The course for Business Correspondence in International Trade

 

   Introduction to the Course

 

Basic characteristics of the course

     Foreign business correspondence is one of the core business courses of senior students in international trade. It is a course combining English with foreign trade knowledge.

 

Teaching objectives of the course

     By introducing various English business correspondence in foreign trade practice, the course is designed to let students improve their English level, meanwhile also master the basic terms commonly used in foreign trade business, and finally master the basic skills of reading and writing foreign business correspondence.

               

 

Teaching contents of the course

   This course mainly studies business letters, that is, a large number of representative letters in the basic links of foreign trade practice.

   The basic links of foreign trade practice are: establishing business relations, credit investigation, inquiry, offer and quotation, counter-offer, order placing, fulfillment of orders, payment, packaging and transportation, amendment and extension of L/C (letters of credit), claims and settlement of claims, etc.

 

 

Chapter 1  Rules of Good Business Writing

Section 1  Introduction

1.1 Changes in current business letters writing

Changes have taken placed in business environment over the past two decades.

 

Firstly, English is now used by Chinese business professionals to communicate more with non-native English speakers than with native English speakers. Secondly, more  options of communication media are available. Emails and faxes（传真）have become main communication media, while telegrams (cables) and telexes (电传) and paper letters are little used.

 

Business emails and faxes have developed two features:

They are closer to those of spoken language, and different from traditional formal business letter.

(2) There are medium-related structural parts (e.g., video

and electric pictures).

 

On the whole, current business letters (e.g., emails) tend

to be less formal than traditional ones, and international

English (non-native English) has gained wide acceptance.

So college and university students need to be aware of the

two changes.

1.2  Requirements for Writing Business Letters

 

(1) Good command of English

(2) Knowledge of foreign business theory and practice

(3) Knowledge of trade terms (贸易术语)

(4) Knowledge of customer psychology (心理)

(5) Knowledge of skills in salesmanship (推销技能)

 

1.3  Seven Guidelines of Writing English Business Letters

 

7 “Cs” principles (7C原则)

(1) Clarity (清楚)

(2) Conciseness (简洁)

(3) Correctness (正确)

(4) Concreteness (具体)

(5) Courtesy (礼貌)

(6) Consideration (体贴)

(7) Completeness (完整)

 

(1) Clarity (清楚)

You must try to express yourself clearly, so that the reader will really understand your idea. To achieve this, you should keep in mind the purpose of the letter and use appropriate words in correct sentences to convey your meaning.

 

We should also avoid ambiguous (模糊的) sentences. Otherwise, the business letter will cause trouble to both sides. All in all (总之), good, straightforward and simple language is necessary for business letters.

(2) Conciseness (简洁)

Conciseness refers to expressing ideas clearly in the fewest possible words. The elimination of wordy business jargon (商业术语) can help to make a letter clearer and at the same time more concise.

 

If conciseness conflicts with courtesy, then make a little sacrifice of conciseness. Generally speaking, to achieve conciseness, one should try to avoid wordiness (冗长) or redundancy (多余).

(3) Correctness (正确)

Correctness means appropriate and grammatically correct languages, factual information and accurate reliable figures (数字), as well as the right forms and conventions (惯例).

 

All facts should be checked and double checked. Special attention should also be paid to names of goods, specification, quantity, units, etc.

 

(4) Concreteness (具体)

To make the message specific, definite and vivid is the key point of concreteness. The writer must ensure that the letter covers all the information the recipient (收件人) needs to act upon.

 

Put yourself in reader’s place. It is necessary to check the message carefully before it is sent out.

(5) Courtesy (礼貌)

Courtesy is not mere politeness.

The most critical thing is promptness and punctuality. If you delay answering a letter to your customer who dislikes waiting for days, you will have a big trouble.

 

The second thing is that we should always keep in mind the person we are writing to, see things from his point of view, visualize (设想) him in his surroundings, see his problems and difficulties and express our ideas in terms of his experience. Because differences are bound to occur in business, but with diplomacy and tact they can be overcome and settled without offence (冒犯) on either side.

 

Remember that it’s nearly always wrong to doubt a statement made in good faith by the other side and even worse to contradict (反驳) it.

(6) Consideration (体贴)

Consideration stresses You-attitude rather than We-attitude.

 

When writing a letter, keep the reader’s request, needs, desires, as well as his feelings in your mind. Plan the best way to present the message for the reader to receive.

(7) Completeness (完整)

Like any other letters, a good business letter should be complete, providing all the information and data necessary for a specific issue.

 

If any necessary piece of information is lacking, the reader will have to ask for clarification (澄清), which means that you will have to write another letter. It will not only waste time, energy and money, but also damage the image (形象) of your company.