Text types: Texts for fun & leisure

Letters

Penfriends

Once students are able to write personal letters, they should be encouraged to find and correspond (in English!) with penfriends, both within Hong Kong and in other countries. The advantages of developing friendships with penpals are numerous; here are some for you to think about:

	Having someone to write to provides a genuine reason for using English.
	Interacting with someone, especially from another culture is likely to broaden their horizons and encourage them to think about a world beyond cantopop and shopping malls.
	A penfriend may become a good personal friend in time, someone with whom they can share personal experiences and dreams.
	Letters can be sent by email or by conventional post. Note that receiving letters from penfriends through the post may encourage students to take up stamp collecting as a hobby.

There are many websites for penpals or keypals, but first a word of warning: you should check these carefully yourself and warn your students of the dangers of unscrupulous adults who may misuse the anonymity of the Internet to abuse the trust of unsuspecting young people:

	http://www.ks-connection.org/connect/K_penpal.cfm
	http://www.bconnex.net/~kidworld/keypals4.htm