外经贸英语函电与谈判课件中国商务出版社unit 1

Lesson1BusinessLetterWriting商业书信的撰写TheBasicRequirementsofBusinessLetterWritingTheBasicPartsofBusinessLettersTheBasicLayout/FormatofBusinessLettersAddressingEnvelopesPracticalTrainingPartOnePartTwoPartThreePartFourPartFiveContentsPartOneThepurposesofcommunicationaretoobtaincompleteunderstandingbetweenthepartiesinvolved,andelicittheresponsesrequired.Generallyspeaking,thefunctionsofabusinessletteraretoaskforortoconveybusinessinformation,tomakeortoacceptanoffer,todealwithmattersconcerningvariousbusinesses.Businessletterwritingdoesnotdifferfromanyotherformofcreativewriting.GoodEnglishisoneoftheimportantbasesofgoodbusinessletters.Whatyouwriteshouldbefreefromgrammaticalblemishes,andalsofreefromtheslightestpossibilityofbeingmisunderstood.Usually,therearecertainessentialrequirementsforagoodbusinessletter,whichcanbesummedupintheSevenCs,i.e.Completeness,Concreteness,Clearness/Clarity,Conciseness,Courtesy,Consideration,Correctness.TheseCsoftengohand-in-hand.WaysofcommunicationLetterTelephoneFaxTelexTelegramE-mailPartOneAbusinesscommunicationshouldincludeallthenecessaryinformation.Itisessentialtocheckthemessagecarefullybeforeitissentouttoseethatallthemattersarediscussed,andallthequestionsareanswered.Businesslettersshouldavoidincompleteness.Eg:Thegoodscanbedelivered.→ThegoodscanbedeliveredbyJune14.Concretenessmeansmakingthemessagespecific,definiteandvivid.Businesslettersshouldavoidbeingtoogeneral.Ingeneralletters,everythingseemstobementionedbutactuallyfewarefullyexpounded.Youshouldusespecificfactsandfigures,vividandimage-buildingwords.1.Completeness(完整)2.Concreteness(具体)Eg:TheUniversaltradingCompanyisoneofourbigbuyers.→TheUniversalTradingCompanyplacedoverUS.$2,000,000worthofbusinesswithuseachyear.Analysis:“big”adj.Can’texpressthedegreeinspecificfigures.Wehavereceivedwiththanksyourcheck,theamounthasbeenplacedtoyourcredit.→WehavereceivedwiththanksyourcheckNo.248forUS.$200,000.inpaymentofourcommission,whichhasbeenplacedtoyourcredit.Analysis:weshouldpointoutthenumberandtheamountofthecheckandtheuseofthemoney.PartOneMakesurethatyourletterissoclearthatitcannotbemisunderstood.Apointthatisambiguousinaletterwillcausetroubletobothsides,andfurtherexchangeoflettersforexplanationwillbecomeinevitable,thustimewillbelost.Youmusttrytoexpressyourselfclearly.Toachievethis,youshouldkeepinmindthepurposeofyourletteranduseappropriatewordsincorrectsentencestructuretofullyconveyyourmeaning.Whenyouaresureaboutwhatyouwanttosay,sayitinplain,simplewords.Short,familiar,conversationalandstraight-forwardEnglishiswhatisneededforbusinessletters.3.Clearness/Clarity(清楚)Eg:（一）避免用词错误：例如：AstothesteamerssailingfromHongKongtoSanFrancisco,wehavebimonthlydirectservices.此处bimonthly有歧义：可以是twiceamonth或者oncetwomonth.故读信者就迷惑了，可以改写为：1.WehavetwodirectsailingseverymonthfromHongKongtoSanFrancisco.2.WehavesemimonthlydirectsailingfromHongKongtoSanFrancisco.3.WehaveadirectsailingfromHongKongtoSanFrancisco.（二）注意词语所放的位置：例如：1.Weshallbeabletosupply10casesoftheitemonly.2.Weshallbeabletosupply10casesonlyoftheitem.前者则有两种商品以上的含义。（三）注意句子的结构：例如：1.Wesentyou5samplesyesterdayofthegoodswhichyourequestedinyourletterofMay20byair.2.Wesentyou,byair,5samplesofthegoodswhichyourequestedinyourletterofMay20.PartOneConcisenessisoftenconsideredtobethemostimportantwritingprinciple.Itmeanssayingthingsinthefewestpossiblewords.Toachievethis,trytoavoidwordinessorredundancy.ClearnessandConcisenessoftengohand-in-handandtheeliminationofwordybusinessjargoncanhelptomakealetterclearerandatthesametimemoreconcise.Aconciseletterisnotnecessarilyashortone.Sometimesaletterdealingperhapswithamultiplicityofmatterscannotavoidbeinglong.Generallyspeaking,youwillgaininclearnessandconcisenessbywritingshortsentencesratherthanlongones.Alettercanbemadeclearer,easiertoreadandmoreattractivetolookatbywritingshortsentencesandcarefulparagraphing.Oneparagraphforonepointisagoodrule.4.Conciseness(简洁,简明)Eg:（一）避免废话连篇：例如：1.Wewishtoacknowledgereceiptofyourletter...可改为：Weappreciateyourletter...2.Enclosedherewithpleasefindtwocopiesof...可改为:Weenclosetwocopiesof...（二）避免不必要的重复：（三）短句、单词的运用：Enclosedherewith-----enclosedatthistime-----nowduetothefactthat-----becauseadraftintheamountof$1000-----adraftfor$1000PartOneCourtesyisnotmerepoliteness.Itislikeafavorableintroductioncard.Thecourteouswritershouldbesincereandtactful,thoughtfulandappreciative.Youneedtoprepareeverymessagewiththereadersinmindandtrytoputyourselfintotheirplaces.Ifconcisenessconflictswithcourtesy,makealittlesacrificeofconciseness.Promptnessisoneofthemostimportantthingsinbeingcourteous.Punctualitywillpleaseyourcustomerwhodislikeswaitingalongtimeforareply.5.Courtesy(礼貌)Eg:Tellusmoredetailedinformationonyourrequirements---Will/wouldyoupleasetellusmoredetailedinformationonyourrequirements?Wemustrefuseyouroffer.----Weregretthatweareunabletoacceptyouroffer./WearesorrythatwearenotinapositiontoacceptyourofferPartOneBeforeyougoontothedetailedstructureofthebusinessletterthereisonegeneralprinciple,onwhichthenativeEnglishwriterslaygreatemphasis,thatis,the“you”attitude.“Yo