How to Write a Formal Letter for CAE

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The days of letter-writing striking fear into the hearts of Cambridge candidates have gone. For one thing, you don't need to worry so much about matching the opening and closing formulae - you won't fail just for putting 'Dear Sir/Madam' at the beginning, and then closing your letter with 'Yours sincerely.'
And secondly, I'm here with another in my series of videos about how to handle the demands of the various Cambridge writing tasks.
This video is devoted to Formal Letter writing.
Be careful when you write a letter of complaint - don't sound too angry, and don't make any demands that could result in legal action! Don't threaten to sue the person you're writing to. If you're writing a letter of application, such as for a job, try not to come across as arrogant - it won't help your chances of landing the job, and it won't help you in the exam either.
In this video we go through every part of the task, step-by-step, with some useful advice and language that you can really use in the exam itself.
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If you'd like to learn more about studying for any Cambridge exams, be sure to visit my facebook page:
closelyobservedenglish
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Want to do more to prepare for your CAE? These books can definitely help!
Grammar and Vocabulary for Cambridge Advanced
amzn.to/2hN1RLJ
Past Papers Pack 1 (with audio and answers)
amzn.to/2zWmUzK
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[@geovaniraffaelli4508]

Don't know whether you'll see this or not since this video is more than 3 years old, but if you ever read this I want you to know that this video was extremely helpful to me in my preparation for the exam. Thank you so much!

[@CloselyObservedEnglish]

Thank you for your kind words - they mean a lot!

[@rockbluepinkable]

I just published your playlist of CAE preparation in a special group on Facebook as a remarkable well done material for the test. Your videos had been really helpful to me. Thank you for the work done! You´re a great teacher.

[@CloselyObservedEnglish]

Thank you for your kind words! I'm glad the videos have helped you :)

[@viola8923]

Exactly what I was looking for! I truly have no words to describe how good this is... the perfect amount of information and tips, very well condensed in a short format like this. My teacher has definitely never been this good and thorough during his lessons. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[@CloselyObservedEnglish]

Thank you so much for your kind words! They mean a lot to me :)

[@kinga.habowska]

I’m preparing for my exam and I just wanted to let you know how useful you’re tips are for me! Thank you for your tips and congratulations on doing such a great job!

[@studentis1422]

I am doing this tomorrow morning and you literally saved my life. Thank you so much for these videos.

[@nicolemartins1350]

My exam is tomorrow and my nerves are definetely beginning to get the best of me; thankfully, rewatching your videos in order to revise is helping me a lot, so thanks for that

[@CloselyObservedEnglish]

Good luck - I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

[@ignaciourbasos6016]

Thanks sir. Your materials will definitely help in the exam.

[@raraavis8119]

I am leaving this comment because I really appreciate these materials. My english teacher presented this channel in order to help us prepare for the exam that is in a few days. Every time I have a question or something I don't understand I come back to these videos! Thank you for the good work!

[@CloselyObservedEnglish]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@wojciechdziekan168]

Lepsze niż szkoła!

[@nicolemartins1350]

I just got my CAE results and I feel like I owe it in a way to comment here. Save for four hours of conversation classes, which I took because I had spent some time without being in an English classroom before my exam, I didn’t get any help to prepare for the CAE *except* for your videos. They were so helpful that I managed to score an average of 206, scoring an A! I ran out of time to finish my second composition, a review, and still got 200 in the writing part, and this truly would not be possible without your videos. Thank you so much for your content, I wish you all the best!! 💙

[@CloselyObservedEnglish]

That's magnificent news - congratulations on your success! I'm glad I was able to help you on your way 😁

[@filipryniewicz6665]

Congrats, that's a remarkable score. I'm taking the exam tomorrow and I'm stressed. Do you have any last-minute tips for me?

[@nicolemartins1350]

@@filipryniewicz6665 Thanks! I’d say the main thing is do your best to stay calm, something that really helped me was to meditate before the exam began (of course, every person relaxes in a different way, so find what works for you). Also, I don’t know whether or not this is the advisable course of action, but what I did in the eve of my exam was to go through my notes of the different composition structures that they can ask of you. I suggest focusing on the two you like the most, so that if you have one of those two options, which you hopefully will, you can make an amazing composition (and of course, also be sure to be familiar with the essay’s structure since that’s the one you know will be there) Good luck, I hope you do great!

[@katuwalewskie6992]

weird seeing an anglophone knowing what Poland is, much less knowing the specifics of polish matura xd but as a person who's terrible at writing I must say, this will help me with the cae AND the matura, too, it's so good, so thanks I guess lol

[@DaDa-px1ei]

Lepsze niż szkoła!!!

[@toskafr]

It's good to know that 'XYZ" is not exactly appropriate - here in Poland our teachers always taught us to never ever use our own names... XD

[@CocoNani12]

Is there always an option in the examen to write a letter? And thank your for the video- it helped a lot :)

[@CloselyObservedEnglish]

The Letter is not always present as an option, no. It's often there, but it could be a formal letter or informal letter - you cannot prepare for it quite as much as you can for the Essay.

[@vojtechnesvadba3527]

3 people disliked the video because of the clock ticking sound in the backgroud. Useful vid, though. Thanks for that.

[@sofiafernandez1683]

Is this useful for the lastest version of the exam? i am sitting for it this year and i´m afraid to study old structures.

[@CloselyObservedEnglish]

Yes, it's all still relevant. Good luck in your exam!

[@beatrizpinheiro5064]

hey! can i sign the letter with my own name? thank you so much for this video!

[@CloselyObservedEnglish]

Yes, you certainly can 😁👍

[@PriscaM]

Should every paragraph have a clear opening sentence, stating the content of the paragraph itself?

[@CloselyObservedEnglish]

You don't need to state the content, no; first you need to introduce the content, then develop it, and then conclude the idea before you move on to the next paragraph.

[@aleksoares]

Can I also write the letter in capital letters?

[@CloselyObservedEnglish]

Yes - and I think it's a good idea to write in capitals if you have poor or illegible handwriting.

[@skorp5677]

@@CloselyObservedEnglish xD Wait, are you serious about this??

[@ivanchudyk6129]

Instead of "Best Regards", it would be much more formal to write "Yours Faithfully" or "Yours sincerely".

[@CloselyObservedEnglish]

It would be more formal, traditionally - you're right. But times have changed, and Cambridge will not penalise you for writing 'Best regards' at the end of a formal letter or email.