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Personal Letters（私人书信）
1. Personal Letters（私人书信）
After we have learned how to write a short note, writing a letter becomes rather easy. A letter is very much like a long note, but the form of a letter is more complicated, especially the form of a business letter. Furthermore, the envelope of an English letter is quite different from that of a letter in Chinese.
Personal letters are letters to friends and relatives. Here are two letters written by college students in China to their friends in the United States:
Sample 1
April 12, 1998
Dear Bob,
What a pleasant surprise. the news that you and your wife may visit China this year! you will be most welcome at my school, and if it works out.my fellow students and I hope you will give a few talks to us on student life and social changes in your country. I’ll take the liberty of letting the Chairman of my department know of the possibility. Please keep me posted about your plans for the trip.
Some news of the school. The new library building has been completed; the stacks are filled with books. There are four big bright rading-rooms, and they are crowded with students every evening. Anew baseball team has been organized with Mr.Huang,the PE teacher,as the coach. Believe it or not,it has won three of the five matches it has played.
All the students you know are well,and they ask me to say hello to you and your wife. We all look forward to your vist.
Yours affectionately,
Guangming
The following is another personal letter; it is a little different in form.
Sample 2
February 12, 1998
Dear Helen,
It was good to hear from you and know that you returned home safe and sound. I can imagine how happy your parents were to see you back from your tour of China.
I was really lucky to be an interpreter and tour guide for your group during the last summer vacation. I not only traveled with you to Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Guilin, but also learned from you and other friends many things about Australia. I think my spoken English has somewhat improved as a result of my work with your group. But what’s more important, I now have some Australian friends. I hope you’ll send me the photos with you and me in them taken during the trip after they have been developed and printed. They will remind me of the happy days we spent together.
Please let me know if you come to China again as you said you might. Let’s keep in touch.
Fondly,
Lanlan
Sample 3
18 January，1997
Professor Daniel Johnson
Department of Linguistics
Trinity College
Oxford University
Oxford, England OX4 1SH
Dear Professor Johnson,
Many thanks for your letter of 12 January 1997, asking me to send you a copy of my thesis. I’m only too glad to do this. In fact, I wouldn’t have been able to write a paper on such a difficult topic without your help and guidance. I’II make a copy of it and send it to you within a week, so you’ll receive it no later than the middle of February.
All the students here who attended your lectures remember you and hope you will come again.
Please say hello for me to Mrs. Johnson.
With regards,
Sincerely
Wang Zhigang
PS. Do you remember Wu Lili, a classmate of mine? She’II soon be leaving for England to study at Reading.
From the above samples we learn:
1) There is another way of writing the date—putting the day before the month followed by the year, and there may or may not be a comma between the month and the year: “18 January, 1997” and “15 January 1998“ are both correct.
2) P.S., which stands for Postscript, is like the Chinese”又及”. It is a note added and written after the signature.
3) It is possible to add the name and address of the addressee in a personal letter, though most people think it unnecessary. However, if we prefer to do so, the name and address should be placed in the upper left comer below the date but above the salutation（称呼）with a double space（双倍行距）in between. We should also leave a double space between the line with the date and that with the name of the addressee as shown in Sample 6 above.
4) At the end of the body of a personal letter, we may add phrases like the following:
•With best wishes,
•(All the) best from us,
•With (best) regards,
•Best (regards) to you,
•With very warm greetings from…and me,
5) If we want to ask the addressee to convey regards（转达问候）to someone else, we may write sentences like:
•Please say hello for me to Mrs. Johnson.
•Please remember me to yourfather.
•Please give everyone my warmest regards.
6) Note also the language used in personal letters should suit the relationship between the writer and the addressee. When writing to close friends, we may use very informal language with incomplete or elliptical sentences（省略句）, colloquial words（口语化词语）, even slang expressions（俚语）. For example, in Sample 1, Guangming uses the expression “Believe it or not” as well as incomplete/elliptical sentences such as “What a pleasant surprise, the news that…!” and “Some news of the school.” Judging from the tone and language, we can say that Guangming and Bob are close friends.
But when writing to an elder or respected person or someone we do not know very well, we should use more formal language. For instance, in Sample 3, which is a letter written by a Chinese student to Prof. Johnson, the language used is not as casual as that used in Sample 1.
7) Note that even in typed personal letters, the name of the writer is still written by hand. If the writer is afraid that his/her signature is not clear, he/she may add a typewritten name below it, as people often do in business letters:
Sincerely yours,
Wang Zhigang
Wang Zhigang
Above the signature, the writer may write:
|
•Sincerely yours,
•Yours sincerely,
•Sincerely,
•Cordially yours,
•Respectfully yours,
•Yours truly,
•Yours, |
|
•Fondly,
•Affectionately,
•Love,
•With love,
•Lovingly,
|
Which one of the above is used depends on the writer’s exact relationship with the addressee.
Some people like to use “Best wishes” or “As ever” instead. It is also possible to sign without any of the above words.
The following are some expressions for you to use in your personal letters or to begin or end them:
•I am/I’m [informal] sorry (that) it has taken me so long to reply, but…
•You will /You’ll [informal] be very glad to hear that…
•I thought you would be interested to hear/learn of that…
•Take care (and keep in touch).
•Best regards to you and your family.
•Please remember me to…/Please say hello for me to…
•Please accept our thanks in advance.
•If there is anything I can do for you, please do not hesitate to let me know.
•I am looking forward to (your visit/ seeing you...).
•In the meantime, please accept my very best wishes for a complete and speedy recovery.
•My parents join me in sending you our warmest congratulations/in conveying our sincere sympathy to you (and ... ).