F-05.01 Access & Use Product/Service Advertising, Place “Orders”, Apply Writing Conventions to Short Consumer Letters

WorkLife English: a Competency-Based Reading / Writing Book 2: English in Everyday Life, Chapter 8 / “Shopping,” pages 105-119

15 pages  

Who It’s For: New Readers / Writers of Information Who (Want to) Order Merchandise or Get Help by Mail, by Phone, and/or Onscreen

Why You Need It: Nowadays, most ordering (of products or services) seems to happen online and/or by phone.  Even so, there are other sources of (comparative) information about these—such as (printed or online) telephone listings & catalogs.  With general consumer info, here are low-tech replicas of these to practice with. 

What You’ll / They’ll Do:  

[1] In Part One / Read & Understand, enjoy black & white simulations of parts of perhaps obsolete sources of consumer info—listings and ads in the yellow pages that (used to) accompany telephone books.  Make good use of their vocabulary and wording.        

[2] In Part Two / Information, play with typical elements of a fictional mail-order catalog.  For fun, “place your order.” Bring in real, up-to-date advertising of this kind to practice with.  If you feel confident enough and can afford it, you might consider making actual purchases.    

[3] In Part Three / Spelling, go over spellings for possibly confusing consonants  / g j y m n ng kw ks /.   Review how to add -(e)st to superlatives.  

 In Part Four / Read & Write, peruse and edit sample letters related to mail order. Take a dictation.  Write a letter with given information.  If you need or wish to, write real letters for comparable purposes.