- •Министерство образования Российской Федерации
- •Методические указания к практическим занятиям по деловой корреспонденции Часть 1
- •Entry Test. Letters
- •Personnel appointments
- •1.1 Applying for a position
- •1.1.1 Opening
- •1.1.2 Application form requests
- •1.1.3 Curriculum vitae
- •1.1.4 Opening
- •1.1.5 Summary of details
- •1.1.6 Explanation of previous experience
- •1.1.7 Reasons you are applying
- •1.1.8 Close
- •1.2 Specimen letters
- •1.2.1 Unsolicited letter
- •1.2.2 Reply to unsolicited letter Mitchell Hill Plc Merchant Bank
- •11-15 Montague Street London Eel 5dn
- •1.2.3 Application form
- •1.2.4 Covering letter for c.V.
- •1.2.5 Curriculum vitae
- •Curriculum vitae
- •1.2.6 Invitation for an interview
- •International Computing Services plc
- •1.3 Making a decision
- •1.3.1 Turning down an applicant
- •1.3.2 Offering a position
- •1.3.3 Openings
- •1.3.4 Details
- •1.3.5 Close
- •1.4 Specimen letters
- •1.4.1 Letter offering position
- •International Computing Services plc
- •1.4.2 Letters confirming acceptance
- •1.5 Points to remember
- •Writing Curriculum Vitae (Resume). Covering letter
- •1.2 In the box are headings from a typical cv. Look at the extracts from the cv of Tomoko Horiguchi, a Japanese woman working in England. Under which of the cv headings should each extract be placed?
- •1.3 When you apply for a job you usually send a cv and covering letter. Which of the following do you usually do in a covering letter?
- •Letter of application
- •1.4 A letter of application.Put the paragraphs in the correct order:
- •1.5 Complete Fiona Scott's letter of application using the following verbs:
- •1.6 Giving news to job applicants.Read this letter making an offer of employment. Then decide whether the statements below are true or false:
- •1.7 The draft letter below is addressed to an unsuccessful candidate for the vacancy at Slim Gyms. Put a circle around any language that you think is too informal for the situation:
- •1.8 Complete this corrected version of the draft letter using items from below:
- •1.9 Study the Useful languagebox below. Use a dictionary to check the meaning of any words or phrases which are unfamiliar. Add three words or phrases to each column. Useful language
- •1.10 Complete the letter using suitable words and phrases from the Useful languagebox. The letter in brackets indicates which column you should check to find the correct word or phrase.
- •1.11 Responding to job applications. Read the letter and fill in each blank with an appropriate passive form of the verbs below.
- •1.12 Write Andrew's reply to Karen Poulson.
- •2.2 Writing general complaints
- •2.2.1 Opening
- •2.2.2 The language of complaints
- •2.2.3 Explaining the problem
- •2.2.4 Suggesting a solution
- •2.3 Replying to letters of complaint
- •2.3.1 Opening
- •2.3.2 Getting time to investigate the complaint
- •2.3.3 Explaining the mistake
- •2.3.4 Solving the problem
- •2.3.5 Rejecting a complaint
- •2.3.6 Closing
- •2.4 Specimen letters
- •2.4.1 Complaint of damage f. Lynch & Co. Ltd.
- •2.4.2 Reply to complaint of damage
- •Satex s.P.A.
- •Via di Pietra Papa, 00146 Roma
- •2.4.3 Complaint of non-delivery
- •2.4.3 Reply to complaint of non-delivery
- •2.5 Points to remember
- •Making complaints
- •2.1 Jonathan Webb, Marketing Director of Executive Golfing Ltd, placed an order for an advertisement with an agency. On 15 May he stated the following requirements to Rachel Levy at rl Media:
- •2.2 Reorder the following, so that they show the usual structure of a letter of complaint:
- •2.3 Study the expressions in the Useful language box, then choose one of the situations below and write a letter of complaint: Useful language
- •2.4 Letters of complaint. Unscramble the sentences and re-order them to make two different letters of complaint. Write the sentence numbers in the table.
- •2.5 Complaints and suggestions. Complete this business e-mail with an appropriate form of the verbs below:
- •Replying to Letters of Complaint
- •2.6 Reply to the e-mail above (ex. 2.5). Useful language
- •Indicating action
- •2.7 The text of a letter replying to a complaint is given. Complete it, choosing from the alternatives given to fill in the gaps.
