Sample Formal Letter

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

hi all,

Please see sample formal letter below. Please note format, tone and register for the letter.

Blk 13
Tampines street 13
#01-03
Singapore 131313

Tel: 66131313
Fax: 4131313
Email: unluckynumber@karma.com

13 January 2008

Ms Zhang Li
Personnel
Singapore International Airlines
5055 Changi Road
Singapore 123456

Dear Ms Li,

RE: Request for Character Reference – Cephas Wong

Please refer to your request/ for a character reference for Cephas Wong.

I have known Cephas Wong for a period of ten years, having been his classmate in Junior College and his platoon mate whilst we were serving our National Service in the Singapore Armed Forces.

Cephas has proved his ability to deal consistently with members of the public in his current job as a car salesman at a Star Motors. He consistently deals with members of the public and has consistently topped the sales lists at Star Motors. In addition, Cephas has also won a number of service-related awards for good pre and post sale service.

Whilst we were in Junior College, Cephas was a member of the student council and worked tirelessly to help to organize a number of important events for the school, showing his ability to perform a variety of tasks.

During the course of our friendship, Cephas has proven his ability to learn new skills and has consistently attended courses to upgrade his knowledge and skills. I understand that Cephas has just completed a Diploma in Information Technology.

Cephas is also a proven team player. He has been involved in a number of successful projects, such as car sales roadshows over the past few years which require him to work in a team. He also has a track record for being involved in team sports such as being a member of the school soccer team whilst in Junior College.

Cephas is also known to be calm in a range of circumstances, his ability to respond coolly to crises was demonstrated whilst we were in National Service. One of our platoon mates was badly injured during a field exercise, Cephas remained calm and helped administer first aid before helping to evacuate our platoon mate from the scene.

With his personal qualities, I strongly believe that Cephas is extremely well suited to the job of an air steward. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require further details about Cephas.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

John Tan

Posted by Daryl Tan at 9:31 PM  

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7 comments:

this formal letter is very good, but i dont think i can rite such a letter.

Anonymous said...
February 22, 2008 at 3:54 AM  

hi,
I'm not expecting letters that look like this. However,this letter is an example for you to look out for a number of areas:
1) Format
2) Tone and register
3) Range of vocab to use
4) How to organise your paragraphs and your points.

Please also note how we have built in the important points:
1) Introduction
2) Background
3) Content
4) Personal Opinion
5) Conclusion

Hope this helps.

Daryl Tan said...
February 22, 2008 at 6:21 AM  

Must the formal letter be that long? At least how many paragraphs are needed?

Anonymous said...
February 23, 2008 at 1:59 AM  

can we have a mock test on formal letter oduring Mon

Anonymous said...
February 23, 2008 at 2:34 AM  

The example you gave us is v. good. Will it get full marks if marked??

Anonymous said...
February 23, 2008 at 4:01 AM  

hi all,

The test on formal letters is on Monday morning! No point having a mock test after that I think.

The letter is about 350 words which is on the high side of the required length for situational writing, 250-350 words.

There is no specification on the number of paragraphs needed, but, you need to include all the points required in the task that you need to fulfill. Secondly, you NEED to use paragraphs.

Don't forget about what I said about drafting! It will help you with all aspects of the test, especially, task fulfillment!

All the best on Monday, please post here or e-mail if you need any help. Thanks. : )

Daryl Tan said...
February 23, 2008 at 4:02 AM  

hi there,

It is unlikely that any letter will get full marks. Look at the rubrics that I've given out in class, it is virtually impossible to get full marks for the language portion.

But, if something like this is produced, it will score full or close to full marks for task fulfillment.

Hope this helps. : )

Daryl Tan said...
February 23, 2008 at 4:04 AM  

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