Shadowing-Übung: Write Emails in English | Learn English Quickly with podcast | English learning Conversation - Englisch Sprechen Lernen mit YouTube

Hello, everyone, and welcome to EnglishPod.

⏸ Pausiert

Geschwindigkeit:

297 Sätze

Wenn Sätze zu kurz oder zu lang sind, klicke auf Edit, um sie anzupassen.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to EnglishPod.

My name is Marco.

My name is Catherine, and we have an unusual lesson for you today.

It's more about writing than about speaking.

That's right.

Well, many times we have to write emails, and if we're working in a sales environment, we may need to write an email to a potential client.

All right, so we're going to learn what is appropriate and what is not in today's lesson.

Let's take a listen to our dialogue.

Melanie, can you help me with something?

We need to finalize the account with the Mexican Embassy, and I need some advice on phrasing this letter correctly in English.

Sure, Tracy.

Let me just get my laptop.

Right, all set.

Okay, so, to whom it may concern, I am writing...

Um, Tracy, I think that's a little too formal.

I know you want to be polite, but you've already made contact with them, so in English, you can be a bit more relaxed in the opening.

Okay, more relaxed.

Got it.

Hey, Sally, what's up?

It's Tracy here, just...

Okay, Tracy, now it's too relaxed.

You've still got to show some respect.

How about starting with Dear Ms. Cooper, I'm writing to confirm.

Great, okay.

Dear Ms. Cooper, I'm writing to confirm the final quotation for the full page

back cover color advertisements you requested for the spring issue of Viola magazine.

That's great.

The final costing, including advert design and production, comes to 45,600 RMB.

We want payment 10 working days before publication, or we will cancel the ad.

Thanks for...

Whoa, okay, back up a second, Tracy.

That's too direct.

Can I suggest you say, please note that the final payment is due two working weeks before publication.

You don't want to offend her.

Oops.

Okay, you're right.

Then I can just end with all the best, Tracy.

Hmm, maybe I'd play it safe and just finish with yours sincerely.

That's more professional.

Oh, Melanie, you're a lifesaver.

Thank you.

Alright, we're back.

So now let's take a look at some of that vocab we heard on language takeaway.

Language takeaway.

We have some wonderful adjectives today.

The first one that I wanted to discuss, Marco, is formal.

Formal.

That's right.

We want to be a little bit more formal when we're writing someone we don't really know too much.

That's right.

But we have to be careful because sometimes you can be too formal.

So what exactly does formal mean?

So if you write a formal email, it's very proper, very respectful.

So proper in the way that you wouldn't use colloquial terms or phrasal verbs that you would use with your friends.

No, a good example is writing to a lawyer or a judge.

You want to use formal language.

Even with a teacher, you might use more formal language.

But with a friend, you don't have to.

That's something else.

That's right.

So when you're writing something that's formal, it's important to be polite as well.

Now, what is polite?

Right.

So you want to be formal, you want to be serious, and you want to be polite.

You want to show respect.

You want to be nice, basically.

That's right.

And so people can often be described as polite.

He's very polite or she's not polite at all.

Right.

And, you know, when I was a little kid, my mom used to say, it's very important to be polite.

Always say thank you and you're welcome when you're talking to other people.

That's right and that's one way of being polite.

Now, also when we are describing the way that you speak to someone or the way that you write, you can be very direct.

Now, being direct means that you say exactly what you want or exactly what you're thinking.

Okay, so maybe if we're talking to this company, you say, Hi, I want this.

I will pay this much.

Thank you.

Bye.

Right.

That's maybe too direct.

So sometimes you need to be a little less direct and say nice things in an email.

That's right.

So maybe you want to say to someone that you don't really like the clothes they're wearing, right?

Then you say, hey, do you like my new shirt?

And if you're very direct, you would say, no, I think it's very ugly.

I hate it.

Right, that's too direct.

So maybe you would say, I don't really think it suits you very well.

