A letter to a friend about a visit to a place Presentation by Railya Alkhamova, September 2011

150 Artyom Street Sterlitamak Russia August 23, 2011 Dear Jim, Sorry I havent written for a while, but Ive just got back from a weeks holiday in Buenos Aires. We stayed in one of the citys best hotels on the Plaza de mayo, right in the heart of the city. It was ideal for sightseeing and shopping. Buenos Aires is an amazing place. Its the largest city in Argentina, very modern and exciting. But relaxing and cultured at the same time. Did you know it has the worlds widest street? Theres plenty to do there, too. We spant most of our timeshopping and visiting the main sights, like the Casa Rosada – it is one of the most beautiful buildings Ive ever seen! Umfortunately, I had a mishap on the last day. While I was shopping, I lost my passport. As you can imagine I was reallyupset, but when I went to the police stationto report it, some kind person had already handed it in. What a relief! Well, thats all my news. Hope you are OK. See you soon. body Your friend, Barry

When we write a letter to a friend about a short visit to a place we usually write four paragraphs.

Paragraph 1 Paragraph 2 Paragraph 3 Paragraph 4 Sorry I havent written for a while, but Ive just got back from a weeks holiday in Buenos Aires. We stayed in one of the citys best hotels on the Plaza de mayo, right in the heart of the city. It was ideal for sightseeing and shopping. Buenos Aires is an amazing place. Its the largest city in Argentina, very modern and exciting. But relaxing and cultured at the same time. Did you know it has the worlds widest street? Theres plenty to do there, too. We spant most of our timeshopping and visiting the main sights, like the Casa Rosada – it is one of the most beautiful buildings Ive ever seen! Umfortunately, I had a mishap on the last day. While I was shopping, I lost my passport. As you can imagine I was reallyupset, but when I went to the police stationto report it, some kind person had already handed it in. What a relief! Well, thats all my news. Hope you are OK. See you soon.

We write our opening remarks and state the place we visited, the length of our stay and where we stay. Sorry I havent written for a while, but Ive just got back from a weeks holiday in Buenos Aires. We stayed in one of the citys best hotels on the Plaza de mayo, right in the heart of the city. It was ideal for sightseeing and shopping. Paragraph 1

We write what the place is like. Buenos Aires is an amazing place. Its the largest city in Argentina, very modern and exciting. But relaxing and cultured at the same time. Did you know it has the worlds widest street? Paragraph 2

We write what we did / saw there and what happened to us there. Theres plenty to do there, too. We spent most of our time shopping and visiting the main sights, like the Casa Rosada – it is one of the most beautiful buildings Ive ever seen! Unfortunately, I had a mishap on the last day. While I was shopping, I lost my passport. As you can imagine I was really upset, but when I went to the police station to report it, some kind person had already handed it in. What a relief! Paragraph 3

In the last paragraph, we write our closing remark. Well, thats all my news. Hope you are OK. See you soon. Paragraph 4

We normaly use present tenses to describe the place and past tenses to describe what we did there.

We use short forms and a variety of descriptive adjectives.

Verginia Evance, Neil OSullivan Click on 4 – Express Publishing