Writing workshop: Formal and informal emails

everybody and welcome to our Friday writing workshop with Neeraj. Hello

Neeraj. Hi Neil and hi everybody who's joined us. For everyone who's joining us, we've had some small technical problems this week so we really want to know that you're watching. So if you can just say hi in the comments and tell us

you're watching. So if you can just say hi in the comments and tell us where you're watching from that would be great. Okay and also we just like to know because we're curious. But We have started, okay.

Enlightened Grove is asking, when will this live session start? I hope that we've started already. So, Enlightened, tell us if you can see us and tell us where you're

already. So, Enlightened, tell us if you can see us and tell us where you're watching from. Okay, let's get down to business with what we're going to talk about

watching from. Okay, let's get down to business with what we're going to talk about today. Today, we're going to be looking

today. Today, we're going to be looking at writing, of course. What kind of writing, Neeraj? What are we looking at today?

We're looking at primarily two forms of writings, which are informal and formal writing tasks, but we're focusing on informal writing.

And we're looking at how that's different from formal writing, email writing specifically.

Yeah. So we're going to talk about that first. We'll start talking in a moment once everybody's joined us. And okay, people are telling us now where they're from. That's

great. We have Thailand, Bulgaria, Australia. Okay.

We don't get many people from Australia. So that's great. So welcome to our live.

Mozambique, Ukraine, Barcelona. Oh, Maybe you know them, Nirash. Barcelona, yeah. Well, I don't know Fernando. You don't know any

them, Nirash. Barcelona, yeah. Well, I don't know Fernando. You don't know any Fernandos? Not at the moment, not in Barcelona. Okay. Okay, so we have the Philippines

Fernandos? Not at the moment, not in Barcelona. Okay. Okay, so we have the Philippines and others. Okay, so as I was saying, so we're going to be talking about

and others. Okay, so as I was saying, so we're going to be talking about formal and informal writing. And as Nirash said, we're going to be focusing more on informal writing today, but both obviously come up. We're going to look at an example email. We're going to ask you to find... problems with that email,

example email. We're going to ask you to find... problems with that email, and then we're going to ask you to suggest changes to make it better. And

then after that, we'll show you our suggestion, and we'll talk about all the tips, all the advice, all the things that we think you need to remember and practice to become really good at this. So let's get started. We were talking just before we began, and

started. We were talking just before we began, and we talk about IELTS I see lots of stuff on social media there's a whole tick tock trend of English and native speaker English making it sound like for IELTS everything is about using big complicated words and you know in the

academic test there's there is an element of that perhaps in writing for sure but I think it's I think it's a bit misleading I mean you don't really want people to sound like they swallowed a dictionary when they're communicating, do you? And then

when we talk about IELTS general test, it's maybe totally different. So what would you say? Yeah, that's right. I think that's kind of what people's perception is that if

say? Yeah, that's right. I think that's kind of what people's perception is that if you've got bigger words and bigger sentences, longer sentences, you sound more professional or you sound like you've got a higher level of English. And in certain context, that could be correct. For example, if you're preparing for academic

writing, if you're writing an academic essay, that could be appropriate. But in other contexts, or other types of exams, you're being asked to give a different style of communication, which is less formal, and it may not be appropriate to speak using those long sentences or big words. It may be

unnecessary. And you might even sound a bit robotic, like

unnecessary. And you might even sound a bit robotic, like an artificial intelligence software program. So

the idea of today's session is to help people to think about writing in a more informal style. I mean, I'm just thinking, it just came to my head when you were saying that. I'm imagining dialing emergency services. You don't want to be saying, excuse me, I'm calling to inform you that I'm currently trapped in a significant conflagration in my domicile.

It's not really where you want to go. Fire! Another person would be laughing on the other end of the line. They'd think it was a joke. Yeah, yeah. Yeah,

okay. So that's what we're gonna look at. And that is gonna be really interesting, I think, because I don't know about your experience with your students, but with my students, I often find that it's more difficult for them to really get that natural tone and that natural conversational tone in informal emails and things than it is for them to learn, you know, the more formal fixed sentences and things that

they use. What would you say? I totally agree with you. And I also think

they use. What would you say? I totally agree with you. And I also think they don't worry about it. They think that, oh, it's fine. I'll be able to do, I have to really worry about the formal emails and the formal communications more than the informal ones. And so they do, you know, sometimes they've got a lot of resources to help them with the formal styles of writing

and they learn the connectors and structures and grammar necessary to write a formal email, but they neglect the informal style of writing. And I was thinking maybe it's also because

writing. And I was thinking maybe it's also because a lot of students don't have enough informal contact. Let's say they don't have friends who they speak to in English, whereas they're regularly learning English from their textbook. And so that's a more formal style of English, but they don't have this

textbook. And so that's a more formal style of English, but they don't have this kind of conversational, informal contact. regularly with English speakers and so they don't practice that style of speaking or writing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean, yeah, it's very, if they're only writing in English at work, for example, then it might be that, yeah, they don't get that practice as well. And I was just, we've mentioned IELTS

