What about having a pen friend?

Transcription

1 What about having a pen friend? You are going to take part in a correspondence project with a school in Kilkenny. Kilkenny is a city located in the south-east of Ireland. Presentation Secondary School is a Catholic girl school. The students you are going to correspond with are years old and they are on their fourth year of French. They are willing to write in French about their country, family, customs, culture, and learn about yours. You will have to write your letters in English. You will have to write your first letter by Friday 18 October, so that we can send it as soon as possible. Remember: use letter paper instead of rough paper. You can also decorate your letter with drawings, stickers, etc. Write legibly. Handwriting styles sometimes differ from country to country and from person to person. There is nothing more frustrating than getting a letter you cannot read. Don't forget to write the name of the person your letter is addressed to and to sign your letter. Make sure your first letter is simple and short (about one page in length). Sticking to the basics is the best way to start up a friendship with someone else. Give specific details when talking about you, your family, and your country. Assume your pen friend knows nothing about your country and go from there. Ask only few specific questions in each letter. Asking too many questions will make it hard for your pen friend to respond to all of them quickly. Include some kind of cultural artefact with each letter that will peak your pen friend's interest in learning more about your country. Postcards, newspaper clippings, stamps, tourist brochures, popular teen magazines, or comic books are always welcomed. It is like sending part of your country through the mail. Personalize your letters by sending pictures of your family, friends, school, house, pets, etc. A few useful sentences: My English teacher has given me your letter. (Mon professeur d anglais m'a donné ta lettre.) I'd really like to correspond with you. (J aimerais vraiment correspondre avec toi.) I hope that you are well. (J espère que tu vas bien.) Thank you for your letter. (Merci pour ta lettre.) Like you, I (Comme toi, je ) On the other hand, I (Par contre, je ) I'm also sending you... (Je t envoie aussi ) Here are the replies to your questions: (Voici mes réponses à tes questions:) Here are my questions: (Voici mes questions:)

2 HOW TO WRITE A LETTER 1. Présentation d'une lettre Dear John, Mulberry Lane Oxford OX4 3LA 29 September 2012 Dans votre correspondance privée, indiquez votre adresse (sans votre nom) en haut à droite. Le nom de la ville d'où écrit l'expéditeur n'est pas indiqué avant la date. La date peut s'écrire de différentes façons. Soit en entier: 29(th) September 2012; soit en abrégé: 29- Sept-12, 29/09/12, L'ordre du jour et du mois est inversé aux Etats- Unis et dans les pays qui ont adopté le système américain: on dira donc 09/29/ Formules d'appels et formules finales (lors d une correspondance entre amis): Dear Victoria, Best wishes My dear Victoria, Kindest regards, Dearest Victoria, All the best With love from Sandra Love from Sandra Lots of love from Sandra Much love, All my love Vocabulaire de la correspondance une lettre: du courrier : un courriel: une carte postale: une carte de voeux: un timbre: une enveloppe: une boîte à lettres : courrier recommandé : accusé de réception : une adresse : un correspondant : écrire : envoyer : En savoir plus... > En Angleterre, il y a deux principaux tarifs: 1st class (tarif normal, dit 'rapide') et 2nd-class (tarif lent). > Pour envoyer une lettre en France depuis l'angleterre, il vous faut un timbre rouge (first-class). > Pour envoyer une lettre en Angleterre depuis la France, il vous faut maintenant un timbre avec une Marianne bleue (Europe) ou affranchir votre lettre à 0.75 Euro (envoi de moins de 20 grammes)

3 Expressions to begin and end formal and informal letters Look at the following expressions which are used when writing letters. a. Where would you find each of them in a letter? Make a list under each heading. b. When you have finished, decide if each expression comes from a formal or informal letter, and write F(formal) or I (informal) after each one. Beginnings Signalling the end Closings (at the end) a. Thanks for your letter. b. I'll finish now as I'm running out of space. c. Thanks for your last letter and the nice photos. d. I must go now. e. Sorry for not writing for so long. f. Please, answer soon! g. I must apologize for not contacting you sooner. h. I look forward to hearing from you. i. I'm writing to ask you a favor. j. I'd better finish. k. Write again soon! l. It was kind of you to write to me. m. Bye for now. n. Anyway, I'd better post this letter now. o. It was lovely to hear from you. p. All my love. q. Best wishes. r. It was great to get your letter. s. Regards, t. Thank you so much for writing. u. Take care. v. I was so sad to hear that you had been ill. w. Good luck! x. Sorry but I have to finish. y. Hope to hear from you soon. z. I m looking forward to your reply. Expressions to begin and end formal and informal letters Look at the following expressions which are used when writing letters. a. Where would you find each of them in a letter? Make a list under each heading. b. When you have finished, decide if each expression comes from a formal or informal letter, and write F(formal) or I (informal) after each one. Beginnings Signalling the end Closings (at the end) a. Thanks for your letter. b. I'll finish now as I'm running out of space. c. Thanks for your last letter and the nice photos. d. I must go now. e. Sorry for not writing for so long. f. Please, answer soon! g. I must apologize for not contacting you sooner. h. I look forward to hearing from you. i. I'm writing to ask you a favor. j. I'd better finish. k. Write again soon! l. It was kind of you to write to me. m. Bye for now. n. Anyway, I'd better post this letter now. o. It was lovely to hear from you. p. All my love. q. Best wishes. r. It was great to get your letter. s. Regards, t. Thank you so much for writing. u. Take care. v. I was so sad to hear that you had been ill. w. Good luck! x. Sorry but I have to finish. y. Hope to hear from you soon. z. I m looking forward to your reply.

