Écrivons Une

Lettre
Friendly Letter writing in French
 General Structure
City, date

(Address line)

Cher, chers, Chère , chères...

(Greeting)

Introductory paragraph

Body

Closing paragraph

Ton ami (e)

(Closing)
 Letter Writing Guidelines
Pay attention to the following guideline when writing a friendly letter in
French:

1. Name of town/city followed by date expressed in French

2. Decide if you are using the “tu” or “vous form”
3. Decide the tenses that you will use (aim for at least 4)
4. Pay attention to word limit which is 130-150 words
5. Be concise in your writing
6. Divide letter into at 3-4 paragraphs
Letter Structure

Paragraph One:

This paragraph usually has about 20-25 words:

This paragraph focuses on pleasantries:

1. Asking the person how she or he is

2. Thanking the person for their previous letter ( if applicable)
3. Expressing the purpose for writing
 Letter Structure

Paragraphs two and three:

1. Comprises of about 90-100 words.

2. This is body of the letter .
3. In these paragraphs you will fulfill the guidelines set out.
4. You are usually given four cues to which you must respond
Letter Structure

Final Paragraph is the closing paragraph

1. It consist of about 20-25 words

2. It is used to bring the letter to an end
3. Can include a question to the reader
4. Can include a prompt for the persons to write back
Sample Letter question

Use the following outline as a guide to write a letter in French of no more than 130-150
words:

Write a letter to your French pen pal telling him/ her about the new restaurant opened by
your family. Be sure to include:

1. Some of the preparation your and your family made for the opening.
2. A description of what took place o the day
3. People’s reaction to this venture
4. Future plans that your family has for the restaurant.
 Address Line

The address line in French friendly letter is quite simple

You only need the city or town and the date expressed in French:

Example:

Kingston, le 3 juin 2020

 Greeting
Cher Monsieur Dear Sir

Cher Monsieur ______ Dear Mr. ______

Chère Madame ______ Dear Mrs. _______

Chère Mademoiselle Dear Miss

Chers amis Dear friends

Cher Pierre My dear Pierre

Chère Lise Dear Lise

Chère maman Dear Mommy

Cher papa Dear daddy

 Introductory paragraph

Pleasantries:

Comment ça va/ comment allez-vous?- How are you?

Comment va ta mère?- how is your mother?

J’espère tout va bien- I hope all is well

J’ecris te/ vous parler de ...- I am writing to tell you about…

Merci de ta/ votre lettre- thank you for your letter

 Closing paragraph
1. Je dois terminer ma lettre- I must end my letter
2. Ecris-moi vite/ écrivez-moi vite- write me soon
3. Réponds vite. Répondez vite- respond quickly
4. J’attends ta/ votre réponse avec impatience- I impatiently await your
response
5. Dis/ dites bonjour à… à ma part- say hello to…. For me
6. J’espère te/ vous lire bientôt- hoping to hear from you soon
7. Encore merci pour tout- thanks again for everything
 Closing
French English
1. Affectueusement Affectionately
2. Bien amicalement In friendship
3. Cordialement Cordially
4. Je t'embrasse Love/With love (literally: I kiss you)
5. Bisous or Bises Kisses
6. Ton Ami (e) Your friend
7. Grosses bises Love and kisses
8. Amitiés Best wishes
 The Body of Your Letter
Sample Letter

Use the following outline as a guide to write a letter in French of no more than 130-150
words:

Write a letter to your French pen pal telling him/ her about the new restaurant opened by your
family. Be sure to include:

1. Some of the preparation your and your family made for the opening.
2. A description of what took place o the day
3. People’s reaction to this venture
4. Future plans that your family has for the restaurant.
 Body of the letter

1. Begin with a topic sentence for each cue

2. Then choose one of the following to help you develop the cue:

D: detail:

E: explanation:

E: examples

D: description
 Body of the letter- How to respond to
cue
The cues in the question are handled in the body of the letter.
Here is the structure of the body of the letter

1. Comprises of about 90-100 words.

2. You are usually given four (4) cues to which you must respond
3. Each cue can be dealt with using approximately 4 sentences
including the topic sentence
4. The response to the cues must be relevant.
 How to respond to cue-Writing topic
Sentences
Topic sentences are usually general statement that introduces what you are planning to write
about. Do not go into details in the topic sentence because it will limit what you can write.

❖ Here is an example of a cue you could be given:

some preparations you and your family made for the opening

❖ Here is an example of topic sentence for this cue:

Ma famille et moi avons fait beaucoup d’activités pour l’ouverture du restaurant

( My family and I did a lot of activities for the opening of the restaurant)
 More examples of topic sentences

Cue:

A description of what took place on the day

Topic sentence:

Le jour de l’ouverture était merveilleux

( The day of the opening was marvelous)

Responding to topic sentences
Now let us work in groups of two to create a topic sentence for the last 2 cues of this sample
letter:

Use the following outline as a guide to write a letter in French of no more than 130-150
words:

Write a letter to your French pen pal telling him/ her about the new restaurant opened by
your family. Be sure to include:

1. Some of the preparation your and your family made for the opening.
2. A description of what took place o the day
3. People’s reaction to this venture
4. Future plans that your family has for the restaurant.
Expanding on cues:

Once you have written your topic sentence then you need to provide additional information
to support your topic sentence by providing one of the following:

Description: Describe what you are introducing

Explanation: Explain more about what you want to discuss

Examples: give EXAMPLES of what you are talking about

Details: Give DETAILS (time, date, location, steps to follow etc.)

Expanding on Cues
The action that you choose to take either (Description, Explanation, Examples or
Details) is dependent on the cue to which you responding. Let us look back on
our sample letter:

Use the following outline as a guide to write a letter in French of no more than 130-150
words:

Write a letter to your French pen pal telling him/ her about the new restaurant opened by
your family. Be sure to include:

1. Some of the preparation your and your family made for the opening.
2. A description of what took place o the day
3. People’s reaction to this venture
4. Future plans that your family has for the restaurant.
Expanding on Cues

Cue 1: Would require examples

Cue 2: Would require description

Cue3: Would require details

Cue4:Would require giving examples

 L’activité

Write a topic sentence for each of the following cues ( ensure that you read the
entire situation so that you have a good understanding of what to do):

Your little cousin from Guadeloupe is spending the holidays at your house. Write
letter to his/her parents in Guadeloupe. Be sure to include:

1. A description of his/her arrival and accommodation at your house.

2. What he/she did so far to enjoy himself/herself
3. Details of a funny story he/she she told you
4. Plans for your family's next visit to Guadeloupe.