a lot and IELTS general test, but this also applies to like all the Cambridge exams as well, doesn't it? And of course, it applies to real life. Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, people might be thinking, Emails, informal emails, who writes informal emails? We just

send instant messages to everybody, WhatsApp and whatever other programs that your apps that you use. But you would be surprised that this style of task does appear in a lot of English exams, writing in the formal email. It's in

the IELTS exam as an option and it's in these Cambridge English exams and other ones as well. So it's worth preparing. in case you have to take one of these kind of exams for English. But a good thing to remember is that the kind of English we're using to prepare for informal emails, it's great for your instant

messaging apps as well. You can use that kind of language to improve the level you're writing to friends in. So great to practice that. yeah

absolutely okay so many people joining us now I just was showing some countries I just wanted to call quick a few more because there's so many here we have Cambodia we have Algeria we have Hong Kong Venezuela Mexico oops I'm going too fast for myself there so my finger my trigger finger is too happy uh Ethiopia

uh Syria Brazil Okay, great. That's incredible, isn't it? We've got

somebody from Australia all the way to Brazil and the other side of the world.

And Peru even further. And Peru. So, yeah, the opposite extremes of the world. Yeah,

fantastic. So, great. So, let's not waste any more time. I think what we've been talking about is important. And I think for all of you, as Neeraj said, maybe you don't think about informal English. You think you can already do it really well and it's no problem. But when you leave today, I think maybe... you'll have some new tips and things to look at. Okay, so let's take a look at an

example message to start a conversation from a friend.

Okay, so you want to say a little bit about this? Okay, so what we'd like you to do, I'm going to read this for you in a second, but as I read it, I'd like you to think about who's writing and who's supposed to be reading this and what's their relationship.

What do you think the two people have in common? So as Neeraj reads this, then maybe just tell us that in the comments. What's the relationship? Who's writing? Why?

What can you understand from this? Okay, on you go, Neeraj. Over to you. I'll

try and read it in my best informal tone. Hi, Katie. How's it going? Guess

what? I've bought train tickets to come and see you next month for a short holiday. Would it be okay if I stayed with you at your flat? Also, I

holiday. Would it be okay if I stayed with you at your flat? Also, I

was thinking, which places should I visit in your city while I'm there? Oh, and

one more thing. What kind of clothes would I need? Let me know, please. I

have no idea what to pack. Lots of love, Elizabeth. Okay, that's great. I mean,

that sounds just like a friend speaking to a friend, I guess. Oops, I gave the answer already, but that's okay, because nobody's answered that question. Okay, good. Just as

I said that, Shicho popped up with the answer. Yeah, good friends.

And Luke Vinn is saying close friends. And Deepty is saying informal friendly. I think we can say close friends, can't we? I mean, I think,

informal friendly. I think we can say close friends, can't we? I mean, I think, what would be the clues, do you think, for that? That would say that, you know, they're not just people who met once... on a train or something. Yeah, well,

if you look at the end of the email, it says lots of love. You

wouldn't say that to somebody you didn't know very well. And right

at the beginning, the opposite end of the email at the beginning, it says, hi, Katie, that hi, it's very friendly and informal.

What else is there? Ah, guess what? That's a little phrase. It's something you'd say to a friend. Ah, guess what? because you've got a certain level of confidence with them, you can surprise them. Yeah. And like I said a minute ago, I mean, it sounds like somebody speaking really, doesn't it? It sounds just quite natural. I mean, when you were reading it, it doesn't sound in any way

quite natural. I mean, when you were reading it, it doesn't sound in any way different from, you know, conversation. Okay. So let's take a look at, so this is Elizabeth writing to Katie. Let's take a look at Katie's reply and see if it's as good as Elizabeth's. First

email. Okay. Now this is a bit longer, a bit smaller. I'll make it full screen in a moment to help you read it. But what we would like you to do now. Oh, did we forget something? To ask our viewers to think about what information Elizabeth's

asking about? That's a good question.

asking about? That's a good question.

Just to confirm and check that everybody's understood this correctly, what's the reason that Elizabeth is writing? We can ask that before we move on.

Let me just pop that up on the screen for that.

If you notice, there are a few questions in the message here.

Elizabeth wants to know a few things. What is it that she wants to know?

Okay. There we go.

I just did that live as we were... See, I'm so flexible, I can do that just so quickly. What's the reason that Elizabeth is writing? Okay,

that's okay. Goughrain is answering this already. That's one part, a couple of parts of it, Goughrain. The kind of places to be visited, the kind of clothes to be worn, that's important advice. about the

weather.

