Business Letter Writing: Inquiries- Asking For Information
Business Letter Writing: INQUIRIES- ASKING FOR INFORMATION
Grammar Pattern
Warm-up
Talk about these questions with your teacher.
선생님과 이야기해 보세요.
- Have you ever written a letter or email to a company to ask for more information about a product or service? What was it about?
제품이나 서비스에 대해 더 자세한 정보를 요청하는 편지나 이메일을 써 본 적이 있나요? 어떤 내용이었나요? - When you see an interesting advertisement for a business product, what kind of information do you usually want to know before making a purchase?
비즈니스 제품에 대한 흥미로운 광고를 봤을 때, 구매 전에 보통 어떤 정보를 알고 싶으신가요?
Vocabulary
Listen and repeat after your teacher.
선생님을 따라 읽어보세요.
Reading
Read the passage with your teacher.
선생님과 함께 지문을 읽어보세요.
Grammar Pattern
We write an enquiry when we want to ask for more information concerning a product, service or other information about a product or service that interests us. These letters are often written in response to an advertisement that we have seen in the paper, a magazine, a commercial on television when we are interested in purchasing a product, but would like more information before making a decision.
Remember to place your or your company's address at the top of the letter (or use your company's letterhead) followed by the address of the company you are writing to. The date can either be placed double spaced down or to the right.
Important Language to Remember
- The Start: Dear Sir or Madam
To Whom It May Concern - (very formal as you do not know the person to whom youare writing)
-Giving Reference: With reference to your advertisement (ad) in...
Regarding your advertisement (ad) in ...
-Requesting a Catalogue, Brochure, Etc.: After the reference, add a comma and continue - ... , would (Could) you please send me ...
-Requesting Further Information: I would also like to know ...
Could you tell me whether ...
-Signature: Yours faithfully - (very formal as you do not know the person to whom you are writing)
An example letter:
Kenneth Beare
2520 Visita Avenue
Olympia, WA 98501
Jackson Brothers
3487 23rd Street
New York, NY 12009
September 12, 2000
To Whom It May Concern:
With reference to your advertisement in yesterday's New York Times, could you please send me a copy of your latest catalogue. I would also like to know if it is possible to make purchases online.
Yours faithfully
(Signature)
Korean Trap! / 한국인 실수 교정
Common mistakes Korean speakers make.
한국인이 자주 하는 실수를 알아봅시다.
한국어에서는 "알고 싶습니다"라고 직접적으로 표현하는 것이 자연스럽지만, 영어 비즈니스 서신에서 "I want to know"는 너무 직접적이고 무례하게 들릴 수 있습니다. 공식적인 문의 편지에서는 "I would like to inquire about..." 또는 "Could you please provide information on..."과 같은 정중한 표현을 사용해야 합니다. 또한 "price"보다는 "pricing," "delivery date"보다는 "delivery schedule"처럼 보다 격식 있는 어휘를 선택하는 것이 좋습니다.
Discussion
Share your thoughts with your teacher.
선생님과 의견을 나눠보세요.
- How would you apply what you learned today?
오늘 배운 것을 어떻게 활용하시겠어요? - What was the most useful part of this lesson?
이 수업에서 가장 유용한 부분은 무엇이었나요? - Can you think of a real situation where you would use this?
이것을 사용할 실제 상황을 생각해 볼 수 있나요? - What would you like to practice more?
더 연습하고 싶은 것은 무엇인가요?
Lesson Summary / 수업 요약
Today's Topic: Business Letter Writing: INQUIRIES- ASKING FOR INFORMATION
Level: Business (BIZ)
Review this lesson before your next class! / 다음 수업 전에 복습하세요!