January 2007

You stayed at your friends’ house when you participated in a business seminar in Australia. You left a file with important documents in your room. Write a letter to your friend, describing the file and ask him/her to return it to you by post.

My dearest Philip,

I am sorry I am writing only now. Firstly, I would like to thank you for all the attention and support you gave me while I was in Sydney. Things like that are priceless and I feel blessed to have you as my friend. I expect you and Ingrid to come to Rio soon, so that I try to somehow joyful moments as those you to me. I am also writing because of the fact that I forgot a very important document in the room where I stayed at your house.

The document is a signed contract and was the most important reason for my trip to Australia, after the business seminar I attended. You can imagine how desperate I have been in the last days looking for this document in my luggage. I could not find it anywhere and now I am sure I left it in your house.

Please let me know if you find it, and post it with express delivery as soon as possible. I will pay for the expense; just let me know your bank, account and branch numbers.

With best wishes,
Leonardo

You successfully passed a job interview. You are expected to start on November 15, but you will not be available on that date. Task: Write a letter to your new boss, explaining your situation, expressing your concern and suggesting a solution.

Dear Sir/Madam,

Leonardo Gomes and I have recently passed a job interview for the Software Engineer position at the Software Infrastructure group. I was expected to start on November 15, as agreed, and am writing because, unfortunately, I will not be able to present myself on that date.

During the interview I estimated fifteen days as the amount of time needed for me to finish my activities at my current job and start at your company, but due to fact that I got sick for the last whole week and was not able to work, I could not finish my tasks and will need another week to do so. If necessary, I can give you a copy of a letter from my doctor informing that I had to stay at home and under medical care during that week.

To clear the backlog created by my late start, I can work two additional hours every day until I catch up, either coming in early or leaving late. I feel responsible for the pressure my delayed start may have created on the company, and I am going to work harder until everything is back to normal.

I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and hope this will not affect our relationship. If I am expected to present any other form of proof or talk to someone else in the company, please let me know.

Faithfully yours,
Leonardo