Kind of clothes, sure. There's one other big ask I think that nobody has mentioned yet. One big request. Everyone's got the what should we wear about the clothes and stuff. That's fine. That's good. I think you're missing maybe the big question. Yeah. I think Yuskis Barouse has

question. Yeah. I think Yuskis Barouse has got it. There we go. Whether or not she can stay with Elizabeth. I mean,

got it. There we go. Whether or not she can stay with Elizabeth. I mean,

that's the big question, you know. Okay, so what have we got then, Neonash? What

are the main points? Okay, there's one more thing that I think nobody's mentioned it yet. The other reason why Elizabeth is writing is to give... some news, some surprising news to her friend Katie that she's bought

give... some news, some surprising news to her friend Katie that she's bought train tickets and then she goes on to ask these questions which are to find out if it's okay to stay in her friend's flat, that's the first question, and where to visit in the city, that's the second question, and what clothes to

bring, that's the third question.

So now we can move on. And as I said, we're going to look now at Katie's reply. Okay. And I'm going to make this full screen and Neeraj is going to talk you through it. Okay. So if

we keep in mind the previous message from Elizabeth and the questions that she was asking, There were three questions about whether it was okay to stay with her friend, where to visit and what clothes to bring. Now, as we read this reply from her friend, Katie,

we'd like you to think about whether this is a good response, whether this is a good reply to the friend. Okay, I'm going to read this email with you and we can talk about some of the words and language in it as well.

All right. So follow with me. Hi, Elizabeth. Thank you for your email of 8th of December. What a pleasant surprise that you will be here next month. I did

of December. What a pleasant surprise that you will be here next month. I did

not expect you to visit. Of course, you can stay at my place. I look

forward to hearing about your recent experiences and I'll be able to accompany you round all the best places for sightseeing. I believe it is essential that we visit the main square. The Christmas market is on at the moment and you can pick up

main square. The Christmas market is on at the moment and you can pick up some cute presents there. I strongly recommend that we climb the tower of the main city cathedral too, because the view is very beautiful. Regarding clothes, if I were you, I would pack plenty of warm items. We shall be spending a significant amount

of time outside so we don't want to freeze. I look forward to seeing you.

Love, Katie. Okay, so that sounds just like you. So we've got some comments already. So basically our question is,

you. So we've got some comments already. So basically our question is, what's wrong with this? Okay, is there a problem? If you got this reply or if you wrote this reply in a test or anything else, would it be a problem? Is there anything? Okay, and Goughran is saying, the

problem? Is there anything? Okay, and Goughran is saying, the reply is way too formal. Okay, that's

true. But is it all too formal? You know, let's think about the whole thing. What else can we say about it, if there's anything? And can you

whole thing. What else can we say about it, if there's anything? And can you give any examples or anything of what you're looking at there? Does it

reply to the initial questions in the first email? Does it provide the information that the friend was asking about? Mm-hmm.

waiting for replies here. So just tell us in the comments, do you notice anything wrong with this email? Do you notice anything right with it? Okay.

Now, Gedri's saying some expressions are too formal. Okay. Goffrey was saying the whole reply was too formal. Gedri's saying some expressions. Daily

English is saying there is unpolite expression. I don't know about that. Which one do you feel is unpolite? Or impolite, I should say. I like this comment that's coming up. It looks like a passage from a Jane Austen book, minus the word

coming up. It looks like a passage from a Jane Austen book, minus the word cute and the smiley face at the end. Okay.

I think that's good. I think pointing out the word cute and so on and the smiley face, I think that's important to notice as well.

And... Christy Usher is saying it sounds like maybe they haven't met before.

Sylvia's identified that next month is January. Christmas is in December.

Maybe Katie was just really slow in replying. Maybe

Elizabeth wrote on November the 30th.

Okay. Okay, so I think we've got enough comments there. Okay, hold on. Ah, here

we go. Voulez is giving us some detail. I felt the wrong thing is, I did not expect you to visit. It should be, I did expect. Okay.

I did expect. Not necessarily. Perhaps Voulez

thinks that... expect means something similar to want or hope. Okay. Okay,

great. Okay, so as I mentioned earlier, because of technical reasons, we're not seeing all the comments from one channel, so we'll move on with this.

So what we've done is we've highlighted some things to help you maybe focus a bit more and look at this. Would you want to say a little bit about that? We're going to move on after this to look at them, to give them

that? We're going to move on after this to look at them, to give them numbers and talk about them, but just to kind of, you know, encourage people to kind of notice these things. Yeah, I mean, it's a bit of a strange email reply because it's got some things which you would expect two friends to say to

each other, for example, hi, Elizabeth at the beginning. It doesn't say dear Elizabeth which is a more formal way to write and then you look at the end it says love Katie and there's an emoji there. All these kind of things indicate. Of

course you can stay at my place. That's natural English. That's what you would say.

There's nothing wrong with that. But it's got some other phrases which are marked off in red here. For example if we look at the first one thank you for your email of 8th of December Now, would you say that to a friend? Thank you for your email on the 8th of December. It sounds a

a friend? Thank you for your email on the 8th of December. It sounds a bit business-like to me. Something a company might write to you when they don't know your name, they don't know you personally. And I did not expect you to visit again. That's something that sounds a bit cold, a bit distant,

not very friendly. I did not expect you to visit and I'm not happy about it. Maybe that's what Vule was saying was impolite because the person is

it. Maybe that's what Vule was saying was impolite because the person is not happy about it. I did not expect you to visit. It sounds angry. Yeah.

