Lettre Amicale: French Friendly Letter Writing

About this resource

What's inside this resource

Écrire une lettre amicale walks French-language students through the components of an informal, friendly letter — tone, common opening and closing phrases (Amicalement, Bien à toi, Salut [nom]), and the five structural parts of the letter (en-tête, salutation, corps, conclusion, salutation finale). A fully worked model letter dated from Ottawa demonstrates the format in context, addressed to a friend named Paul and signed by a fictional writer named Jonas. Blank lined pages let students draft their own letters, and four writing-project scenarios prompt them to write about a recent trip, offer advice to a friend, express gratitude, or describe a personal goal. All instructional text and student prompts are in French, produced by French with Paul David.

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Identify the five structural parts of an informal French letter (en-tête, salutation, corps de la lettre, conclusion, salutation finale).
Use appropriate French greeting and closing phrases when writing to a friend or family member.
Draft an original lettre amicale in French using one of four provided writing prompts.

Teaching tips

Have students annotate the model letter to Paul before drafting their own, labeling each of the five parts.
Post the list of formules de politesse and formules d'interpellation as a reference wall chart during independent writing time.
Assign one of the four writing scenarios as homework and have students exchange letters with a partner to practice reading a peer's lettre amicale.

Skills covered

French informal letter structure — students identify and label the en-tête, salutation, corps, conclusion, and salutation finale in a model letter.
French greeting and closing phrases — students select from provided formules (Amicalement, Bien à toi, Salut [nom]) to open and close their own letters.
French letter composition — students write an original lettre amicale responding to one of four prompts (a trip, advice, gratitude, or a goal).

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

How are the two blank writing sections meant to be used differently from the four project scenarios at the end?

The first blank section directly follows the model letter and asks students to copy or adapt its five parts, while the four numbered project scenarios at the end are open writing prompts (a trip, advice for a friend, a thank-you note, a future goal) for a complete original letter.

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Resource details

Concepts & topics

Core concepts

French letter writing
Informal register
Letter structure

Topics

french français writing écriture french writing écriture créative écrire secondaire

More to explore

Écrire une Lettre Amicale – French Letter Writing

What's inside this resource