Personal Letter

A personal letter is written to a friend, a family member,or relative. It uses personal language that signifies intimacy between the sender and the recipent. However, depending on the relationship between the two people, a personalletter may also sound formal, for example when you are writing to a teacher.

Personal letters are used to maintain relationships between two persons.That’s why someone should  write personal letters with good manner (in good structure and language).

In modern communication,” a personal letter is delivered by electronic mail (email)

The Structure

Personal letters consist of four basic parts: the heading, the opening, the body, and the closing.

·         The Heading includes the date of the letter and the sender’s address

·         The opening of the letter consists of the  salutation and the receipent.

·         The body contains the information to the recipent

·         The closing contains the complimentary closing and the writer’ssignature.

Opening Salutations

There are some ways to give salutations:

-          Dear (commonly used)

-          Good Day or Hi/Hello (neutral and less formal)

The salutations is followed by recipient name (either  last names or full names). You may include someone’s title  Mr, Mrs, Ms, and Dr.

Mr       - For a male

Mrs     - for  a married female

Miss    - for an unmarried female

Ms       - for a female whose status is unknown or would prefer to remain anonymous

Dr        - for a person with the status of a doctor

Complimentary Closing

There are some ways to write complimentary closing :

-          Regards, (neutral – there is no close relation)

-          Sincerely  yours, Cordially (shorten the distante between the sender and the recipient)

-          With Love, (close relation)

E    Example

      Exercises

                                                                                                                                Soraya

                                                                                                                                124 Barker Street

                                                                                                                                Randwick, NSW

                                                                                                                                June 13, 2015

Dear Christine,

I’m in the cutest little cafe in Sydney while writing this letter. I’ve had a great time in this city. Alhtough I’ve only been here for s short time, I’ve heard leraned many things. My mom always reminded me  that I should see the whole city, so I decided to go around the city allday on the weekend. So far,I’ve  seen Taronga Zoo, Harbour Bridge, Central Park, and the OldTown.I’ve been to the opera when I enjoyed a classical music concert.

The streets here are very crowded. I see people wearing beautiful winter coats and hats. It’s very cold here at this time of year; I have to wear  a thick winter coat, hat and gloves. I can’t feel my fingers.I hope you enjoyyour holidays too. Please write to me about your holiday.

I miss you. I’ll see you back in Makasar in the end of this month. Let’s have fun together.

With love,

Soraya

1.       Who wrote the letter?

2.       To whom did she write the letter?

3.       Why did she write the letter?

4.       What is the relationship between the sender and  the recipient?

5.       Make the structure of the text!