Be Confident! Face Old Habit Of Letter Writing Revived Through Digital Media Positively! Learning the Letter Writing

“His letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.”

King James Bible 

II Corinthians 10:10

In the modern day there is none with whom we cannot speak to persons who are away from us and are not on the phone. Even if there is any we surely drop a mail to his id. Earlier if we wanted to send them some message or information we had to write letters to them. However, still now the glory of letters and the postman are preserved as lost art. We the literary enthusiast must know the names like Mary Wortley Montagu and Richardson. Montagu wrote a series of witty and descriptive letters about her life in the Middle East; the letters were posthumously published in 1763. Read More Teaching English While as all of Richardson's novels are in epistolary form (a series of letters)—a structure that he refined and developed. Here in this article we will discuss the basics of letter writing. 

A letter must be written in simple, pleasant and everyday English so that the person to whom it is written may get exact information from the letter and can enjoy reading it, too. And sure these letters can be sending through mail attachment. In our day-to-day life we write letters of different types. Very often we write letters to our friends and relatives, Sometimes we apply for some posts. If we are in any school, college or office, we write applications for holiday, leave, etc. If we are in business we write letters to different firms and customers. In public life we sometimes present an address of welcome to distinguished persons.

We may divide these letters into the following classes

(1) Private (or personal) letters, (2) Official letters, (3) Business letters and (4) Miscellaneous letters, including Addresses, Testimonials, etc.

While writing a letter a parson must be careful about its layout. Generally speaking a letter has five parts:

(A) The Heading. i. e., (i) the address of the writer and (ii) the date on which the letter is written.

(B) The Salutation or Greeting.

(C) The Message or the body of the letter.

(D) The Subscription, i. e., the ending and the signature.

(E) The Superscription, i.e., address of the person to whom the letter is written.

(A) THE HEADING:  The Heading is necessary in a letter, for the person to whom it is written will be able to know the place from where the letter was written and also the date on which it was written. Read More Teaching English The Heading is written on the top right-hand side of the first page. The address is written first and then the date.

In writing the address on the envelope we put the name of the person we are writing to first then for a person who lives in a town, we write the number of his house, followed by the name of the road, on the same line; then the name of the town and the postal zone or Post Office; and lastly, the district’ For writing a letter to a person living in a village we write the name of the village, then the Post Office and then the district. When we send a letter to a person living in another State we write the name of that State as well. If the letter is an international one, we write the name of the country. 

 (B) THE SALUTATION OR GREETING: The Salutation or Greeting consists of words o respect or affection with which we address the person we are writing to. All the words of the greeting are written in a line on the left hand side of the letter at a point lower than the Heading and just above the body of the letter.Read More Teaching English A comma ( ,) is to be used after it. The salutation differs from person to person:

(1) To father, mother, uncle, etc.: My dear Father, My dear Mother, My dear Uncle, etc.

(ii) To son, daughter, younger brother, etc.: My dearest Son, My dear Lila, My dear James.

(iii) To friend and close acquaintances: Dear Feroze, or My dear Feroze, My dear Smith, or Dear Smith, My dear Swaminathan, or Dear Swaminathan.

(iv) To a person we do not not know personally: Dear Sir, Dear Madam, etc.

(v) To a clergyman: Rev. Sir.

(vi) To business firms : Sirs, or Gentlemen, or Dear Sirs, is to be used.

(C) THE MESSAGE OR THE BODY OF THE LETTER: This is the most important part of the letter. Here we have to write the main message we want to send to others. It must be to the point and if necessary, it shoud be broken into small paragraphs according to the number of points contained in the message. The message usually ends with a short closing paragraph with the expressions like.,’With love’, ‘With kind regards’, “With best wishes’, etc.

 (D) THE SUBSCRIPTION: The subscription is the complimentary close of the letter with the signature of the writer. Here the writer may write his full name or may simply write his name leaving out the surname, e.g., Gopal, Reba, etc. Nicknames also may be used. The subscription may be of various forms:

(1) To father, mother, brother, etc.

(a) Your affectionate son, Your affectionate brother, etc.

(b) Yours affectionately, ( or lovingly, etc.)

(2) To friends:

(a) Yours sincerely, (b) Yours very (or most) sincerely, (c) Sincerely yours, (d) Yours ever, etc. (iii) To the Headmaster or a teacher:

I remain ( or I am)

Sir,

Yours most obediently,

(or Your most obedient pupil,)

 (3) Official form: Yours faithfully, v) Semi-official form : Yours sincerely, (vi) Business letters; (a) Yours faithfully, (b) Faithfully yours, or (c) Yours truly, Yours very truly, etc.

(E) THE SUPERSCRIPTION:  The superscription contains the name and address of the person to whom the letter is written. The address must be written very legibly; otherwise it may not be delivered to the proper person or may be sent to Return Letter Office.

(a) (i) The name of the address must be written in a proper way. ‘Mr’ and ‘Esq.’ are the two courtesy titles in English. ‘Mr’ is used before the name, and ‘Esq.’ is used after it,

e. g., Mr W. H. Jones

Or W. H. Jones, Esq.,

Both these courtesy titles should not be used together.

In India we write ‘Shri’ before the names of the Hindus and ‘janab’ before those of the Muslims instead of ‘Mr.’

(ii) After the names the degrees and titles like B.A., M.A.,

D. PhiL, Ph. D., I.A.S., etc. are written. As for examples:

Mr S. K. Sen, M A., B. Ed.

(iii) Before the names of High Court Judges we write ‘The Honourable Justice’, or ‘The Hon’ble Justice’.  

(iv) In writing a letter to a firm called by personal names or surnames we use ‘Messrs’ e.ga, Messrs Longman, Green & Co., Messrs Shing, Roy & Co. Private Ltd.

Exercises Read More Teaching English

1. Write a letter to your friend congratulating him on his winning a scholarship.

2. Write a letter to your guardian saying how you did at your SSC Exam  in the school.

3. Write a letter to your friend describing your visit to an exhibition.

4. Write a letter to your friend wishing him success in the examination.

5. Write a letter to your friend telling him how you spent your last puja vacation.

6. Write a letter to your father describing the Independence Day celebration in your school.

7. Write an application to the headmaster of your school explaining your absence from an examination.

8. Write a letter to your younger brother, advising him to read the lives of great men.

9. Write a letter to your friend describing a rainy day.

10.Write a letter to your father describing how you performed the Rabindra Jayanti in your school.

11. Write a letter to your friend describing what you do every morning.

12. Write a letter to your headmaster to excuse you for coming to school late.

The Revival of Letter Writing Through Digital Media

Key Points:

Letter writing is an old habit that is being revived through digital media.

There are many benefits to letter writing, including:

1. It allows us to connect with loved ones who are far away.
2. It gives us a chance to express our thoughts and feelings in a more personal way.
3. It can help us to slow down and reflect on our lives.
4. It can be a creative outlet.

There are many ways to write letters digitally, such as through email, social media, or even text messages.

The most important thing is to find a way to write letters that works for you and your loved ones.

 Ardhendu De