Since ancient times, people have used various types of letters to share information with their own kind. Archaeologists have found such messages on clay tablets, pieces of birch bark, or on parchment. This is a clear confirmation that a person has always tried to express his own thoughts and aspirations through writing.
Term Definition
One of the forms of communication between people using language constructs is speech activity. It represents some human efforts that are aimed at achieving a specific goal. At the same time, speech activity has such types as speaking, reading, translating, writing, etc. All of them are means of communication between people.
Writing as a type of speech activity is an auxiliary sign system. It is used to fix sound language. But at the same time, writing is an independent communication system that has a number of functions inherent only to it. In addition to fixing speech activity, it provides humanity with the opportunity to acquire knowledgeprevious generations and expand the scope of communication. In other words, writing connects people when there is no possibility of direct communication due to their separation in time or space.
Somewhat differently this term was interpreted by the Russian literary language of the 18th century. In those days, the word “letter”, in addition to a postal item with a text on paper, also meant an essay or work written by the authors. This interpretation was given to this term in connection with the significant influence of the Polish language on Russian, which took place at that time.
Today, the letter has retained its main function - information. However, the list of ways to convey a particular message has significantly expanded. So, letters today can be received by e-mail, as well as using a variety of multimedia elements (pictures, audio or video clips).
Classification of messages
Today there are different types of letters. First of all, they are divided into paper, which are traditional, and electronic.
The first type of letters is a correspondence of a different nature, sealed in an envelope. Such messages go a long way from their sender to the addressee.
Different types of emails transmitted using modern means of communication (via e-mail, chat, video, etc.) are inherently no different from traditional ones. They, like their predecessors, have the address of the sender and recipient, the main informational text,signature, date, etc. However, electronic forms of letters are a special means of communication. With their help, people can communicate in dialogue mode, teleconferences, etc. In other words, e-mail provides humanity with great opportunities, transmitting any information in a matter of seconds at the press of only one enter button.
There is another classification, according to which the main types of letters are as follows:
- Friendly. They are written to people they know, who usually live in another locality.
- Love. They are written by romantics who have not yet died out in the modern world. Such letters, overflowing with feelings, as in the old days, continue to fly from house to house, crossing the borders of regions, countries and continents.
- Promotional. Their main purpose is related to sales. Today, in Russia, such letters are just beginning to be popular, increasing in volume and developing from year to year. This can include various kinds of commercial offers, announcements of promotions, etc.
- Business. These are letters intended for clients and partners, officials and officials. Sending such correspondence is under strict control. The letter must reach its addressee in time to inform him of important information.
There are other types of messages. So, there are letters that are attached to the resume, sent to the consulate, to the editorial office, to the embassy, and also to the technical support service.
Need for business correspondence
When writing a formal letter, a person is unlikely tothinks about the fact that the ways of its design and presentation have been polished over many centuries. Business messages, as in former times, are an essential means of communication between various institutions. At the same time, they all bear a single generalized name - "service letter". This concept includes documents of different content, drawn up in accordance with the existing GOST and sent by fax, mail or otherwise. The text of such correspondence must be correct, literate and accurate. The solution of this or that issue, and consequently, the success of the enterprise as a whole, will directly depend on this.
History of business correspondence
Compilation of collections (“letters”) containing samples of documents began in Russia at the beginning of the 18th century. The forerunners of these editions were "forms", which were used in the West as early as the 7th century.
Both those and other directories contained a description of the details of the documents, as well as their specific sequence. These were original improvised collections for scribes. From them one could draw information about the construction of the document, as well as get acquainted with the template sets of expressions and phrases that were an integral part of official etiquette.
One of the types of "letters" was "titular". This collection contained information on how to write the full royal title.
There were also requirements for the handwriting of the scribe, as well as for the color and quality of the paper. All correspondence was sent toenvelopes that were sealed with sealing wax or wafers.
During the existence of the USSR, the genre of business writing, adopted in tsarist Russia, was simply rejected as a relic of the past. The Soviet government underestimated the importance of business correspondence. In addition, the lack of competition and free enterprise took away the need for eloquence and bringing convincing arguments to the partner to start cooperation.
Types of business letters
Currently, not a single organization can do without official correspondence. Official correspondence is used to solve many operational issues that arise in commercial and managerial activities.
Any business letter is nothing more than an informational message of a protocol nature. That is why such correspondence is subject to registration, and verbal communication to partners does not eliminate the need to send it by mail.
There are various types of service letters. Moreover, their classification depends on the features that are inherent in them. So, allocate:
- Official letters that need to be answered. These are letters of request, letters of questions, letters of appeal, etc.
- Business correspondence that does not require a response. It includes warning letters, reminder letters, etc.
