Nearly every teacher sends home a letter to parents at the beginning of the school year. Send home a letter with misspelled words and grammatical mistakes and parents will think, “Great, my kid’s teacher is an idiot!”
Make a great first impression by writing in plain English. Some of the topics covered:
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Keep your sentences short
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Prefer active verbs
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Use ‘you’ and ‘we’
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Choose words appropriate for the reader
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Don’t be afraid to give instructions
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Avoid nominalisations
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Use positive language
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Use lists where appropriate
How to write in plain English (PDF)
You might also want to use this list of alternative words (PDF).
Note: This is a British site so some suggestions may need to be adjusted to for plain American English.