Okay. So again, not friendly. Okay. So we've got some good answers coming in now.

So I think we can move on to talk about that. I mean, it's good.

I think we have one comment here that there are no contractions. Well spotted. No,

there's no, there's a one or two, there's like aisle is in there. I think

that's the only one. But in other places where you would expect contractions, there are none. Goffrey is saying it feels like it's both a formal

none. Goffrey is saying it feels like it's both a formal and informal email at the same time. And Reina is saying it's a mix of formal and informal email. I think that's a really important point, isn't it? I mean,

for my students, that's the problem. It's not recognizing the difference between one or the other. It's the difficulty in being consistent and getting the style. What would you say

other. It's the difficulty in being consistent and getting the style. What would you say about that? Absolutely. And this is something that is actually

about that? Absolutely. And this is something that is actually penalized in some English exams, like the IELTS exam, when they ask you to write an email which is informal. If you mix up styles like this, you can actually lose points because you're not being, as you said, consistent, which means you're not keeping

the register the same. If it's an informal email, everything should be informal. If it's

a formal email, everything should be formal and not with the styles mixed up like this. That's inappropriate. Great. And

this. That's inappropriate. Great. And

I'm just going to put this up so you can comment on this from Delia.

Delia is saying, don't finish with love. We can use yours faithfully. That's not quite true, is it? What would you say about something like yours faithfully? That's

a more formal way of finishing, I would say, a written letter, a handwritten letter, rather than an email. I've rarely seen it used nowadays in emails. It's kind of going out of fashion, I would say. But, yeah, it's an

emails. It's kind of going out of fashion, I would say. But, yeah, it's an older form of finishing or signing off a letter, a handwritten letter, in a formal style. Mm-hmm. So we've talked about the challenges, we've talked about

formal style. Mm-hmm. So we've talked about the challenges, we've talked about the mixing register, as you say, you know, mixing the style, it being part formal, part informal. We've highlighted some of the places to look. Some people have mentioned some

part informal. We've highlighted some of the places to look. Some people have mentioned some good things already, like contractions or other ways of saying things. Now it's the challenge for the viewers. Now is where we move into the hard work.

Lots of good comments coming in that we'll talk about. We'll maybe go back to those in a moment. But the task that we have for you today, because we're here to help you practice your writing, not just to listen to us talking. So

the challenge that we have for you now is to take this email and to fix it, to make it better. And to do that, we've broken these down into 10 different examples.

Okay. And what we would like you to do is to suggest a different way to say all these things in the comments, not all 10, you can choose any one, you know, or two or whatever, you know, together, we'll go through all 10. And we'll try when we finish to make a table like this,

all 10. And we'll try when we finish to make a table like this, so you can see the examples. Okay, but what we want you to do just now, is just look at the 10 examples we've got here and then in the comments, write the number and your suggestion for how we could change it.

Maybe we should do one or two together with them. Let's do an example. Let's

do number one and start things off. Thank you for your email of 8th of December. Now, we said that that sounds very

December. Now, we said that that sounds very distant and very, How could we make this sound more friendly? Well, there's an easy way to make thank you sound more friendly. Wasana has already suggested one.

I think that's a really good point. It's a simple one to remember, but when you're speaking with friends, I don't know about you, maybe I'm just not very polite, but when I'm speaking with friends, I almost never say thank you. I always say thanks. Yeah, and there's a further step that we

thanks. Yeah, and there's a further step that we can go to make that phrase sound even more friendly and even more kind of close. We're talking about two close friends here. One of them is going to stay in the other one's house. And it just seems a little bit, even

if you say thanks, that seems a bit too, perhaps a bit too distant. You

could even say something like great to receive your message or lovely to hear from you. Those kind of expressions would work here. Girlfriend's made a suggestion here.

here. Girlfriend's made a suggestion here.

And Rosina's made, I think, a very good suggestion here. Take a look at this one. I like this one. This one sounds really natural. Nice to hear from you,

one. I like this one. This one sounds really natural. Nice to hear from you, girl. Yes. What do you think? Yeah, that works, yes.

girl. Yes. What do you think? Yeah, that works, yes.

Maybe girlfriend. That's good, I like that one. Okay, I'm just seeing if there's anything else. Delia is asking, can we use

one. Okay, I'm just seeing if there's anything else. Delia is asking, can we use these phrases to essays? No, what we're looking at today is specifically emails, messages, letters, communication between two people.

It's not intended for essays. We'll look at essays in another workshop in another day.

Okay, so we've had some good suggestions for number one. Okay, Luke, Vin, so fantastic to hear from you. Again, very natural. Yeah, that's a good way to start an email like this, which is informal, saying thank you to the other person in another way. Juliana, I'm happy to hear from you. That would be okay. The only

another way. Juliana, I'm happy to hear from you. That would be okay. The only

thing, maybe would you change anything in Juliana's answer there? Yeah, to make it even more friendly or more informal, I just put a contraction in there between the I and the and. So I'd say I'm happy to hear from you. I like this one from Daily English as well. It's like, finally, I got your email. I can

see that between friends as well. Where have you been all this time? Long time,

no see. It's a long time, no hear. Another phrase we often say. Can't wait

to see you. That's interesting. Can't wait to see you.