Or I think a different color would be better on you.

That's right.

So that's being a little bit less direct.

Now, obviously, if you're too direct with someone, you may offend that person.

All right, to offend is a verb

and to offend someone means to say something that makes them unhappy or upset or even angry.

So going back to the same example of the shirt, if you say, I think that shirt is very ugly, that person might be offended.

Gosh, or maybe if you say, you know, I think people with brown hair are so ugly and there's someone next to me with brown hair,

they say, oh, I'm offended.

Right.

100

I'm not ugly, but I have brown hair.

101

That's right.

102

Okay, so you don't want to offend anyone by being too direct, or you don't want to have anyone feel offended.

103

Now, for our last phrase here on Language Takeaway, we have towards the end of the dialogue,

104

Tracy, Tracy, thanks, Melanie, by saying, you are a lifesaver.

105

Thank you.

106

Okay, so don't be confused.

107

There is also a candy called lifesavers, and she's not calling her a candy.

108

Right.

109

She's saying, wow, thank you.

110

You really helped me.

111

Okay.

112

So when someone helps you a lot, you can call them a lifesaver.

113

Right.

114

Marco, what exactly is the object, the lifesaver?

115

If you've ever been on a boat,

116

you see this big orange circle that is used to throw into the water to help someone to prevent them from drowning.

117

That is called a lifesaver.

118

Okay.

119

So I'm drowning.

120

I'm having a hard time writing this email.

121

I do not know what to say.

122

Marco, you come and help me.

123

I can say, oh, wow, thank you so much.

124

You're a lifesaver.

125

That's exactly right.

126

All right, so we've taken a look at five key words there.

127

Why don't we take a listen to our dialogue again, and we'll be back with Fluency Builder.

128

Melanie, can you help me with something?

129

We need to finalize the account with the Mexican embassy, and I need some advice on phrasing this letter correctly in English.

130

Sure, Tracy.

131

Let me just get my laptop.

132

Right.

133

All set.

134

Okay, so, to whom it may concern, I am writing...

135

Um, Tracy, I think that's a little too formal.

136

I know you want to be polite, but you've already made contact with them, so in English, you can be a bit more relaxed in the opening.

137

Okay, more relaxed.

138

Got it.

139

Hey, Sally, what's up?

140

It's Tracy here.

141

Just...

142

Okay, Tracy.

143

Now it's too relaxed.

144

You've still got to show some respect.

145

How about starting with Dear Miss Cooper?

146

I'm writing to confirm...

147

Great, okay.

148

Dear Ms. Cooper, I'm writing to confirm the final quotation for the full page

149

back cover color advertisements you requested for the spring issue of Viola magazine.

150

That's great!

151

The final costing, including advert design and production, comes to 45,600 RMB.

152

We won't payment 10 working days before publication, or we will cancel the ad.

153

Thanks for...

154

Whoa, okay, back up a second, Tracy.

155

That's too direct.

156

Can I suggest you say, please note that the final payment is due two working weeks before publication?

157

You don't want to offend her.

158

Oops, okay, you're right.

159

then I can just end with all the best, Tracy.

160

Maybe I'd play it safe and just finish with yours sincerely.

161

That's more professional.

162

Oh, Melanie, you're a lifesaver.

163

Thank you.

164

So today in Fluency Builder, we have a number of phrases you can use when you're writing an email.

165

Some of them are very polite and formal.

166

Some of them are very informal or casual.

167

Now, this first phrase, Marco, is very, very formal, right?

168

That's right.

169

We start our letter by stating, to whom it may concern.

170

All right.

171

To whom it may concern.

172

Remember that M there.

173

This is a very formal phrase, and we're going to take it as a phrase.

174

This is how you begin a formal letter.

175

That's right.

176

Usually, you start this letter if it's directed to maybe a company or someone not specific.

177

You don't know that person's name, and you're just saying, you know, whoever's reading this letter, whoever it concerns.

