece of
1nformat1on
KR (abbrev) kind regards:
used 1n emails and text
messages for an informal
closing greeting
Dear Stephen
I do realize that you must be very busy at the moment with all the arrangements for
our exhibition stand at the Rome Expo in two weeks' time, but, if you have a spare
moment sometime over the next few days, could you possibly just have a quick
look at the first draft of my report on the ComTech feasibility study, which I've been
working very hard on since we last spoke? As I'm sure Maxine has already told you,
it was actually due last week and I know that she needs it quite urgently, but there
are just a couple of points I need to check with you , if that's okay, before I submit
the final report - see attachment.
FYI, I don't know if anyone has spoken to you about it yet, but it looks like I'm
probably going to be coming to Copenhagen with you, Fiona and Michael in
September after all. You'll remember from my CV when you interviewed me for this
position that I studied German and Danish at university and , as a matter of fact,
I still speak pretty good Danish, which might just come in handy ;-) although I'm
quite sure most of the Danes we'll be meeting at the conference will have no
problem whatsoever with English!
KR
Gary

8 Now make the shortened second email friendlier by adding a few personal touches.
Use some or all of the following information to personalize it in your own way.
Stephen:
• has just become a father for the first time
• has put in for a promotion
• is under a lot of pressure because three people in his department are off sick
• has never been to Denmark (Gary knows it well)
• is a keen squash player (so is Gary).

76 12 EMAILING
 www.frenglish.ru

Email style
1 How you write an email largely depends on who you are writing to. If you are writ ing
to a business contact for the first time or you don't know the person, a formal style is
generally used.

Read through the email below and underline the best option. This is the first time Simon
Allen has contacted Timothy Green.

- .. ./ ' ,' > I • , " • ' ' / ~ • I ' , 'JI > ", / ~ " i I"' ~· ~ ' • • / • • ' ' ' •

Dear (1) Timothy Green I Mr Green

(2) I hope everything's fine I I trust you are well.
(3) I would like to congratulate you on an excellent presentation I Just to say you did
a fantastic presentation. The product demonstration was extremely (4) well received I
went down really well.
However, (5) I'll tell you something I really didn't like I there is one aspect which
concerns me. As it stands, the packaging design (6) may be problematic I would
really cause a lot of problems. (7) How about changing the design? I Would you
consider changing the design? (8) Let's meet next week and see what other ideas
we can come up with I Could we meet next week to discuss some alternative ideas?
(9) BTW, I need you to take a look at the Singapore report. I Also, I would be grateful
if you could read over the Singapore report. In particular it is rather urgent to get the
cost breakdown figures from the report. Would it be possible for you to (10) provide
me the information by Wednesday 10 am? I send me the cost breakdown from the
report ASAP?
(11) For any questions don't hesitate to contact Sandra Taylor in accounts. I
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Sandra Taylor in
accounts.
(12) Yours sincerely I Best wishes
Simon Allen
Director of Marketing

2 Write a short email in reply to the one above using the prompts below. Remember to
use an appropriate style.
glad I enjoyed I presentation I also pleased I response I product demo 11 disappointed I
hear I not keen I design 11 thought I quite stylish 11 let I know I free I discuss I
alternatives 11 around I most I next week 11 h appy I go through I report 11 costing I
ready I within I few days 11 may need I ch eck I few things I Sandra 11 happen I have I
extension number? I thanks
 www.frenglish.ru

The biggest email blunders ever made

1 Work with a partner and discuss the following questions.
a There are an estimated 100,000 computer viruses out there in cyberspace. Have any
of them found you yet?
b What kind of things do people use their office computers for which are not strictly
business? Have you ever been tempted to do any of these things yourself?
c Have you ever sent an email and later regretted it? How dangerous is it to send
business emails (even internally) without considering the possible implications?

2 2.39 Listen to the story of some of the biggest email blunders ever made and
number the following in the order they are mentioned.
Netscape D Merrill Lynch D
Dow Chemical D Cerner D
the Love Bug D Western Provident D
AOL D Norwich Union D
Microsoft® D The Pentagon D
3 Work with a partner. Without listening again, can you remember:
a how much the Love Bug cost computer networks worldwide?
b how much the two insurance companies settled out of court for?
c how an English schoolgirl got a hold of US military communications to the UK?
d how many people lost their jobs at Dow Chemical?
e whose stock fell by 28%?
f how much Merrill Lynch had to pay out because of Blodget's email?
g which executives regretted sending emails in the Microsoft antitrust trial?

4 2.39 Listen again to see if you were correct.

78 12 EMAILING
 www.frenglish.ru

You've got mail!

1 Work with a partner to practise exchanging emails .
Stage 1
Write an email (maximum 150 words) to a real colleague on one of the subjects below. Use
the suggested phrases to help you, but change and add anything you need to.

11

Subject: Change of plan Subject: Update please

I was/we were originally hoping to .. ., but I'm
afraid that won 't be possible now because .. .,
so what I'm/we're planning to do is ...
Sorry it's a bit short notice, but do you think
you 'll be able to ... or is that going to be a
problem? I'll wait to hear from you.
Sorry to be a pain about this , but I'm still
waiting for ... Can you let me know how much
longer it's likely to be? Do you think you 'll have
it finished by ... because .. .?
If you anticipate any problems, let me know. I'll
... tomorrow to see how you 're doing . Cheers!

Subject: Urgent request

Subject: Can you do me a favour?
I've got an important meeting/presentation
I've had an email/phone call from someone
coming up on ... and I'm going to need ...
called ... , who wants .. . Can I leave this one with
Can I leave it to you to .. .? I expect I'll also be
you? I'm sure you 'll know a lot more about it
needing ...
than I do. But keep me in the loop.
I know you 're probably up to your neck in work
BTW a few of us may be ... on ... Are you going
at the moment, but if you can get ...
to be around? Fancy joining us? Should be fun.
to me before next ... , it'll be a real help. Thanks.

Stage 2
Exchange your emails from Stage 1 with your partner. You are standing in for the person
they emailed while that person is off sick I on holiday I on maternity or paternity leave I
away on a long business trip (you decide which). Write a reply (maximum 100 words)
explaining the situation and asking for clarification or any details you need. Mention that
you are new to the department.
Stage 3
Exchange replies and continue the correspondence as long as necessary to complete
your business.

2 Give your partner your impressions of the emails they wrote in 1.

• Do they sound friendly but businesslike?
• Is the email written in an appropriate style?
• Have they kept their messages short and to-the-point?
• Have they made any important spelling, punctua1;ion or grammar mistakes?

12 EMAILING 79