We would say that to friends, but because the function of this phrase is to recognize that we've received a message from a friend, we wouldn't say that in that particular part of the email. So in position number one, right at the beginning, we wouldn't say, I can't wait to see you. It would come later. Maybe Daily English

is suggesting this for number 10. So yeah, put the numbers in just so we can be sure, because we might get confused where you're going with things like that. So Okay, so lots of examples there for number one.

Yeah, we've got lots of them. Okay, so let's move on. So basically, we're going to spend a little bit of time on this because it's important. So what we want you to do is to think about all of these and just read through it. You don't have to answer them all, but let's say, for example, if we

it. You don't have to answer them all, but let's say, for example, if we looked at number seven and number eight, you know, I think they're quite easy ones to fix and change. So maybe you could just tell us what you think about that. We've already had a suggestion for number 10, maybe.

Number six, I strongly recommend, you know, choose some and put the answers.

Here's another suggestion for one from Sally. Delighted to hear from you. We've got about five or six different ways we can say one. Suggestions so far, yep. I'm

over the moon after hearing that you're visiting me. Lovely. Nice little phrase there.

Okay, so we have a suggestion for number three now.

What do you think of that one? I could definitely hear myself saying that to a friend or somebody saying that to me who knows me very well. And we've

planned something and let's say we're going to meet on the weekend. Okay, I'm gonna skip forward just to the table format. I think you've read the email, so hopefully you can remember the context, but we'll go back and forward. So let's see if we can choose some to go for.

So I mentioned seven and eight. Let's look at them, because I think they're really easy ones to get us started with. If I were you, I would pack, or we shall be able to, things like that. What's the simple? for seven and eight, do you think? Tell us in the comments. Number seven. Have we got anybody who's

actually given us the answer then? Okay. Okay.

Giedry's coming with this one. We'll spend loads of time outside. So let's take a look back at number eight. We shall be spending a significant amount. So Giedry's

suggested two answers there. Seven, sorry, eight and nine. So, we'll spend and we'll spend we'll be spending both are possible that's okay uh a significant amount loads of time good suggestions there uh-huh you know what's interesting for me uh you know tell me if it's the same

for you i'm looking at the answers that are coming in and contractions are not featuring a lot in the answers what would you say i noticed that I was waiting for somebody to give me the answer to number seven because it's so easy to fix that with a contraction. But I haven't seen it yet.

And so, yeah, maybe that's something that I find that with my students, they often miss out contractions and I have to keep telling them, you do need contractions to show an informal style. Don't forget them. And they're very easy to put in there.

I mean, I often do that in classes, you know, once they've finished and they've got like, you know, the email's looking good, then I actually just make them go back and put in every contraction that's possible because, you know, yeah, it's just something that's maybe just not natural or a bit difficult to remember. It just doesn't happen very often. Okay, we've got an answer from Wasana.

That's it. Perfect.

Okay, great. Mm-hmm. And Ghedri as well there, I'd.

Exactly. So number seven and number eight, I'd pack, we'll instead of we shall.

Okay. We had one suggestion for number nine already, which was I think from Ghedri, which was loads of time. That's a good example. Any other possibilities you can think of there, Neeraj? We can also say lots of, it's the same as saying loads of. Okay. We'd also say, tons of

of. Okay. We'd also say, tons of um yeah tons of time that's that's a good example so loads of lots of tons of okay um gofrains saying plenty of time that's also possible i think okay okay we're getting lots of lots of answers for

for number seven now so that's great so let's look at another one what what choose another one neeraj first to focus on for a moment let's have a look at uh Number four, to accompany you. Okay. Let's just refresh people's memory of where that fitted in the text. I'll be able to accompany you around all the best places for sightseeing. Yeah. Accompany is a very formal word, isn't it? I mean,

I don't think that you would ever use that in a conversation with a friend.

No, that's right. Yeah, it's definitely, I mean, it is used. It is

a valid word, but it's formal. You only use it in formal conduct, especially in speaking. You might find it in a newspaper story, for example. The prime minister was

speaking. You might find it in a newspaper story, for example. The prime minister was accompanied by the secretary of state and represent something like that.

You might use it in that kind of context, but I don't think you would.

It's written in the written form, in a report, but spoken to somebody or in an informal email like this. We would use another way to say the same thing. And the clue here is that there is a whole family of, let's

same thing. And the clue here is that there is a whole family of, let's say, vocabulary or grammar. It's kind of in between the two, grammar and vocabulary, which allows us to say formal things in an informal way. There's a whole class of words which cause lots of students headaches. Okay.

Got some suggestions coming in. We've got from Gophrain to join you.