178

That's right.

179

Well, I could say, Dear Marco.

180

Right.

181

But in this case, maybe I don't know who the name of the person I am writing this email to.

182

It's a big company.

183

There are many people.

184

So if you don't know who you're writing to in a company or in an organization, you say, To Whom It May Concern.

185

That's right.

186

Okay, now we started very formal.

187

Melanie said, I think it's a little bit too formal.

188

Maybe we should be more relaxed.

189

So Tracy says, okay, got it.

190

So how about, hey Sally, what's up?

191

What's up?

192

Okay, what's up?

193

What's up is the kind of thing I say with my friends.

194

You know, hey Marco, what's up?

195

Right.

196

But I would never say this in a formal situation with a boss or with a, you know, an employer or with a more serious situation.

197

Exactly.

198

Especially if you're writing an email to a client, you don't really want to say what's up.

199

No, never.

200

So remember, this is spoken English with your friends, but not something you would write.

201

So, the key here is that you have to show some respect.

202

Okay, so that's another great phrase.

203

You show some respect.

204

Alright, so the key here is that this is, the verb is to show, right?

205

Not to give.

206

You want to show respect to someone.

207

Well how do you show respect?

208

Well, the way that you act, your behaviors.

209

So, if I'm polite and I say, you know, mister and miss and thank you and please, these are ways to show respect.

210

That's right.

211

So that's the way that you are being respectful.

212

You are showing respect by being very polite.

213

For example, in Japan, it is common to take your shoes off when you go to a friend's home, their house, in order to show respect to them.

214

That's right.

215

Very good.

216

Now, as we continue writing the letter towards the end, we wanted to play it safe and just write yours sincerely to close the letter off.

217

All right.

218

So this phrase, play it safe, what does this mean?

219

When we're talking about making a decision or taking a risk, we want to play it safe.

220

We want to use the less risky option.

221

All right.

222

So the key here is that the verb is to play.

223

Play it safe.

224

This means that, yeah, there's maybe a risky option and a safe option.

225

And it's better to take the safe option.

226

Play it safe.

227

That's right.

228

That's right.

229

So that's the way that you would use this phrase, to play it safe to make a decision

230

that doesn't have too much risk or that you know that will work very well.

231

And to close things off, another option to end the letter, we could say, All the best.

232

All the best, Tracy.

233

All the best, comma, Tracy.

234

All right, so this is a way to end a letter.

235

You can say, sincerely, or best, but it's a very nice way to end if you just say, All the best, and then you say, you know, after that you have a comma,

236

and then you sign your name.

237

That's right.

238

Alright, let's listen to our dialogue one last time, and we'll be back to talk a little bit more.

239

Melanie, can you help me with something?

240

We need to finalize the account with the Mexican embassy, and I need some advice on phrasing this letter correctly in English.

241

Sure, Tracy.

242

Let me just get my laptop.

243

Right, all set.

244

Okay, so, to whom it may concern, I am writing...

245

Um, Tracy, I think that's a little too formal.

246

I know you want to be polite, but you've already made contact with them, so in English, you can be a bit more relaxed in the opening.

247

Okay, more relaxed.

248

Got it.

249

Hey, Sally, what's up?

250

It's Tracy here.

251

Just...

252

Okay, Tracy.

253

Now it's too relaxed.

254

You've still got to show some respect.

255

How about starting with Dear Ms. Cooper, I'm writing to confirm...

256

Great, okay.

257

Dear Ms. Cooper, I'm writing to confirm the final quotation for the full page

258

back cover color advertisements you requested for the spring issue of Viola magazine.

259

That's great.

260

The final costing, including advert design and production, comes to 45,600 RMB.

261

We won't payment 10 working days before publication, or we will cancel the ad.

262

Thanks for… Whoa, okay, back up a second, Tracy.

263

That's too direct.

264

Can I suggest you say, please note that the final payment is due two working weeks before publication.

