**** ETNI on the web http://www.etni.org.il http://www.etni.org **** Greetings, all! In my continuing quest to discover what a ?semi-formal letter? is, I performed a google search with ?semi-formal letter? as the key words. To my surprise there were only 53 hits, as opposed to the 53,000 that I had expected. Most of the hits were syllabi of private EFL/ESL institutions or rubrics of various EFL/ESL examinations. Only one hit actually told me what a ?semi-formal letter? is. The Beijing Tengtu Culture and Electronics Developing Co., Ltd., at: http://www1.njenet.net.cn/jsjx/czpd/xkjx/c2yy/c2yy14/kzzl1.htm told me the following (the grammar mistake is in the original): ?Like a formal letter, a semi-formal letter is written in polite language and a humble tone; no slang is allowed. However, unlike a formal letter, a semi-formal one does not require two addresses. Examples of semi-formal letters include a letter to a family friend who is not your friend directly, a letter to teacher concerning your academic work, or a letter to your resident advisor concerning your absence from a floor meeting. You can write ?thank you? not ?thanks?, ?nine o?clock? not?9:00? Considering this is the ONLY definition of a ?semi-formal letter? I could find via Google, must I assume that it is this indeed the definition of a ?semi-formal letter?? Unfortunately, the NBA Handbook (which never did arrive at my school) does not really define what a ?semi-formal letter? is or isn?t. Further, must I assume that the editor of the paper to whom the summer 2003 4-Pointers wrote a ?semi-formal letter? was, in fact, a friend of their families? Of course, the most problematic and perplexing problem in this most mysterious and enigmatic dilemma is how I can get Israeli students to write in ?a humble tone? in their semi-formal letters. Semi-formally yours, Jimmy __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com ##### To send a message to the ETNI list email: etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ##### ##### Send queries and questions to: ask@xxxxxxxx #####