Email enquiries disappearing text memory

By: Alex Case

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Lesson Plan Content:

Email enquiries disappearing text memory game

Work in groups of two to four people. Look at the text below that your teacher tells you to look at. The first person reads out the whole of the text, then takes away one word (by covering it, or by changing it to white if you are working on a computer).

The next person will then read the whole text, including the word that was just taken away, and choose one more word to cover or change to white.

Take turns reading out the whole text and taking away more words until the whole text has disappeared, until you give up, or until your teacher stops the game. You should always try to say exactly what is written in each square, even when other words would also be correct.

If you are doing this online (on Zoom, etc), one person should share their screen and take away the words that everyone chooses.

Useful language for saying which word you want to take away

“I want to delete…/ “I’m going to take away…”

“In the first/ second/ third/…th/ last + section/ paragraph”

“The first/ second/ third/ fourth/ …th word.”

“In the first/ second/ third/ fourth/ …th column.”

“In the first/ second/ third/ fourth/ …th row."

If your teacher tells you to, do the same with another text below.

Read through all the model emails and ask about anything you can’t understand, think could be a different word, etc.

After the brainstorming stage below, test each other:

Choose one section and read phrases with words missing for your partner to complete
Choose one section and help your partner make suitable sentences by giving them key words, etc.
Choose one phrase for your partner to use in an example requests or enquiries email, or to use in a responding to requests or enquiries email
Choose one phrase for your partner to use in an email, listen to their email including that language, respond to what it says in an answer email, then continue the email exchange if necessary
Roleplay similar email exchanges, replying with whole emails until the exchange is finished

Email 1 – Formal enquiry

Dear

Sir

or

Madam,

---------------

I

am

writing

to

you

regarding

insurance

for

small

companies.

First,	I’d	like	to	know
what	size	companies	you	insure.
We	only	have	three	employees,
so	I	wonder	if	such
a	small	company	is	covered.

My

second

question

is

about

contract

length.

If

possible,

we

would

like

a

15-year

contract.

Lastly,	we	are	interested	in
policies	covering	reputation	risk.	Could
you	give	me	some	information
on	prices	for	such	policies?

I

look

forward

to

hearing

from

you

soon.

-----------

------------

Sincerely

yours,

Alex

Case

(Mr)

Email 2 – Formal positive reply

Dear

Mr

Case,

------------

-------------

Thank

you

very

much

for

your

interest

in

our

products.

Please

find

my

answers

below.

In	answer	to	your	first
question,	there	is	no	minimum
size.	We’d	be	very	happy
to	offer	your	company	insurance.

You	also	asked	about	contract
length.	I’m	afraid	fifteen	years
isn’t	possible,	but	we’d	be
happy	to	offer	you	ten.

Regarding

prices,

they’re

negotiable.

If

you

let

us

know

your

needs,

we’ll

make

a

quote.

We

are

looking

forward

to

hearing

from

you

soon.

-----------

Best

regards,

Harold

Beam

------------

Email 3 – Informal request

Hi

Gordon,

----------

---------

How

are

you

doing?

Hope

you

had

a

good

trip.

I’m	writing	about	reorganisation	of
the	department.	Could	you	possibly
have	a	look	at	the
attached	plan	and	see	if
I’m	on	the	right	track?

Thanks.

All

the

best,

Dave

Email 4 – Informal negative reply

Hi

Dave,

Really

nice

to

hear

from

you.

Congratulations

on

getting

the

project

leader

job.

Really	sorry	but	I’m	flying
to	Hawaii	for	my	honeymoon
tonight	so	I	won’t	have
time	to	look	at	it.
If	you	send	it	to
Sally,	she	can	probably	help.

Sorry

about

that.

Good

luck

with

the

project.

Best,

Gordon.

Brainstorming stage

Write as many phrases as you can below, look above for ideas, then brainstorm more.

Starting emails

Email opening greetings

Email opening lines

Body of emails

Enquiries

Responses to enquiries

Ending emails

Email closing lines

Email closing greetings

Different ways of writing your name at the end of an email

Compare your extra ideas as a class or with the list of phrases from page 368.

Cards to cover the disappearing text with

To save paper and photocopying, you can also use scrap paper to cover the squares,. Students will probably be able to see through plain white paper, so it is better to use coloured paper and/ or paper with print on it such as old photocopies.

XXXXXXXXXX

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Articles on Teaching

Email enquiries disappearing text memory

A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS

Lesson Plan Content:

Email enquiries disappearing text memory game

Email 1 – Formal enquiry

Email 2 – Formal positive reply

Email 3 – Informal request

Email 4 – Informal negative reply

Brainstorming stage

Cards to cover the disappearing text with