由于国内和国外的文化、教育制度生活方式的不同,刚到英国的留学生或多或少有会各种不适应,这些不适应往往体现在生活、学习、饮食、文化、社交等方面。
作为学生感触比较大的就是社交方式上,国外与国内的社交方式不太一样,学生通常是要通过发邮件的方式与老师、学校沟通。这就让很多刚开学的留学生很不习惯。
首先和大家科普一下,在国外读书,包括学校有什么活动,考试信息,课表,课程内容,学期考核等等,这些都是靠邮箱来传递的,也就是老师或学校不当面告诉你一些信息,但会通过邮件形式通知,所以,发邮件是学校和老师的责任,而主动查看邮件是你自己的责任。
确保主题线条清晰并切入要点:Question about current assignment or Final essay questions邮件开头:
称谓(注意:一定要有对方的合适称呼,千万不能写错了)
Dear Professor/Dr./+老师姓氏(Last name)(头衔可以在学校官网查)
“Dear+姓氏”的表达开头,显得得体。不知道姓名的时候可以使用Dear Sir/Madam
问候用语:
一般的英语邮件的首句总是客套话,我平时用的最多的
“hope this email finds you well”
“Hope you enjoy your weekends.”
“ I hope everything is well with you.”
“I hope you are well and staying safe(特殊时期问侯)
提醒教授你是谁?很多学生可能会给教授发邮件,教授不可能每个都能记得住,因此你需要提醒他们,说出你的名字以及与教授一起上哪门课。My name is XXX(姓名要写全)+学号+课程编号I'm Lili from PM600 class唯一的原则就是-单刀直入,表达清晰,紧扣主题。教授一般都很忙,如果不想你的邮件被忽视或很晚被回复。第一句话就表达清楚你的诉求和疑惑,让你的读者可以迅速明白你这封邮件的目的是什么。
Here I would like to inquire about...I have a question about the assignment you gave us last Monday.Do you want us to work in groups or alone?这封电子邮件是一个正式的邮件,不是一个微博,也不是一个微信,这意味着你在写给教授时需要使用完整的句子,这样看起来更专业。
初次联系教授时,请保持语调和语言的专业性。这意味着没有表情符号。
给朋友的电子邮件中,可能没有句号和逗号是没什么问题的,但当你给教授写邮件时,确保在应有的位置使用正确的标点符号。
尽管一些新生代的词语在互联网上流行,但在专业的电子邮件里应该尽量避免这些。也就是说,不要用“u“代替”you”,用“asap”代替”as soon as possible”等等,请务必使用正确的拼写。
句子开头单词应该大写,专业名词应该大写,确保始终需要大写的单词大写。
阅读你的电子邮件检查是否有语法错误。
Have a nice weekend/holidayI’d really appreciate it if...如果有附件的话,可以用“please refer to the attached document.”Best wishes, / Best regards, / All the bestwith you,Thank you in advance and hope to...I am really looking forward to hearing form you.Please let me know if you have any questions- 如果你的问题没有通过电子邮件得到解决,可与预约一个正式的或非正式的meeting,就要提出来让他们知道。
May I make an appointment with you for a meetingThank you for answering my question. I'll see you in class.I would like to schedule an appointment to talk about XXX.I appreciate your thoughts on this issue. Would you mind if we met in person to discuss it in more detail?Many thanks for your feedback.
Thanks for your quick reply.I hope you’ve had a great weekendI hope you had a good holiday/breakI hope you’ve had an excellent ChristmasApologize for late response/replyI am ready sorry to be so late to get back toyou.Following my previous email,...Dear Professor XXX
My name is XXX, and I am a student from your course 111.
I am writing this email because I have some difficulties structuring myresearch paper. I was wondering if you would be kind enough to havea quick look at the outline. Any suggestion would be appreciated.
Thank you and I am looking forward to your kind reply.
Best Wishes,
XXX
Would it be possible to have a meeting with you?Can we have a supervisory meeting this week?Is it possible to have a meeting at XXX?Please let me know what time would work best for you.I have missed/will miss a number of your classes due toillness.I’m requesting an extension because...For the assignment XXX, I have the following questions.Your reply helps me a lot. Many thanks.Thank you so much for telling/helping me again I reallyappreciate for your time and support.
可以多多使用虚拟语态,也就是多用Would和CouldCould you let me know if…I was wondering if you could provide more information about…如果你的问题已经在课堂开始时得到了回答,你还要求老师在回复你一次,这种情况会使你看起来像一个没有认真听课的学生,让老师感到非常沮丧,因为这会浪费他们的时间。比如大部分电子版的文献你可以在大学图书馆查找,却一定要给教授发邮件问PDF,或者自己不好阅读VLE上面的assignment details,一定要问老师,我们的考试形式等等。老师每天会收到大量的电子邮件,通过使用学校邮箱,你将更可能避免发的邮件被推送到垃圾邮件中,你学校的邮箱看起来更专业。
缺少动作需求
你的邮件篇幅过长,老师根本不知道你表达的什么。建议发邮件的时候,要添加动作需求,你要明确你需要老师为你做什么?比如:你希望老师把你的论文时间延长、你希望老师在几点之前能回复你等等。你要明确表达出来,不要让老师猜你的需求。