Preface. From Word to Letter? Isn t that going backwards?

Transcription

1 Preface From Word to Letter? Isn t that going backwards? It s true that words are made up of letters but we re not going to deal with these types of letters in this book. Instead, the ultimate goal of From Word to Letter is to get you to write the sort of letters personal and business that are made up of words. To reach this goal, we start with the word, looking at different sorts of words and usage. Then we help you, in simple steps, to use these building blocks to make clauses, sentences, paragraphs and, finally, letters. Along the way you ll learn how to write about yourself and your hobbies, tell a story and use different types of language for formal and informal situations. Each chapter gives guided exercises for particular problems of written English often encountered by Japanese students and ends with a Free Writing exercise in which you can express your own ideas on a given topic. From Word to Letter aims to bring you to an understanding of what a paragraph is but does not attempt to explain the more advanced skills of essay writing. However, once you have mastered these intermediate skills and learned how to build paragraphs into letters, you will be ready to make the next small step and start essay writing. Peter Mallett iii

2 From Word to Letter word sentence, paragraph letter Free Writing About the authors Peter Mallett is an Associate Professor at Kobe Shoin Women s University. Born in Britain, he has been teaching in Japan since He is also a freelance writer and editor. Keiko Yamauchi is a lecturer at Kobe Shoin Women s University. She also teaches at Kyoto University and Kobe University. She is one of the presenters of NHK s Kyo no Ryori and the author of Exploring Cultures through Food (Eiko-sha, 2006). iv

3 Contents Chapter 1: In the beginning was the Word Noun, verb, adjective and adverb definition and usage Chapter 2: Painting with words Adjectives and descriptions Expansion of vocabulary of colour, materials, patterns Adjective order Descriptions of people Chapter 3: Countable or uncountable? / Countable and uncountable nouns Use of much, many, little, few Chapter 4: The important little words: A or The? Definite and indefinite articles Use of the definite article when talking about hobbies Extension Writing a CV Chapter 5: Putting it all together: the sentence What is a sentence? Fragments Cause and result clauses because and so Correcting incomplete sentences Chapter 6: Giving more information Part I Making longer sentences by joining ideas together and avoiding repetition Contrasting clauses using but Part II Complex sentences: relative clauses with who, which, where vi

4 Chapter 7: Talking of time Part I: Once Upon a Time Use of when for past action Used to for discontinued actions Part II: When I m Sixty Four Use of when for future actions Chapter 8: What s in a paragraph? What is a paragraph? Formatting paragraphs Topic sentences Supporting sentences Concluding sentences Chapter 9: What s it about? Identifying themes of paragraphs Separating ideas into paragraphs Chapter 10: Putting things in order Use of time words to indicate sequence first, next, then, finally etc Instructions Telling a story use of simple past tense Chapter 11: Personally speaking Parts of a personal letter Layout Checking and correcting Peer-editing for content Chapter 12: Getting formal Use of linking and contrasting words and phrases Business letters parts of a letter and layout Use of appropriate register Peer-editing for style Addressing envelopes Revision of sentence combining, writing about hobbies, writing complete sentences Applying for a job vii

5 Chapter 2 Painting with words When we paint a picture of someone, we use coloured paints. If we want to describe a person, we use adjectives. Look at this picture and write down the words you think of: Words: photo: Keiko Yamauchi Probably some of the words you have written are adjectives. Here are some adjectives we use when we describe clothes. Add as many more to the lists as you can: Colour red scarlet crimson blue Pattern striped paisley 7

6 We also use nouns to describe the material the clothes are made of. Complete this list: Material silk wool nylon In a description, we have to put the adjectives in a certain order as follows: QUALITY SIZE COLOUR PATTERN (example: beautiful) (example: long) (example: red) (example: striped) We put the material just before the object: She was wearing a beautiful, long black and white striped silk dress Exercise 1 Put these words in the correct order in each sentence: 1) He drove a red/ expensive/ sports car He drove a/an 2) She was wearing a velvet/ blue and yellow/ short/ checked skirt She was wearing a 3) I bought a grey/ warm/ woollen/ large sweater I bought a 4) She entered a tall/ ugly/ glass/ brown building She entered a/an 5) She closed the floral/ long/ pink and green/ cotton curtains She closed the 8 Chapter 2

7 Exercise 2 Look at your partner and describe what he or she is wearing: Example: Keiko is wearing a very short red and green checked mini-skirt, orange nylon stockings and long silver rubber boots. She is wearing a lime-green velvet jacket over a shocking pink polyester shirt with purple buttons. On her head she has a white vinyl bonnet and she is wearing a steel safety pin in her left ear. When we describe people, we don t just talk about their clothes. We also describe their hair, their height and build, the colour of their skin and other noticeable features. she has long straight hair he has short hair she has curly hair he has a beard he has a moustache he is bald she is slim he is of medium build he is of large build by Yoko Morimoto he is tall she is of medium height he is short Chapter 2 9

8 Exercise 3 Look at the photographs and describe the person: Example Christina Jenkner, linguist Christina has short, grey straight hair. She is middle-aged and of medium build. She has a warm smile and looks friendly. photo: Keiko Yamauchi Jinan LeDoux, belly dancer 1) photo: Peter Mallett Aishwarya Rai, film star 2) photo: Peter Mallett 10 Chapter 2

9 Mariko Okura, potter 3) photo: Keiko Yamauchi Jamie Sives, film star 4) photo: Peter Mallett Eiji Okuda, film star and director 5) photo: Peter Mallett Akiko Suwanai, violinist photo: Universal Music Photo, Shintaro Shiratori 6) Chapter 2 11

10 sfree Writingt Look at the photograph your teacher gives you. DON T SHOW IT TO ANYONE! This person is missing. Write a detailed description for the police so that they can find him/her. Your teacher will collect the photos and display them at the back of the classroom. The teacher will also collect your descriptions and give you one written by another student. Now you must find the photo matching their description. Example: photo: Keiko Yamauchi Missing! My wife is missing. I last saw her yesterday at our wedding. She is quite tall and very slim. She has long, dark hair and brown eyes. She is very beautiful. Yesterday she was wearing a long, white sleeveless satin wedding dress. The dress has a long train. She was also wearing a very expensive pearl necklace and pearl earrings. She was wearing white satin high-heeled shoes and carrying a bouquet of red roses. She was not carrying a handbag so I don t think that she has any money with her. Please find her for me! 12 Chapter 2