外贸英语函电 chapter 2 the layout of business letter

Chapter 2 The Layout of Business Letters商贸信函的布局与写作Section 1 General Introduction第一节 总 论Contents 1. Definition of Business Letters （商业信函的定义）2. Categories of Business Letters（商业信函的种类）3. How to Achieve Our Writing Purposes in BL Writing? （如何达到写作目的）Section 21. Definition of Business Letters （定义）A Business Letter is a message that attempts to influence its recipientri sipint （收件人） to take some action or attitude desired by the sender.The letter might be for the purpose (目的） of collection of a bill （票据托收） , or expressing a goodwill（善意） , or promotion of sales （促销） of a product or service： convincing the reader that a product is worth buying.2. The Categories （范畴，种类） of Business LettersBusiness Letters can be roughly（粗略地） grouped into three categories in terms of their purposes.(1) To get action letters(2) To build goodwill (good relationship) letters(3) To provide information lettersBACK3. How to Achieve Our Writing Purposes in Business Letters Writing?(1) Language Style （注意 语言风格 ）Written style （ 书面语 风格 ）Conversational style （ 口语体 风格 ）Formal style （ 正式 文体 ）Informal style （ 非正式 文体 ）Modernized style （ 现代语 风格 ）Old-fashioned style （ 古语体 风格 ）3. How to Achieve Our Writing Purposes in Business Letters Writing?(2) The layout and structure of a business letter （注意商业信函的 布局 与 结构）Business English Correspondences have their special format and structure, when we are writing, we should follow these format and structure.Section 2 The Language Style of Business Letter第二节 商业信函的 语言风格Contents1. The Writing Guidelines for Business Letters2. Writing BL Conversational but Professional3. How to Achieve Conversational Style?4. Steps for Business Letter Writing Section 31.The Writing Guidelines for Business Letters（ 商业信函的写作 指南 ）2. A Business letter should be clear, human , helpful, and as friendly as the topic allows. 3. The following 7 Cs will guide you composing and revising your letters.(1) Clear（清晰） : easy to understand and easy to read(2) Concise（简洁） : short and clear, expressing what need to be said without unnecessary words1.The Writing Guidelines for Business Letters（ 商业信函的写作指南 ）2.7Cs3. (3) Courteous（ 礼貌 ） : polite and not offensive(4) Correct（ 正确 ） : right in grammar, correct in spelling(5) Conversational（ 口语体 ） : direct and friendly, make the reader feel comfortable(6) Convincing（ 有说服力 ） : make your recipient believe what you write is true(7) Complete （ 完整 ） : cover all information2. Writing BL Conversational but Professional （用口语体，但专业化）Take care: conversational does not mean informal, business letter is more business-like. So, a business Letter should be: Friendly, efficient and helpful（ It does not mean that you should use slang （俚语，行话） , bad grammar or poor English） Direct and approachable A conversational style often makes a reader comfortable and responsive.比较： Please be advised that Let me explain that Formal but not over-formalA formal style of your correspondence aims to establish and maintain pleasant business relations but an over-formal style will negatively work in the opposite way.Please read and compare the letter on page 8 （过时，不需理解） and the letter on page 9 （现代，可以理解） . After reading, please answer:1.What are the shortcomings of the first Letter (hint: the last 2 paragraphs on p9)?1. Old-fashioned; long; complex; exaggerated; legalese; confusing; pompous; pretentious2. What are the advantages of the second Letter (hint: the last 2 paragraphs on page 9)?Modernized; friendly; plain; sincere; clear; concise; 7Cs, conversational style, 3. How to Achieve Conversational Style? ( Writing Techniques for Conversational Style ， 写作技巧 ) Using contraction （使用 缩略语 ）(Im, Youre, doesnt )(1) Im writing to inform you that your fax dated June 4 has been duly received.(1) I am writing to inform you that your fax dated June 4 has been duly received.