3、炫耀自己的外语水平
有些刚入行的外贸菜鸟,总以为自己英语八级特别牛,给老外写email,总是喜欢把文字写得很出彩,各种语法从句层出不穷,还喜欢用冷僻词,让人理解都需要老半天。丘吉尔讲过一句话,具体的内容我忘了,大致的意思是,真正的高手,你要把最复杂的东西用最简单的文字表达出来,全部用最简单的句子,最简单的词汇,让小学生都能看懂。其实把简单的东西复杂化很容易,把复杂的东西简单化就不容了,需要多学多模仿客人的邮件,用最简单的词汇来表达你要表达的东西。
简而言之就是要言简意赅,通俗易懂。外贸函电的精髓就是,“简单简单再简单”,能用一个词表达的绝对不用两个词,能用一句话写清楚的,绝对不写两句。谁能用最少的句子表达同样的意思,那就是最厉害的!
这里分享一个应聘者的例子:
一般一些老外贸做到一定时间,颇有经验了就会招收助理,而email水平也就是考核之一。如,写一封邮件告诉客人mike,上次收到的样品已经寄给工厂了,但工厂说材料不是abs,而是pp,价格他们需要重新核算,但近期内原材料涨价,希望您能尽快确认,我们好采购原材料并安排生产。有一个应聘者是这样写的:
dear mike,
this is jenny from edf co. ltd. we’re so pleased to receive your samples.
i already sent them to our factory last week, and was informed the real material is pp,
not abs as you mentioned last time. what’s the matter?
i’ll give you reply as soon as we get the offer from the factory. it will take several days.
please be more patient. but they also told me, the raw material increased these days.
could you please confirm the price quickly after you get it?
we’ll purchase the raw material and do the production immediately!
looking forward to your reply. thank you!
best regards,
jenny
这封邮件写得好么?老实说还可以,虽然主动语态和人称多了点,但是内容都点到了,表达也算通顺,用的词汇也都是挺简单的,不难懂。但是不是有点啰嗦?如果能简单一点,是不是更好?
有经验的老外贸是会这么写:
hi mike,
samples received and already passed to vendor. the material was pp, not abs.
offer sheet is preparing and will be sent to you soon.
by the way, raw material increased these days, pls make a decision quickly to go ahead after price
confirmed.
we’ll arrange the mass production asap.
thanks and best regards,
这一封,几句话点到主题,表达清楚。所以,能用一句话表达的,千万不写两句,省掉一切能省的废话。写完以后其实可以读一遍,看哪句话可以删掉,哪句话可以换一种表达方式,少用第一人称,多用被动语态!等到你重新检查的时候,发现已经简单的不能再简单,没词可以删了,那就点“发送”吧~。只要做到“简洁”、“清楚”、“准确”,这就是一封好的email了。[收起]