They say that writing as an epistolary genre is leaving the past. Nobody any longer seals the sheets covered with writing in an envelope, does not stick stamps and does not send letters by mail. However, we still continue to write letters, although we send them most often by email. Writing letters has its own rules that must be followed in order to look dignified in the eyes of the interlocutor.
Instructions
Step 1
Letters to a friend are also different: letters of congratulations on some kind of celebration, an invitation to visit, letters of gratitude and information letters, as well as apologies and sympathy. There can be a lot of reasons to write a letter to a friend.
Step 2
In English, there are special references to the person you are writing to and phrases with which the letter ends. Which phrase you choose depends on your relationship with your friend. Start the letter with the words: dear, dearest or darling plus the addressee's name. You can start a letter and just with a name.
Step 3
In addition to knowing certain phrases, you will need knowledge of common English names and surnames, place names in English and abbreviations used in letters. For example, the following abbreviations are commonly used for days of the week: Mon, Tues, Weds, Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun and months: Jan, Feb, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec.
Step 4
Start the first paragraph with a link to the last contact, thank your interlocutor. The phrases will help you: Thanks very much for your letter or It was great hearing from you again. If you haven't answered for a long time, then you should apologize using phrases, for example, I'm sorry I haven't written… or Sorry it's been so long since I last wrote, but… Explain the reason.
Step 5
The body of the letter should be meaningful so that your friend wants to read it to the end. Try to answer all of your friend's questions and ask as many questions yourself as possible. In this way, you will maintain the interest in the correspondence.
Step 6
At the end of the letter, refer to the following contact with the addressee: I'm looking forward to seeing you (hearing from you), do write again soon, or hope to hear from you soon. Finish the letter with one of the phrases: Sincerely yours - sincerely yours, yours faithfully (yours truly) - always devoted to you, cordially yours - sincerely yours, ever yours (as ever or yours as always) - always yours, lots of love (kisses) - kiss, yours affectionately (lovingly yours) - loving you. And they will definitely answer you!
Step 7
If you do not yet have a pen-friend to whom you could write in English, then you can find him on the sites www.interpals.net, www.penpalgarden.com, www.penpalparty.com. As a rule, these sites are invited to register and fill out a simple questionnaire.