(2) Youre supposed to be here at 6 oclock.(2) You are supposed to be here at 6 oclock. Using personal pronoun （ 多用 人称代词 ）(I, we, you, my, our )By using pronoun, we can make writing sound more like face-to-face talk.(1) We have changed our address.(2) Our address records have been changed. Using direct question （ 用直接问句 ）Modern business writing encourages direct questions to get direct answers, and discourages questions introduced by using words such as “whether”. 例 （ 1） Can we pay against these receipt? (Better)（ 1） Please inform us whether payment against these receipts will be in order. (Discourages) Using a person-to-person style（使用人对人的 人性化 风格）Please compare and tell which is personal, and which is impersonal .(1) With reference to your fax of March 2, enclosed please find a copy of the brochure bru（说明书，小册子） requested. (2) Thank you for your fax of March 2. I am enclosing the brochure you asked for. (impersonal)(personal)Compare and tell which is personal, and which is impersonal . (3) Enclosed please find the information requested. (impersonal )(4) As requested, we are sending you the brochure.(personal) Taking a you-attitude（ 考虑收信人的情感和态度 ）When we are writing a business letter, we should put ourselves in the readers position and write in a friendly and helpful tone.If your counterpart （ 合作伙伴、对方 ） has mentioned something personal in the letter, refer to it in your reply. Taking a you-attitudePlease read and Compare: Which one is you-attitude and which one is we-attitude.(1) We would like to take the opportunity at the fair to demonstrate our products and services which we can offer our customers. (2) Please join us at the fair and you will have a chance to see how our products and services can benefit you and your company. (We- attitude)(You-attitude) BACK4. Steps for Business Letter Writing:（商业信函的写作 步骤 ）5 Steps: Aim （确定写信的 目的 ）： Write down your aim: why are you writing this letter? Gathering Materials（收集相关资料） : Gathering all the relevant information and documents. 3. Steps for Business Letter Writing:（商业信函的写作 步骤 ） Outline（写出提纲）： Have you included all the important points? Have you written anything that is not relevant? Draft（起草） : According to the format and structure of a business letter. Polishing（ 修改润色 ） : Check grammar, spelling, punctuation and its language style.BACKSection 3 Format of Business Letters第三节 商贸信函的基本 格式Two formats have established their wide popularity in business letter writing.1.The Indented Form （ 缩行式 ）2. The Blocked Form （ 齐头式 ）3. The Modified Blocked Form （ 改良的 齐头式 ）Section 4 1. The Indented Form （ 缩行式 ）(1) The Indented Form （ 缩行式商贸信函 ） take in the first line of every paragraph in the body of the business letter. （主体部分 每一个段落的开头都需要缩进 45 个字母）(2) The address of the sender, the complimentary kmpli ment ri （问候的、称赞） close and the signature are being put near the right margin. （ 发信人地址 、 问候语 以及发信人 签名 都需 靠右编排 ）Senders AddressDateSignature In HandwritingSalutationAttentionReceivers Address.Complimentary CloseSenders Name in printing1. The Indented Form（缩行式）2. The Blocked Form （ 齐头式 ） The Blocked Form （齐头式） is the most widely used in the world business nowadays for its time-saving, eye-pleasing and easy-reading.(1) The Blocked Form （ 齐头式 ） is drafted with open punctuation (no commas) , especially in addresses（ 地址行不放标点 ） .(2) Block means that every line starts flush fl （ 齐平的 ） from the left margin （页边空白）（每一行都顶格起行） . 2. The Blocked Form （ 齐头式 ） (3) Paragraphs are not indented, they are separated by a blank line（ 段落与段落之间 空一行 ） .The block form is the most popular in modern business letters. You are strongly advised to take this blocked form as your first choice.（ 这是现代商贸信函当中 最常用的格式 ，建议同学们 选用 本格式来写关于商贸的信函 ）Senders AddressDateSignature In HandwritingSalutationAttentionReceivers Address.Complimentary CloseSenders Name in printing2. The Blocked Form（齐头式）Senders Posit