Business correspondence can also be classified according to structural features. In accordance with them, there are such types of service letters as standard and ad hoc. The first of them are designed to address issues related to regular economic and legal situations. Information is presented in such a message in the form of syntactic constructions of a standard type. Unregulated business letters contain the author's formal-logical narrative, written in the framework of accepted etiquette.
Thematic feature of official correspondence distinguishes between business and commercial correspondence. So, there are letters covering the legal, economic, financial and other forms of enterprise activity. They are classified as business correspondence. If the text of the letter contains sales or logistics issues, then it is considered commercial.
According to the characteristics of the addressee, business correspondence is divided into circular and ordinary. The second type of letters differs in that the same text is sent from one source to several addresses.
There are also single-aspect and multi-aspect business correspondence. The first of these two types deals with only one issue or problem. Multidimensional text highlights several directions at once (messages, proposals, requests).
Composing business letters
All official correspondence includes several structural elements. At the very top of the sheet is the header area. In its left part, a corner stamp of the enterprise is placed indicating the name, as well as postal and other details of the company. The number of the outgoing document and the date of registration are also indicated here.
Slightly below this corner stamp is the title of the text of the letter, and then the text itself follows. When writing such a document, the following rules must be observed:
- the text should address either one issue or several related issues;
- the first part of the text should state the reason for writing it, and the second - suggestions, conclusions, decisions, etc.;
- correspondence must be placed on A5 or A4 sheets;
- if there are applications, they are indicated below the main text.
At the bottom is the signature area. The position of the person signing the document is indicated here, as well as his surname and initials.
If you need to write various types of letters in English, German and other languages, then when preparing them, you need to take into account the peculiarities of compiling official letters of the partner country. So, in different states there are separate rules for writing dates, addresses and other specific points.
Rules for writing emails
Today, the authors of numerous newsletters and blogs are trying to keep in touch with their readers, regularly throwing them letters with useful tips. However, in this matter, there are certain rules regarding the distribution that a person simply does not want to see on his computer.
Unusual classification
There are 5 types of emails that you should not forward to your audience. These include:
- "Letters-sheets" occupying the space of more than one monitor screen.
- "Letters-zadolbashki", sent with persistent frequency.
- "Referral letters" in which the author gives advice to "read" something useful. To obtain such information, the reader follows the link and sees the next lesson or training there. This attraction to an outside site is rapidly reducing the size of the original audience.
- "Guerrilla letters" sent by the author of various mailing lists to the same client base.
- "Scare Letters". These include correspondence that has an unsightly appearance when accessing email from a mobile phone or tablet. That is why, when preparing any text, you need to make sure that it will be equally well read from various devices.
Writing in the process of human development
The basic concepts of transferring graphic symbols to paper people begin to learn when they are at school age. It was during these years that writing as an activity takes on special significance. The desire to clearly and quickly reflect their thoughts on paper indicates that a person is improving his literacy. In addition, many psychologists note the fact that the originality of speech transferred to paper lies in the fact that it is not only a habit of fingers and hands. Writing is a means of active cognitive activity, and its assimilation is closely connected with the process of personality formation.
Primary School Letter
Children begin to get acquainted with the wonderful world of displaying speech on paper from the first grade. In doing so, students begin to realize that there are different types ofletters. The summary of the teacher's lesson on this topic should contain the objectives of the lesson. They consist in introducing children to the genre of writing, in the development of coherent speech, spelling vigilance, speech-auditory and visual memory, fine motor skills and the emotional sphere.
At this lesson, the teacher explains to his pupils the role that writing plays in people's lives. This allows to develop the communicative qualities of schoolchildren. Collectivism is brought up in children, the initial experience of thinking over, designing and writing letters is accumulated.
Unusual essay
A very interesting task is sometimes offered at school lessons in Russian language and literature in high school. The teacher invites the children to write an essay in the form of a letter. Using such an epistolary genre, one can avoid formulaic phrases and strict frames. At the same time, the student is given the opportunity to give flight to his imagination, while remaining within the framework of a given topic.
Of course, writing is above all freedom of thought. However, before compiling this essay, it does not hurt to think over its plan. This will allow you to clearly state your thoughts on paper and not get confused in the theses presented. Such a letter will become clear not only to the person to whom it is intended. Any reader will understand its main idea.
Training in special schools
For children suffering from certain diseases, special educational institutions of various types (from 1 to 8) are being created in our country. Their main goalis preparing students for adulthood.
The most difficult is teaching in schools of the 8th type. Mentally retarded children are accepted here. At the first stage of their training, the teacher must form the initial skills of reading and graphic display of sounds. Writing (1st grade, 8th type of school) for such students serves as the basis for the formation of synthesis and sound-letter analysis. First-graders work with words and syllables, short texts, as well as the simplest types of sentences.
The main goal of such schools is to teach children to read and write, as well as orientation in social conditions.