265

You don't want to offend her.

266

Oops.

267

Okay, you're right.

268

Then I can just end with all the best, Tracy.

269

Hmm, maybe I'd play it safe and just finish with yours sincerely.

270

That's more professional.

271

Oh, Melanie, you're a lifesaver.

272

Thank you.

273

So talking about ending formal emails or emails that you're writing to clients, colleagues, we can say sincerely in your name, sincerely, Marco.

274

You can say all the best, best regards.

275

Now, I've noticed that some people who aren't native English speakers, sometimes they will close a letter,

276

maybe even a formal letter, saying yours truly.

277

Marco, for example.

278

Is that really appropriate for a business setting or a client?

279

I would not use yours truly.

280

Maybe if you're trying to build a relationship with your client and you're very honest, but it seems to me to be very personal.

281

Very romantic.

282

Yes, yours truly.

283

So I would say in that case, use sincerely or kind regards,

284

which are a little bit more professional and less emotional.

285

If you want to have a romantic letter, you can say, you know, all my love or love or yours truly or yours faithfully.

286

This is a very important topic, I think, because many times in school we do learn how to write letters, but usually they are more personal letters.

287

And so we memorize that usually at the end of the email or the end of the letter, you say yours, Marco or yours truly, Marco.

288

and although it is correct, it's not really appropriate for a professional setting.

289

That's right.

290

So just as a reminder, if you're signing off your email or your letter and you're at an office, you're in your company, you want to say best or best regards

291

or some of the things that we talked about here today.

292

Very good.

293

All right.

294

So if you have any questions or any other doubts, you can always find us at EnglishPod.com and we'll see you guys there.

295

Bye.

296

Bye.

297

Thank you.

TRENDING

Beliebt

Was ist die Shadowing-Technik?

Shadowing ist eine wissenschaftlich fundierte Sprachlerntechnik, die ursprünglich für die professionelle Dolmetscherausbildung entwickelt und durch den Polyglotten Dr. Alexander Arguelles populär gemacht wurde. Die Methode ist einfach aber wirkungsvoll: Du hörst englisches Audio von Muttersprachlern und wiederholst es sofort laut — wie ein Schatten, der dem Sprecher mit nur 1–2 Sekunden Verzögerung folgt. Anders als passives Hören oder Grammatikübungen zwingt Shadowing dein Gehirn und deine Mundmuskulatur, gleichzeitig echte Sprachmuster zu verarbeiten und zu reproduzieren. Studien zeigen, dass es Aussprachegenauigkeit, Intonation, Rhythmus, verbundene Sprache, Hörverständnis und Sprechflüssigkeit signifikant verbessert — was es zu einer der effektivsten Methoden für die IELTS Speaking-Vorbereitung und reale englische Kommunikation macht.

☕ Kauf uns einen Kaffee

ShadowingEnglish bleibt 100% kostenlos dank deiner Unterstützung. Server- und KI-Kosten sind hoch — dein Kaffee hält uns am Laufen! 🙏

Über PayPal spenden

ShadowingEnglish.com – Englisch-Shadowing-Übung

Sprich fließend Englisch mit der Shadowing-Technik. Höre nativen YouTube-Videos zu, wiederhole Satz für Satz und baue echte Aussprache und Sprachflüssigkeit auf — weltweit von IELTS-Lernenden genutzt.

Shadowing-Übung: Write Emails in English | Learn English Quickly with podcast | English learning Conversation - Englisch Sprechen Lernen mit YouTube

Beliebt

Über diese Lektion

Wichtige Vokabeln & Phrasen

Übungstipps

Was ist die Shadowing-Technik?

Shadowing-Übung: Write Emails in English | Learn English Quickly with podcast | English learning Conversation - Englisch Sprechen Lernen mit YouTube

App herunterladen

Über diese Lektion

Wichtige Vokabeln & Phrasen

Übungstipps

Was ist die Shadowing-Technik?