Formal Letter

Dear Professor Brad and classmates,


I am Zheng Xinyi and am writing this letter to introduce myself to you. I graduated from Nanyang Polytechnic in the aerospace systems and management course. My past internship in a research and development department contributed mostly to my decision to pursue mechanical engineering. I remember how fascinating it was to see my colleague working on a robot arm, which moved so rigidly yet so elegantly. This definitely sparked my interest and curiosity in the mechatronics field. Besides, mechanical engineering is a course that is versatile and also offers mechatronics as a specialization in the second year of our studies.

In terms of communication, one of my strengths is being a good listener. I prefer to listen first before giving my replies, at the same time offering others the opportunity to voice their opinions. While listening, I will also have sufficient time to understand and process the other person's words, tone, and emotions before giving the best reply. 

As for my weakness, I tend to feel nervous when speaking to large groups and audiences of higher status. My mind would sometimes go blank during presentations and my thoughts would get cut off randomly. Although it is not something that happens frequently now, it can still be as intimidating.

The objective I have for this module is to improve on my confidence. By presenting my ideas and projecting my voice more, I will be less anxious and gradually become more comfortable in speaking.

Something unique about me is that I appreciate it when someone points out my mistakes and even better, provides me with thoughtful advice. I enjoy learning from others which allow me to get different opinions and wider views of certain topics. I believe that through learning from my faults, I am able to make improvements in my weaker areas and prevent making the same mistakes in the future.


Sincerely,

Zheng Xinyi


(Last updated: 9/4/22)

Comments

  1. SeongUngJanuary 22, 2022 at 11:04 PM

    Hi XinYi. Thank you for your post, I enjoyed reading it. Many people have difficulty to become a good listener, it is a very good strength that you are a good listener. I am glad that you are very thoughtful person as you are always trying to give best reply to other people. Moreover, I want to tell you that you don't need to worry so much about your weakness! Many people feel uncomfortable during presentation like me, you are not alone. I hope you can get more confidence through this module and enjoy this university life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mochinomicsJanuary 26, 2022 at 12:09 AM

      Hi SeongUng

      Thank you for your comment and words of encouragement.

      Best Regards
      Xinyi

      Delete
  2. MatthewJanuary 23, 2022 at 8:28 PM

    Hi Xin Yi, your letter is well flowed and easy to understand. I’m glad you enjoy the Mechanical Engineering course, as you previously study a different course. I hope you adjusting well to your studies and making new friends. I am also nervous when I presented to a large audience and my mind will go blank sometimes. I hope you can be more confident in yourself when presenting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mochinomicsJanuary 26, 2022 at 12:12 AM

      Hi Matthew

      Hope we can both become more confident in ourselves!

      Many thanks
      Xinyi

      Delete
  3. Yen TeingJanuary 24, 2022 at 5:53 AM

    Hi Xinyi. Thank you for your introduction. Through this post I have learnt more about you. I am happy to know that you enjoy studying mechanical engineering and that you are a good listener. I think that it is pretty common to be nervous when presenting in large group, I have the same problem too. I hope that you will have more self confidence in yourself after this module.

    Here are some points you can improve letter.

    On the 4th and 5th line of the first paragraph, there is no comma or full stop between "help me" and "develop adaptability". So I assume that there should not be a large spacing there.

    Instead of "Nanyang Polytechnic's Aerospace Systems and Management course" you can write it as diploma in aerospace systems and management in Nanyang Polytechnic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mochinomicsJanuary 26, 2022 at 12:17 AM

      Hi Yen Teing

      Thank you for your comments. I will take the points into consideration and make necessary edits. Looking forward to see you in class!

      With appreciation
      Xinyi

      Delete
  4. Brad BlackstoneJanuary 29, 2022 at 6:40 PM


    Dear Xin Yi,

    Thank you for this clear, concise and rather informative letter. You cover the basics of the assignment while detailing to some extent your educational background, reason for joining SIT and your communication skills. What I'd like to see a little more of is some depth in the discussion of what makes you special. It's true that "everyone is unique with their very own set of strengths, weaknesses, experiences, and aspirations...." Still, I'd like to know a bit about your experiences and/or aspirations.

    In terms of language use, this letter is quite fluent. There are, however, a couple language issues to consider:

    1. sentence structure issues
    -- In addition, there were various opportunities for hands-on experience, and will thus help me develop adaptability and problem-solving skills. > (main subjects and main tensed verbs?)

    2. the need for a transition word, phrase or clause
    -- You state as follows at the start of paragraph #2: My strength is being a good listener.

    It would be ideal to introduce this part of the intro with a transitional pharse such as "In terms of communication...." or even a clause such as "When I consider my communication skills, ...."

    -- I do not fully know what other students are like yet, so I am unable to identify how different we are from one another. > (How can you more effectively introduce this thought?)

    3. verb use
    -- The goals I have for this module is to improve... > (subject-verb disageement)

    I look forward to learning more about you as we communicate in the coming weeks.

    Best wishes,

    Brad

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mochinomicsJanuary 30, 2022 at 12:36 AM

      Hi Professor Brad,

      Thank you for taking the time to review my letter and pointing out what I could be doing better. I will take note of the issues in my letter and continue to work on it.

      I look forward to communicate with you more in the future lessons.

      Warm regards
      Xinyi

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Critical Reflection

Looking back on  the objectives I have set for myself three months ago, I definitely feel more confident and comfortable during  presentations. However, there is still room for improvement such as projecting my voice and using the space around me more effectively. The greatest contribution to my improvement was of course lots of practice and research in the topic that I am presenting. Instead of memorizing a script, I came up with key points for each section and linked them together without relying on the slides. In this way, I will not stress on delivering a perfect speech, but a smooth one instead. In terms of my critical thinking skills, this was an area that required more discipline and effort to improve on. One of the things I found particularly useful is 'The Thinking Process' in instructional unit 3. "A great deal of your time at university will be spent thinking; thinking about what people have said, what you have read, what you yourself are thinking and how your ...
Read more

Instructional Unit 1 - Task 3

“Employers identify communication as one of the basic competencies every graduate should have, asserting that the ability to communicate is valuable for obtaining employment and maintaining successful job performance.” Sherwyn Morreale, Michael Osborn & Judy Pearson, Professors of Communication (2000) Communication is one of the fundamental skills that employers want graduates to possess, claiming that it is crucial for employment and effective work performance ( Morreale , Osborn & Pearson, 2000, p. 2). Reference Morreale S . P . , Osborn M. M., Pearson J. C. (2000, January). Why Communication is Important: A Rationale for the Centrality of the Study of Communication.
Read more