Academic English Skills with Dr. Byrnes

Today, we’re focusing on one of the most misunderstood tasks in TOEFL Writing: the email writing task. Many students mistakenly believe there is one perfect template they can use for every situation. A common example is starting with “I hope you are doing well.” While this can work in informal or friendly contexts—when you know the person well—it is not appropriate in more formal situations, such as writing to a professor, a supervisor, or someone you have never met. If you want a reliable and universal approach, it’s better to begin with something clear and direct, like “I am writing to…”. This works in almost any context because emails are meant to clearly state their purpose. However, if you want to earn a top score, you need to go beyond a basic template. The more your email is tailored to the situation, the stronger and more effective it will be. You can see why this matters when you look at official TOEFL questions. The situations vary widely. Sometimes you’re writing in a formal...