If you’re studying for the CAE or the IELTS exam, you’ll know that it’s not always easy to show the difference between informal and formal writing conventions. Making sure your letters sound appropriate, doesn’t have to be that hard. Try to keep the following things in mind when writing:
Who is my audience?
This means who will read your letter. Now, if you’re doing this for an exam, the examiner will read your letter, but that’s not our audience in these cases. Exams will tell you who you should be writing to, and you’ll know who you are writing to in real life. Is it a friend? A boss? A co-worker? Someone you don’t know very well? Someone you’re angry with? All of these impact the level of formality in your writing. Generally speaking, the more authority a person has/the less you know that person, the more formal the letter should be.
How do I feel?
Are you writing a letter of invitation to a friend? Well, great! This would generally mean that the letter can be relaxed and casual (informal). Take a moment to think about what you’re inviting this person to though- if it’s a wedding, the tone and language you use will be quite different to if you’re asking them to a funeral.
How polite should I be?
If this is a letter of complaint, it can be really easy to give in to temptation and go full-blown Karen on your reader. However, using impolite language and making demands is not necessarily the best way to write a letter of complaint; it can make you sound unhinged, and most of all inappropriate in your tone. By the same token, you wouldn’t want to be too kind and sweet- you’re complaining because someone did something wrong, so why would you be extremely nice or apologetic to them? Striking that middle ground can be very tricky, but not impossible!
For more tips on how to write appropriate letters, keep following along! If you’d like more specific exam writing help, check out my IELTS yearly planner, or get in touch with me about taking a class!
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