Business English Emailing
Before you Read
What do you think these words and phrases mean? When you read try to guess the meaning.
Pre-discussion questions
What is your experience of writing emails in English?
What do you worry about when writing an email in English?
What do you think you need to learn about correct business English emailing?
Which of the bolded words below do you know already?
Some years ago I was working for a tire importer and distributor back home and I received a comical email from a Chinese manufacturer. The email went like this:
“Dear Sir, we are so very much happy to have chance to do business with you. You are great and famous company for selling tires to your country.”
The email went on to describe their tires and information, and then it finished with
“do you want it or not?”
What was so strange about this email is that it started out overly politely and then it caught me off-guard with its surprisingly direct finish. You might laugh when you read this, and my writing students do. However, I get emails like this from my students sometimes. They begin very politely and finish off with a rude demand.
So when you write an email there are some things you need to keep in mind. Firstly, in business English writing you should be direct, but not rude and you need to be polite, but if you are too polite then you might reduce your bargaining power. It is also good to get down to business quickly because people are busy. Also, you need to learn to use modal verbs such as would/could/it would be appreciated etc. Here is my example:
Dear Mr Jones,
I’m writing to you in order to introduce our company’s service/products/price list etc.
This is our first contact and we (the company) look forward to doing business with you (your company).
You could sign off your email with something like:
“We look forward to hearing back from you at your earliest convenience.
Sincerely (formal style)
(Your name)”
Once you know someone then you can start to write in a more familiar and casual style such as “How are things going?” /”It was great to finally meet you at the conference”
Guessing Meaning From Context
Now, match the letters of the phrasal verbs/words with the closest numbered meaning in the right column. The answers are at the bottom.
|
comical |
A |
1 |
Don’t or not forget |
|
overly polite |
B |
2 |
Very nice so that it makes you suspicious or not trust someone |
|
To catch someone off-guard |
C |
3 |
To finish, end. To end a letter. To say goodbye when chatting on the internet. |
|
keep in mind |
D |
4 |
To be friendly with a person. In business refers to a kind of friendly closer business relationship. |
|
to get down to business |
E |
5 |
Know someone or something, but it may not be that you know them very closely but in a friendly way. |
|
sign off |
F |
6 |
To not expect something to happen |
|
know someone/something |
G |
7 |
Relaxed way of speaking or writing when you feel comfortable with someone or a situation. Opposite of formal |
|
more familiar/familiar with |
H |
8 |
Begin negotiating |
|
casual style |
I |
9 |
Very funny/humorous |
A=9, B=2, C=6, D=1, E=8, F=3, G=4, H=5, I=7
Some Questions to help you use the new words/phrases
1. What do you find comical about the ways that some politicians here in Korea or other countries behave sometimes?
2. Does it bother or annoy you if someone is overly polite? Why?
3. Have you ever been caught of guard? For example, maybe you had to do a presentation or do something, but you weren’t ready.
4. Now that you have read this story, what do you think you need to keep in mind when emailing?
5. Compare how quickly Americans, or some other people get down to business.
6. How is signing off in Korean writing and English writing different?
7. Describe a business or professional relationship where you can say that you know someone. Is your relationship different to being a friend?
8. If you can; can you describe how you can become more familiar with someone through writing? How familiar are you with some new technology?
9. Can you describe the difference between casual and formal style writing? Fashion?
Some example sentences using the new words/phrases.
1. I think it’s comical when people ask me what the secret to learning a language is. I always answer, it’s hard work; there is no secret.
2. When students come to my office and are overly polite I feels suspicious that they want some favor that I don’t want to give.
3. In 2008 many people had borrowed too much money and were caught off guard when the financial crisis began because they couldn’t repay their debts.
4. If you are doing business with Chinese companies, then it is important to keep in mind that they won’t sign a deal at the first meeting.
5.
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