Anna's saying to teach. Take you round. I think both of those are absolutely possible, don't you? Well, you couldn't say join you round all the best places, but you'd

don't you? Well, you couldn't say join you round all the best places, but you'd have to put in a verb as well, wouldn't you? I have to join you going round all the best or something like that. That's it. But take you round all the best places. Absolutely fine. It's not exactly what you were looking for.

Luke has got a suggestion. Mm-hmm.

That's fine, yes. What's Anna saying? Go along with you or tag along with you? Okay. That's it. So I think you're getting the idea. All these

suggestions that we've just had are phrasal verbs. And that's what I was looking for, using phrasal verbs to replace these more formal Latin style verbs. Sorry. Slight cough. Okay,

style verbs. Sorry. Slight cough. Okay,

another one. I'll choose one to focus on this thing. Let's look at number five, because I think that's one that we can quite quickly make better.

I believe it is essential that we look at the next question here. I

believe it is essential that we visit the main square. Indeed, we should.

So what would you say instead of that? I believe it is essential that we visit the main square. We can make that much shorter, much simpler, much more friendly.

Let's see if people can come up with some suggestions for number five. Okay, Wasana's

first off the mark again with an answer here. I think it's a must. Okay,

I think that's okay. What do you think? I think it's a must that we visit the main square. It's possible. What do you think? Yeah. Yeah. I think the main square is a must, maybe? I think that's better. That sounds a bit better to me. The main square is a must. So we, yeah.

to me. The main square is a must. So we, yeah.

I'm trying to think. Do we say must before an infinity? It's a must to do something. Not so common. I wouldn't say it. Yeah.

do something. Not so common. I wouldn't say it. Yeah.

Okay. Just simplifying here. I believe it's essential. We have to. I think that's okay as well. What do you think? Yeah, that's kind of that emphatic, it really means

as well. What do you think? Yeah, that's kind of that emphatic, it really means it's a strong recommendation, but it's fine to use it informally in this sense. Yeah,

I mean, again, we're getting a lot of these that are kind of maybe a bit too strong with, we must visit Fernando. I consider that we must, that's also very formal, I would say.

Simple form here, maybe. We should visit, nothing wrong with that.

Goffrey's got another suggestion. We shouldn't miss the opportunity of dropping by the main square.

Quite nice. What do you think? Yeah, I like that.

Okay. Juliana's got

another suggestion here. Oops, sorry, I missed it. Hit up the main square. Yes.

Okay. Lots of informal expressions coming in there. Lots of extra ones. It's quite interesting. Juliana wanted to change the verb visit

there. Lots of extra ones. It's quite interesting. Juliana wanted to change the verb visit to a phrasal verb, and I think that's a very clever thing to do as well. If you see these verbs that you can replace with phrasal verbs, that's a

well. If you see these verbs that you can replace with phrasal verbs, that's a nice way of showing informal style. Okay. Manuel's got a suggestion for number seven. If

I were you, I'd bring a ton of sweaters. Okay. Okay. Nice. Just missing the plural S on the end, sweaters. Okay. And then

here we've got like, just let's visit the main square. Absolutely. I had kind of a suggestion there. Okay. Good. Oh, okay. This one's also a nice one from Rosina, I think. You can't miss the main square. It's fantastic. Something like that.

Okay. Great. Let's take a look at maybe one more and then we'll move on to look at our suggestions. You can choose this one, Neeraj.

What do you think? We've done loads of time. So we've done nine. We've done,

I strongly recommend, we've done the contractions in seven and eight. Should we go for number 10? Look forward to seeing you. Yeah, I think so. Okay. So let's just

number 10? Look forward to seeing you. Yeah, I think so. Okay. So let's just say, as you said earlier, I look forward to seeing you as a formal ending for a letter or email. You would never use this with a friend, usually.

Never usually? You would usually never. It's just

too distant and cold and businesslike. Someone

earlier in the conversation, someone earlier mentioned that when it's less formal, it should be the present continuous form. I'm looking forward to seeing you. And that

is true, but that doesn't, what would you say about that? It's not quite, it's not informal so much as I would say it's more, less informal.

When you think about the relationship between the two people writing, and if we consider that they are very good friends, close friends, and even that option that you're suggesting, I'm looking forward to seeing you, it's still a bit, not informal enough so we would want an even more informal phrase just to show

that closeness of the relationship she's right in suggesting that I'm looking forward to you is more informal but it's still not informal enough for this kind of situation in my opinion somewhere in the middle Maybe you could write it to somebody that you know, for example, but is not a close friend, maybe in a work situation, something like that. You know, you're arranging a meeting, you know them quite well, you're

able to talk to them normally, but it's still a business kind of relationship, perhaps you might say. So I'm looking forward to seeing you next week. Okay. Lots of

examples coming in now. Lots of them. That's great. See, just takes a little bit of time. Writing is not as fast as speaking. So, you know, going through this

of time. Writing is not as fast as speaking. So, you know, going through this reading and getting the answers is a little bit of a longer process, but I hope you find it useful. Okay. Luke suggesting, hope to see you soon.