- •2.8 Silvina Pietragalli recently flew home to Argentina. She had a very unpleasant flight and she wrote to Alpha Airlines to complain about it.
- •Put the following points in order to show how Lisa Kaplan's letter is organized:
- •2.9 Write a suitable letter to deal with one of these situations. Invent an address for the people and companies concerned. Use some of the expressions from the Useful languagebox.
- •2.10 Complete this reply to the complaint about delivery in the exercise above.
- •Enquiries
- •3.1 Methods of enquiry
- •3.2 Writing letters of enquiry
- •3.2.1 Opening
- •3.2.2 Asking for catalogues, price-lists, prospectuses
- •3.2.3 Asking for details
- •3.2.4 Asking for samples, patterns, demonstrations
- •3.2.5 Suggesting terms, methods of payment, discounts
- •3.2.6 Closing
- •3.3. Specimen letters
- •3.3.1 Reply to an advertisement
- •3.3.2 Enquiry from a retailer to a foreign manufacturer
- •F. Lynch & Co. Ltd.
- •3.3.3 Request for an estimate
- •3.4 Points to remember
- •Writing letters of enquiry
- •3.1 Complete the letter with the following phrases:
- •3.2 Below you will see parts of three letters of enquiry. Put the correct word or phrase in each blank. Choose from the following list. Use each item once only.
- •Replying to letters of enquiry
- •3.5 Below you will see parts of three letters answering an enquiry. Put the correct word or phrase in each blank. Choose from the following list. Use each item once only.
- •3.6 Read the letter of enquiry below, and cross out the one sentence which does not fit in.
- •3.7 Write a suitable reply to the letter in ex. 3.6, following the guidelines below.
- •List of References
- •Методические указания к практическим занятиям по деловой корреспонденции Часть 1
2.2 Writing general complaints
2.2.1 Opening
Do not delay and do not apologize. Complain as soon as you realize a mistake has been made; delay not only weakens your case, but can complicate the matter as the people you are dealing with might forget the details. And there is no need to open your letter by apologizing for the need to complain ('We regret to inform you ...','I am sorry to have to write to you about...'); this also weakens your case. Begin simply:
We would like to inform you…
I am writing to complain about…
I am writing with reference to Order No. P32 which we received yesterday.
2.2.2 The language of complaints
Terms like 'disgusted', 'infuriated', 'enraged', 'amazed' have no place in business. You can express dissatisfaction by saying:
This is the third time this mistake has occurred and we are far from satisfied with the service you offer.
Unless you can fulfil our orders efficiently in the future we will have to consider other sources of supply.
Please ensure that this sort of problem does not arise again.
Do not be rude or personal. In most cases correspondence between firms takes place between employees in various departments. Nothing is gained by being rude to the individual you are writing to; you may antagonize someone who has probably had nothing to do with the error and, rather than getting the error corrected, s/he could become defensive and awkward to deal with.
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Therefore, do not use sentences like: |
Use the passive and impersonal structures: |
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'You must correct your mistake as soon as possible. |
The mistake must be corrected as soon as possible. |
|
'You made an error on the statement. |
There appears to be an error on the statement. |
|
'You don't understand the terms of discount. We told you to deduct discount from net prices, not c. i. f. prices. |
There seems to be some misunderstanding regarding terms of discount. Discount is deducted from net prices, not c.i.f. prices. |
Do not use words like 'fault' ('your fault', 'our fault') or 'blame' ('you are to blame'); these expressions are not only rude, but childish. Therefore, do not write:
It is not our fault, it is probably the fault of your despatch department.
But:
The mistake could not have originated here, and must be connected with the despatch of the goods.
Never blame your staff, and finally, while writing the complaint remember that your supplier wants to help you and correct the mistake. He is not in business to irritate or confuse his customers but to offer them a service.
2.2.3 Explaining the problem
If you think you know how the mistake was made, you may politely point it out to your supplier. Sometimes when a mistake occurs several times, you may be able to work out why it is happening more quickly than the firm you are dealing with.
Could you tell your despatch department to take special care when addressing my consignment? My name is C. J. Schwartz, Bergstr. 101 Koln. But there is a C. Schwartz, Bergstr. 110 Koln who also deals in electrical fittings.
Could you ask your accounts department to check my code carefully in future? My account number is 246-642, and they have been sending me statements coded 642-246.
I think the reason that wrong sizes have been sent to me is because I am ordering in metric sizes, and you are sending me sizes measured in feet and inches. I would appreciate your looking into this.