4 Reading and writing a letter > A2 - comprendre l écrit: savoir repérer des informations ciblées dans un document écrit Read the three letters and fill in the chart: information letter n 1 letter n 2 letter n 3 name boy or girl? age nationality town colour of hair colour of eyes brothers and sisters pets hobbies likes dislikes Dear Flora, 12 th December 2008 Hello! My name is Christine. I was born in Athens. I am 14 years old. I' m thin and tall. I have brown eyes and blond hair. I have one brother and an older sister (Christofer and Eyridiki). My parents' names are Manthos and Artemis. I haven't got a pet. My best friends are Christianna and Katerina. I like sweets, listening to music and dancing. I like ancient Greek but I don't like physics and chemistry. I speak English and French. I love French and I speak that language very well. I am not shy and I have a lot of confidence. I am very talkative with other people. My favorite food is chicken with fried potatoes. I want to be a criminologist. I can t wait to get your letter. If you want we can speak French. GOODBYE Your friend Christine

5 Dear Arthur, 15-Oct-2011 I'm your British pen friend from Milton Keynes. My name is Jim. I'm a boy and I m 14. I have a sister, her name is Sarah, she is 17, and a half brother named Cameron, he is 5. I have a dog, a cat and 5 goldfish. Lexy, my dog is nice, but my cat is horrible. My sister was on the exchange in Her pen friend was Sonia Durand, do you know her? My parents are divorced, I live with my mother and my stepfather. My father is a postman and my mother is a shop assistant. My stepfather works in a factory. We live in a house, it's ten km from Milton Keynes. There are three rooms, a garden and a balcony. I like computer games, football, listening to music and going to the cinema. I don t like reading and dancing. I love rock music, my favourite band is Green Day. I play football in a club, and this year I m learning to play the guitar. My best friend is Sam, he is on the exchange as well, his pen friend is called Michael Blanchi, do you know him? I enclose a photo of myself and my family. How many brothers and sisters do you have? Do you have any pets? What colour is your hair? And your eyes? Do you like school? I'm looking forward to hearing from you. Please answer soon. all the best, Jim Hi Tom! 25/09/13 I hope you are fine. I m really glad that you are coming so soon! Here are the answers to all the questions you asked me: My father is a policeman and my mother is a teacher for young children (she works in a kindergarten). I have two sisters: Sandra is twenty and studies chemistry at the university of Nanterre, not far from here. Amélie is 17 and she is doing her final year of high school, preparing her baccalauréat. I am in Seconde, the first year of high school. We live in Colombes, a town which is quite close to Paris: from my place it takes about half-anhour to go to the centre of Paris by train. So we sometimes go there at the week-end, to visit museums, go to the cinema Colombes is also fairly close to La Défense, with its huge shopping mall. I like hanging out there with my friends. I also like swimming I practise twice a week. Unfortunately I have to go to school every day except on Sundays. This is my typical schoolday: I wake up at 7am every morning, I have breakfast and get dressed, then I leave for school around 7:45am. Classes start at 8am. I am lucky because I don t live too far from my school. We have two short breaks (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) and one long break for lunch. I have lunch at school with my friends. We normally have 6 to 8 hours of classes every day, except on Wednesdays and Saturdays, when classes stop at 12am. When I come back from school (around 4:15 or 5:15 pm) I have a snack and then a bath to relax, then I do my homework. Most of the time we have dinner around 8:30pm. Then I watch a little TV or listen to music or use the computer, and go to bed around 10:30 or 11pm. As you re coming over the Christmas holiday, you probably want to know what we normally do at that time of year. Well, we usually spend the first week of holiday at my grandmother s in the Alps, with my aunt, uncle and cousins. We go skiing almost every day! I hope you like skiing. On Christmas day, we have a big meal and exchange presents. After that we come back to Paris. This year, for New Year s eve, my parents are going to the restaurant while my sisters and I are organizing a big party at home with all our friends. I m looking forward to introducing you to all of them! Don t hesitate to write if you have other questions. Take care Benjamin