Unit Three: Faxes and E-Mails
Unit Three: Faxes and E-Mails
Unit Three: Faxes and E-Mails
Yours sincerely,
(Signed)
Part Two: Study of Fax
IV. What are to be noted when using the fax?
With the rapid development of international trade, it is expected
that the documents sent by EDI will be used as negotiable
documents and accepted by the international business circle.
Therefore, they will be more and more used in the days to
come. However, at present, we should pay special attention to
the following points while adopting this communicating device:
1. Since the fax transmitting is similar to the duplicating by a
copying machine, it is easy to make imitations of true
documents. So, care must be taken when we use this method.
As for routine business letters, notes or advice that may not
bring about legal obligations, we may send by fax. Otherwise,
we should by all means avoid using this.
Part Two: Study of Fax
2. In international business circle, different country holds differe
nt view about the legal force of a fax message. Certain states or
districts (e.g. Hongkong) deem it of no legal force (in internation
al trade). Usually, the fax is used at the negotiating stage prior t
o a transaction and on problems about after-service under a tec
hnology trade contract. Of course, the fax can also be used in o
ther business situations. Yet, one thing to be remembered is th
at, for an urgent message that concerns legal obligations, it is a
dvisable to confirm it by e-mail; and for a message of no urgenc
y, confirm it by letter.
3. If you are sending a fax message to an organization about th
e production information, orders or other types of written inform
ation, then a cover letter( 附信 ) or fax cover sheet ( 封面页 ) is
needed in order to let the operator know from whom the messa
ge originates, to whom the fax is directed, as well as the total p
ages of the fax message.
e.g. Figure 1: Fax Cover Sheet
Best regards.
All the best.
Thank you for your help.
Thank you, BBFN. (Bye bye for now.)
Signature
A signature block should contain all the information a recipie
nt might require in order for him to respond to an email.
It should begin with the Senders’ Name, Title, and Business
Organization. A Physical Location, Phone Numbers, Email
Address, and Web-site should follow.
As the handwritten signature is illegible and hard to recogniz
e, a printed signature is always followed after it.
e.g. Elena Zhang (Initials should not be used)
Elena Zhang (Initials should not be used)
Services Department
The National Bank
Tel: (8610) 6666-7777
E-mail: elena.zhang@abc.com
Example for signature
You may also use Signature Files, which can be attached to
every letter you send, usually including details of contact and
other relevant information. If you are in business, you should
almost certainly use an email signature in your communicatio
ns.
Peter Connor
Owner/Managing Editor
The White Company
Bellvue, CO 80512
Voice: 970.493.84XX
Fax: 970.493.84XX
Email: peter@write-company.com
Web site: http://write-company.com
Part Three: Study of E-mail
IV. What are to be noted when using the e-mail?
Effective use of e-mail requires a clear sense of the purpose for
writing, as well as a clear statement of the message.
1. The level of formality of email messages depends on the
purpose and audience. Therefore, you need to distinguish
between formal and informal situations. If you write an email
message to your customers, suppliers or other business
partners, you need to use the formal business letter format and
adopt the appropriate writing tone.
2. Email is meant for quick, simple communication .
As a general guide, that means roughly 4 or 5 paragraphs at
most. Do not send dense and lengthy messages. Due to the
limitations of formatting and layout, anything much longer than
that is probably best sent as a separate attachment.
Answer emails promptly, i.e. observe the “48 hour” principle.
Part Three: Study of E-mail
IV. What are to be noted when using the e-mail?
3. Do not use email if the message needs to be private or secur
e. Email is not secure. Don’t send anything over email that you
wouldn’t want anyone else to read. It’s too easy to forward. Besi
des, in some firms, the email administrator has the ability to rea
d any and all email messages.
4. Do not use all capital letters. In email messages, capitals are
the equivalent of shouting and always make your reader difficult
to read.
5. Do not email back the entire message you’re responding to, r
ather, you should abbreviate a reference point.
6. Cultural awareness and netiquette ( 网络礼节 ) in email commu
nication deserves special attention.
7. Abbreviations and signs expressing feelings ( 代表情绪的符号 )
are used in emails written to familiar persons or friends.
Part Four: Some Abbreviations used
in Faxes and Emails
一、 主题栏常用缩略词:
RE: 表示回复
FRI: 表示仅提供信息,无需回复( For your information )
URGENT: 表示紧急
REQ: 表示命令( Request )
例如: Subject: Order for 10 facsimile transceivers
Subject: Re: Order of 10 facsimile transceivers
Subject: URGENT: Shipment for Order No. 123
Subject: REQ: Payment under Contract No. 321
Subject: FYI: Shipping Advice
二、传真中常用的缩写:
ANS: Answer ARVD: Arrived
ASAP: As soon as possible ATTN: Attention
BK: Bank, Book BKD: Booked
CFM: Confirm CFMD: Confirmed
DLVR: Deliver DOC: Document
FLT: Flight FLWS: Follows
FM: From FR: For
HR: Hour HTL: Hotel
IMM: Immediately INFO: Information
N: And OFR, OFA: Offer
OTHWS: Otherwise PLS: Please
PMT: Payment QTN, QUTN: Quotation
RCVD: Received RPY: Reply
SHIPT, SHPMT: Shipment TKS: Thanks
三、 电子邮件常用缩略语 :
AAMOF As a matter of fact
BBFN Bye bye for now
BTW By the way
EOM End of message
FWIW For what it’s worth
IMHO In my humble opinion
IOW In other words
LOL Laughing out loud
NRR No reply required
OTOH On the other hand
ROFL Rolling on the floor laughing
TIA Thanks in advance
TTYL Talk to you later
Exercises about the E-mail:
I. Translate the following into E-mail messages in English:
1. 你方 11 月 6 日电悉。如能给与 5% 的折扣,我方将订购印花细布
( Printed Shirting ) 150 码。我们渴望建立业务关系并希望得到贵
公司的协助。
2. 你方销售合同第 1102 号项下缝纫机 300 台,交货期过期已久,务
请在 10 月底前装出,否则取消合同。
3. 试订 100 只玩具熊( Toy Bear )。如产品销路好,我们将会向你
方大量订购。如你方无玩具熊存货,玩具熊猫也接受。
4. 你公司第 023 号传真悉。抱歉 08 号台布无货。请电告是否可接受
05 和 06 号台布,请告知所需数量并出价。
5. 我们从你们使馆得悉你们是中国纺织品有潜力的买主。我方欲与
你们建立外贸关系。今特邮去商品目录和样品,请你方收到后即来询
盘。
6. 我贸易代表团将于 6 月 18 日抵达科威特( Kuwait, Kuweit )并逗
留 10--12 天。作为老客户,欢迎你方前来洽谈家具业务。
Exercises about the E-mail:
II. E-mail writing:
You are working for a company, and currently
you receive an email from a customer. In the
email, the customer complained that he had
received 200 blue shirts instead of 150 blue
and 50 black shirts (Contract No. 12345). In
order to find out the facts, you have to write an
email to Mr. Stanley Fan, who is in charge of
delivering goods.