Juliana's just dropped off the beginning and just said, see you soon. Aline's suggesting, I can't wait to see you. Nice answer from Abdukholik Saburov, if you can have a look at his. I will passionately wait for you.

That one? Yeah, I will passionately wait for you. Now, it's a bit of a strange way to finish an informal email between two friends.

You might expect to see this in something like Romeo and Juliet, that kind of way of finishing a letter, but it's not appropriate for this situation. Well, we're

just two days after Valentine's Day, so maybe it's just a kind of hangover from all the romantic feelings that were going around on Wednesday. Okay,

and another phrasal verb popping up from Neherika here.

That's nice. That's appropriate. And she's done something very interesting as well. She's used

something called ellipsis, which we'll talk about at the moment.

Okay, Goughrain, I'm counting the days to meet you. That's nice too.

Okay. Lots of these. Okay. That's fantastic. Okay. So basically, I think we've seen, you know, I think everyone watching has done a great job so far.

What would you say, Neeraj? Any observations about it? No, most people have got a nice, friendly, informal sign-off phrase memorised or learned, or they've seen one, and I can see from all the responses, everyone's got something more or less appropriate. Okay. So let's take a look at our

suggested version of this. You want to talk them through this Neonesh? Okay so

let's start. Hi Elizabeth, great to hear from you which is something that many of you suggested or a version of that. What a lovely surprise that you'll be here next month. I didn't see that coming. Just in case

next month. I didn't see that coming. Just in case anybody doesn't know that phrase didn't see something coming means It's a surprise.

It's just emphasizing something was a surprise. You didn't expect it. Of course, I can put you up at my place. Can't wait to catch up on all your news, and I'll be able to show you around all the best places for sightseeing. I think we got suggestions of both of these from people during the

for sightseeing. I think we got suggestions of both of these from people during the thing, so that's great. I'd say we definitely need to check out the main square.

Mm-hmm. The Christmas market is on at the moment. Plus, it's a great place for picking up some cute prezzies. By the way, we really should go up inside the tower of the City Cathedral too. The view's just stunning. As

for clothes, if I were you, I'd pack plenty of warm stuff. We'll be spending loads of time outside so we don't want to freeze. Can't wait to see you.

Love, Katie. So just before we look at these in a bit more detail, yeah, we're doing okay for time, so that's fine. Just before we look in a bit more detail, I'd like to ask one question, one thing that nobody has mentioned so far. Can I just say one word to you and see if you notice anything? That one word is punctuation,

notice anything? That one word is punctuation, okay? Punctuation. Look at the punctuation in this email and tell me if you

okay? Punctuation. Look at the punctuation in this email and tell me if you notice anything. about

notice anything. about it. I don't know if we should just sit here and wait for the answers.

it. I don't know if we should just sit here and wait for the answers.

Probably talk about what would you say? Let's talk about punctuation. I mean, punctuation is different between formal and informal emails and stuff, isn't it? Yeah, basically there's just a lot more of it in informal emails, as you can probably all see.

There are exclamation marks, more contractions, commas, and sentences are shorter, so more full stops.

But the main thing is exclamation marks. That's something you don't see in formal communications like this. I think we have the three answers now. I mean, we have

like this. I think we have the three answers now. I mean, we have exclamation points there. We mentioned contractions. So, of course, that's an aspect of punctuation as well. And emojis. I would count emojis as a kind of punctuation too within that.

well. And emojis. I would count emojis as a kind of punctuation too within that.

And I was saying, punctuation was a nightmare for me. Well, hopefully after today it won't be. Because I think the other thing about punctuation in informal writing is, as

won't be. Because I think the other thing about punctuation in informal writing is, as Neeraj said, there's more of it. and it's less strict, it's more expressive. And

you're expected to use it. If you use punctuation like exclamation marks, you're going to get credit for that because you're showing a more informal style. So don't be scared to use exclamation marks in particular to show surprise, emotion, happiness, all that kind of thing, as if you're talking. Okay, so we're coming

to the end of today's workshop, but I think we've covered a lot of ground and done a lot of useful work, but just as a takeaway, you can come back to this and actually maybe we'll share it later on our Facebook page as well as an image to help you with this. But just, you know, we just want to very quickly just to remind them of the main points of what this

kind of shows and then we'll look at the rules at the end or the tips to take away. Okay, so... Well,

what it shows is that we're using, as you said, punctuation. We're using shorter sentence forms to express things in a more friendly way. So, for

example, number three, I look forward to hearing about all your recent experiences reduced down to can't wait to catch up. We're using phrasal verbs to replace those Latin form or Greek form of vocabulary. And

also, which one of the I at the beginning of three and 10, like you mentioned earlier. Yeah, that's got a special name. It's called ellipsis. So you don't say

mentioned earlier. Yeah, that's got a special name. It's called ellipsis. So you don't say the subject because it's obvious. Like in number 10, can't wait to see you. The

full sentence would have the subject. I can't wait to see you. But it's not necessary to say I when you're writing it informally. And in fact, it's absolutely appropriate to miss out one more thing is vocabulary um in number nine a significant

amount changing that to more informal vocabulary like loads lots of i think we had a couple of other examples oh yeah present present prezzy prezzy that's uh i don't know if in american english they've used prezzy but british british english and and australian english and a few other Varieties, definitely they would use Prezi.

