Introduction.

Elena A. Danilova

Business English

Part II

Business Letter Writing

Simferopol, 2001

The Contents.

Introduction……………………………………………………….2

1. Business Letter Writing………………………………………....3

2. Enquiries and Replies to Enquires……………………………...10

3. Orders and Execution of Orders………………………………..16

4. Packing and Despatch…………………………………………..22

5. Invoicing, Accounting and Settlement of Accounts……………27

6. Shipping and Forwarding……………………………………….39

7. Banking and Payments in Foreign Trade……………………….46

8. Insurance………………………………………………………..60

9. Complaints and Replies to Complaints…………………………66

Secretarial…………………………………………………………75

Vocabulary…………………………………………………………85

Exercises…………………………………………………………..94

INTRODUCTION.

Communication is a critical part in any sphere of a human activity. But first of all it is important to business. Businesses want and need people with good communication skills. All too often they do not get them, however, because most employees in the country, even university trained, do not communicate well.

The communication success of employees and the significance of communication explain why students need work in order to improve their communication skills, especially business letter writing.

Communication takes three main forms: oral, written and computer. Major part of the information consists of different forms of written communication – business letters, memorandums (MEMO) and reports. Written communication offers a major advantage of providing documentation and allows receivers to review information several times before responding.

Writing is considered a critical success factor by many successful leaders. Direct, clear and relevant writing can make the difference between a god and stagnant career. Anyway, writing should be direct, brief, well organized and easy to understand.

Good writing is “you-centered”, not “I-centered”. Rather than thinking about demonstrating what you know, you should think about what your potential reader need to know or can gain from reading your writing. Good writing also involves knowing when to rewrite and when to stop. Usually, the reader can tell when a letter is dictated and when a letter is actually written and then edited.

The ability of clear writing begins with the so-called “adaptation”. Adaptation is fitting the message to concrete person or to a specific reader. Usually, readers do not have the same knowledge of a subject, the same vocabulary, the same education, or the same mentality, etc. One should form his message to fit a person’s mind.

Selecting the right words, use of active voice, non-sexy words, and neutral expressions is a part of the process, we call “adaptation”. Right words are the words that communicate best – that have correct and clear meanings in the reader’s mind. Selecting the right words depends on your ability to use the language, knowledge of the reader, and your good judgement. Clear writing involves using a simpler sentence structure to reach people with lower communication skills.

As you move along, you should view these basics as work tool in communication.

CHAPTER 1.

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