Personal letters, such as letters to your family and friends, are often written more like conversations.

You can write a letter to thank someone, or congratulate them, share family and school news, pass on interesting information, describe what has been happening, or communicate humorous stories.

If you have friends or family who live a distance from you, why not write them a letter to keep in touch? Even if they live close by, a letter is a special way of showing you are thinking about them.

You can format a personal letter any way you like, but there are a few important elements that you need to include, such as:

• Date - the date you are writing the letter
• Your name and address
• Greeting - your hello to the person you are writing to
• Content - why you are writing, news and information. Make sure you spell words correctly, check a dictionary if you are not sure, or try an on-line version www.dictionary.com.au
• Closing - the way you end your letter
• Signature - you should sign your name to make it personal and friendly
• P.S. - stands for postscript. you can use a P.S. to add something at the end of the letter that you forgot to say earlier. A P.S. always comes at the bottom of the letter, below your signature

New Letter Writing Interactive

This is a fun way to learn about letter writing, check out the sample letters, helpful hints and the fantastic letterhead designs to choose from. 

Sample Letter

Have a look at this sample letter   (pdf 24kb) for ideas of an appropriate layout and the important elements to include. You will need Adobe Acrobat on your computer to display this file. If you cannot access the file, call 13 13 18.