And were there any other examples of informal vocabulary? I

need to see the email again. Yeah, that's enough for just now, I think. OK,

great. So basically, We've talked about that. We've showed you an example of an email that was not successful because it mixed formal and informal styles together. Then we've looked at what to think about and how to fix

styles together. Then we've looked at what to think about and how to fix it, and you've suggested the answers. And now we're just going to finish up with the top tips, with the things to remember. And I'm going to pass this over to Neeraj just to round off today's workshop. Okay, these are your

key takeaways, as they would say in a business presentation. Key takeaways from today's workshop. When you're writing informally, try including

workshop. When you're writing informally, try including some ellipsis. So eliminating the subject from these phrases. They're generally

some ellipsis. So eliminating the subject from these phrases. They're generally

fixed or semi-fixed phrases that you just learned, like, great to hear from you. I

can't wait to see you. See

you soon. Use shorter sentences. Don't be afraid just even to write one word sentence like really, no way. That's absolutely fine in an informal communication.

Obviously not every sentence should be a short sentence like this, but it's okay to have a few like that. It shows an informal way of speaking or writing.

When you've finished writing your email, go back and read it again and check for any possible contractions you may have missed. Typical contractions that people forget to write are will not. People often forget that one.

But there's others as well. Can I just stop you there just to remind, because I just really want to emphasize this because it is the one thing that kind of, you know, In class, I just have to do it so many times. I suggest honestly just doing what I said earlier, like whenever you'd practice writing an informal message, just take a minute when you finish to go through it and just do that and just check if

you've, anywhere you can use it, use it. And the more often you do that, the more natural it will become and then you'll start to do it without having to check. But it's such a simple thing, but it's one that honestly is I

to check. But it's such a simple thing, but it's one that honestly is I think most often missed or hardest for my students to get right within that.

And you will get extra points for using that. If you don't use it, your email will look too formal or it will look more formal than it should do.

So don't miss out these easy points.

The next thing on my list here is using informal conjunctions and discourse markers. So

these are connectors or phrases used to indicate what's coming up next in the message. And these

ones can be more, they're more informal. Learn them and try using them in your emails. And likewise, I'd say make sure that you avoid using things like, you know, however, nevertheless, or furthermore, or in addition, if you're writing to a friend, because that just sounds weird. Yeah, those are the ones that people

have memorised a bit more because they're so used to writing essays and reading them in textbooks, but they sound too formal in communication like this. We

mentioned quite a lot about punctuation already. And we also mentioned informal vocabulary. It's good to learn a collection of phrasal

vocabulary. It's good to learn a collection of phrasal verbs that are typical in informal emails, like catch up, which means to get all the latest news from a friend or instead of visit, show around or look around, that kind of thing. So learn some common phrasal verbs

for these typical Latin type verbs that we might be tempted to use, which are twofold. And finally, on our list here, emojis.

Use emojis to show emotion. especially if there's a surprise or a happy moment that you want to express in the email. This is absolutely appropriate.

Okay, and I think that's us. I think we're basically, we've come to the end.

I think we've covered a lot of work today and gone through a lot of things. And I think people have done a fantastic job in the answers they've given

things. And I think people have done a fantastic job in the answers they've given us. Okay, Wasana has just got one last question before we finish. What

us. Okay, Wasana has just got one last question before we finish. What

about these kind of text-speak kind of short forms like BTW and TBH and LMAO and stuff? What would you say about those? Yeah, I mean, in an exam type situation, I would say probably not. I would say use the full forms because some examiners or some exam bodies don't

recognize these as standard English accepted phrases or accepted usages.

So... I would avoid them in those types of situations. But if it's a task for a teacher, let's say, or for you're actually writing to some friend, then yeah, go for it. Okay. Hold on just one second.

Last thing. Okay.

I'm just going to say I was confused by Manuel's final message here. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

seeing you again. Okay. Thank you. Okay, great. That's us, I think. I mean, I think it's been really good. Any last message for people before we go? Yeah,

practice writing informal emails and see if you can get somebody to look over it and check, or even using artificial intelligence. Some ChatGPT can also check your emails to tell you if it's sufficiently formal or informal, and it will give you some guidance. where you might be able to

make changes. So you can ask it to suggest phrasal verbs or informal vocabulary where

make changes. So you can ask it to suggest phrasal verbs or informal vocabulary where you're not sure. Okay, so that's us for today. Hope you've enjoyed this. Hope it's

been useful for you. If you missed any of it and came late, you can always watch the recording. It's available on Facebook and on YouTube anytime.

For some of the things like the slides that we showed with the text and stuff on them, you can pause those or take screenshots to save them. and use

them and work with them and everything. As Neera says, keep practicing, you know, and we promise you'll get there in the end. Okay. Bye for now. Thanks, everybody. Bye-bye.