Students are all too often told that they are unable to write appropriate emails to their lecturers. The club of language decline is being wielded far too quickly. No question - every teacher knows these emails, but they are the exception. Conversely, many students are unsure what an appropriate email should look like.
To get straight to the point: there are no language regulations, wording patterns or even a valid patent recipe for the “right” or “perfect” email. A linguistic statement – whether oral or written – is influenced by many factors. The practices in the different disciplines are also quite different.
The communicative goal should therefore be to write an appropriate email rather than the right email. If the salutation to a professor is “sghp”, then one would probably have to say that the orthographic standards were not adhered to and therefore it is not a correct salutation. However, if the professor explicitly points out in courses that he would like to be addressed with exactly this form of address by email (and that is actually what happened!), instead of the, in his opinion, far too cumbersome “Dear Professor”, that is very probably appropriate. So there are recipient-dependent preferences and dislikes and it is precisely these that fuel the uncertainty among students.
The goal of 'successful communication' is most likely to be achieved if the email meets the recipient's appropriateness criteria. If you ask yourself the following questions, it usually does:
1. Is my email appropriate to the matter? So I shouldn't necessarily ask my professor for relationship tips. ;)
2. Is my email appropriate for the recipient? How well do I know the teacher? Especially during initial contact, a more formal salutation is probably less likely to cause conflict than an informal “tachchen” and the wistful farewell “See you very soon, hopefully” awakens associations that are more likely to be in the private sphere. Precisely because written and spoken communication has its own salutation and farewell formulas, transferring it to the other medium can violate appropriateness criteria. Just as greeting “Dear Sir/Madam” is inappropriate in face-to-face communication, greeting “Tag” in email represents a deviation from the norm.
3. Is the email appropriate given the situation? This also includes the choice of media. Is my concern actually suitable to be clarified by email, or can the seminar paper not be better discussed during office hours? If a detailed discussion is expected in the reply email, going to consultation hours is the method of choice. This form of appropriateness also includes timing. You would hardly call your professor on Sundays and public holidays, but an email is certainly sent. However, you should not assume that the email will be read and answered immediately. This implies the expectation of the 24/7 professional, to which one can react sensitively. The farewell “Good night” is therefore ruled out.
The email “Unfortunately I can’t come tomorrow because I have a practical driving test. I'm really sorry. lg thomas schmidt" is therefore appropriate in relation to the communication occasion 'seminar cancellation', but irritating in terms of the subject and recipient.
When choosing a medium, you should generally be aware that the scope for appropriate communication via email is smaller than in a personal conversation. Because the non-verbal channels present in the conversation (facial expressions, gestures, etc.) are missing, attention is focused exclusively on the content - what is written in black and white. Some tolerate typos, others interpret them as signs of sloppiness, lack of appreciation or deficits in spelling skills.
And finally, when writing the email to the professor, it is worth considering what can actually be said in my role as a student. If students say "Give me an appointment next Tuesday", they can assume that the addressee will most likely react angrily or at least irritated, because in hierarchical systems - and this is undeniably what we are dealing with at a German university - instructions come from above communicated downwards. Perhaps this is the secret of an appropriate student email: institutional role and hierarchical status should be visible at least in the first contact. If the teacher's answer is less formal, you can adapt to it without worry.
Even if the examples chosen here suggest that students cannot express themselves appropriately to their teachers: we can breathe a sigh of relief - that is by no means the case. The majority are very capable of formulating an appropriate email. It’s just that the “outliers” stay in your memory longer because they irritate or, at best, amuse you.
Collected style flowers
Dear Ms. Last Name,
I will send you the current slides on Sunday, as I am currently
I'm at home in Neustrelitz and the slides are on the other computer.
Yesterday we went to the Metallica concert in Leipzig and there he was
The way back to Neustrelitz is not that far.
Have a nice weekend!
first name Last Name
................................................ .............................
Good evening!
I just wanted to reach out again to let you know that I will be sending my theses to you tomorrow or the day after. Thank you again for your information.
I'm really looking forward to the exam on the 30th.
Have a nice evening!
first name Last Name
................................................
(...)
I wish you a good night!
Her
first name Last Name
.............................
Dear Ms. Lastname,
It would be very kind and accommodating of you if you sent the slides for
would put the topic of “semantics” on your site. Thank you and
Get well soon.
Best regards.
.......................
Ms. last name - you are my hero!
Thank you very much :)
...................................
Dear Ms. Lastname,
Please be assured of my extraordinary thanks!
Meanwhile, I send you best regards,
first name Last Name
Students are all too often told that they are unable to write appropriate emails to their lecturers. The club of language decline is being wielded far too quickly. No question - every teacher knows these emails, but they are the exception. Conversely, many students are unsure what an appropriate email should look like.
