日米会話学院 Podcasting

2006.02.23

007_A_Formal_Thank_You

Ayaka is trying to write an English thank you letter to her former boss.

Kevin:

Hello and welcome back to Nichibei Kaiwa Gakuin Podcasting. A great place to review English words and phrases. This week I spoke with Nichibei student Ayaka about writing a formal thank you letter.

Kevin:

Hi Ayaka, what's up?

Ayaka:

Well, I'm changing jobs and I'm in the middle of writing a thank you letter to my old boss.

Kevin:

Well, why are you writing a thank you letter?

Ayaka:

Actually he was quite helpful. He wrote a letter of recommendation for me. Besides, I want to leave on a good note.

Kevin:

Leave on a good note?

Ayaka:

Yeah, you know, to say goodbye with good feelings and thanks.

Kevin:

OK, I've got it. So how exactly can I help you?

Ayaka:

Well, I think my English is a little too simplistic. Here, take a look at this draft.

Kevin:

OK. "Dear Mr. Philips, Thank you very very much for your kindness and help. I will remember you." Yes that is a little too simple.

Ayaka:

What I want to know is other words and phases for "thank you". Something to make my letter sound more professional.

Kevin:

Well, let me ask some Nichibei teachers for their opinion.

Ayaka:

Would you? That'd be great.

Kevin:

First up with his opinion is Mr. Kuni Yanagishita.

Kevin:

Kuni, have you got a minute?

Kuni Yanagishita:

Well I am a little busy right now but what is it Kevin?

Kevin:

This should only take a second. Ayaka is writing a formal thank you letter to her former boss and she needs a little bit of help with this.
Here take a look at this.

Kuni Yanagishita:

Sure, OK. Oh.pretty nice letter. It looks alright but...first off, there is no real introduction. She should lead into her thank you with a phrase like. "I'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you for all your kindness and help" and something like that.

Kevin:

How about any replacement vocabulary for just the simple "Thank You"?

Kuni Yanagishita:

How about the noun like thankfulness. She could say like "I'd like to take this opportunity to express my thankfulness for all your kindness and help.

Kevin:

That sounds good. Thank you for your time.

Kuni Yanagishita:

Oh sure thing, Anytime Kevin.

Kevin:

Next I spoke with Mr. Tony Demko.

Kevin:

Good morning Tony.

Tony Demko:

Good morning Kevin. How are you doing today.

Kevin:

Oh, Pretty good.

Tony Demko:

Let me guess. Another podcasting question.

Kevin:

Good call Tony.

Tony Demko:

OK. What's the situation.

Kevin:

OK. Do you know Ayaka? She's in one of the daytime classes. Anyway, she's changing jobs and she wants to write a thank you letter to her old boss and she's looking for more formal English. What can you come up with for this?

Tony Demko:

She could use the noun appreciation. For example, "I would like to show my appreciation for all that you have done for me while I was at XYZ company".

Kevin:

OK. And there's a verb form, right?

Tony Demko:

Oh yeah, of course. The verb form is appreciate. So If she wants to be less formal she could use that verb form "I appreciate all that you have done while I was working at your company".

Kevin:

I appreciate your time. Have a good morning class.

Tony Demko:

You too Kevin

Kevin:

For our last opinion I caught up with Mr. Phil Stilwell. Good morning Phil.

Phil Stilwell:

Good morning Kevin.

Kevin:

Hey, I've got a question for you.

Phil Stilwell:

Sure, go ahead.

Kevin:

I've got this student Ayaka and she's writing a thank you letter to her former boss. What kind of vocabulary can you suggest.

Phil Stilwell:

Ah well, What's been suggested so far?

Kevin:

Well, so far we've got appreciate and appreciation and the noun thankfulness

Phil Stilwell:

I see. Well I might suggest grateful and gratitude.

Kevin:

How are we gonna use those two words in a sentence.

Phil Stilwell:

Well, you might use the word grateful as follows "I am very grateful for the support you've given me over the last three years".

Kevin:

That sounds good. How about gratitude?

Phil Stilwell:

You might say something like "I'd like to express my gratitude for all your support. How's that?

Kevin:

Excellent

Phil Stilwell:

Good. Anything else? I've got to get going.

Kevin:

No. That's it. Thanks for your time.

Phil Stilwell:

Have a good one!

Kevin:

OK Ayaka. That should help you write a good thank you letter.

Ayaka:

It sure will. I'm gonna type it up right now. See you!

Kevin:

Ayaka, aren't you forgetting something?

Ayaka:

Kevin. I'm so grateful for your help.

Kevin:

You're very welcome Ayaka. Let's review the vocabulary for this podcast. The noun thankfulness. And the verb appreciate and the noun appreciation. And the adjective grateful and the noun gratitude. That's all for this week's podcast, but before we go let's check with the office. Ms. Ono do you have an announcement?

Ms. Ono:

Yes I do. The same as last week. (announcement)

Kevin:

To find out more about Nichibei Kaiwa Gakuin, visit www.nichibei.ac.jp , and follow the podcast link for information and transcripts of this podcast. This podcast is a production of Nichibei Kaiwa Gakuin and Live Mix Media.

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